Advanced Aircon - How does it work?
Thread Starter
Members
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
My ride has got the supposedly excellent advanced aircon - and I'm sure it's very good but I can't for the life of me work out how the hell it works!
You get 2 temp dials, left and right.
I turn the right one up, it gets hotter, left, gets colder. All good.
So then I turn the left one....
nothing changes...
I thought it was supposed to split the temp control for driver + passenger, but the right dial seems to do both. Also, if I turn the heat up it blows less out of the main vents.
Then we get into the iDrive settings.
Driver gets upper, middle, and lower power settings.
Passenger only gets middle and lower.
What on earth does the temperature control bit do? How does it relate to the temp I put on the dials?
Please help me someone, I feel like a proper idiot.
You get 2 temp dials, left and right.
I turn the right one up, it gets hotter, left, gets colder. All good.
So then I turn the left one....
nothing changes...
I thought it was supposed to split the temp control for driver + passenger, but the right dial seems to do both. Also, if I turn the heat up it blows less out of the main vents.
Then we get into the iDrive settings.
Driver gets upper, middle, and lower power settings.
Passenger only gets middle and lower.
What on earth does the temperature control bit do?
How does it relate to the temp I put on the dials?Please help me someone, I feel like a proper idiot.
Super Moderator
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 17,310
Likes: 2
From: Pittsburgh, PA USA
My Ride: G30 M550i
Model Year: 2018
You have to make sure that everything is set to automatic then just adjust the temperature dials up or down to suit each passenger. Overriding things in iDrive, etc. is usually never as good as letting the car deal with everything...
Members
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 157
Likes: 0
From: Cairo, Egypt
My Ride: 2008 525i LCI - saphire black on black dakota leather, dark poplar wood, moonroof, cruise control, electric seats with memory, nokia 6230i bluetooth + cradle, rain sensor, A/C with extended features, extended lights package, PDC, rear power sunshade, AUX Jack, steptronic, M-Tech steering wheel, 10 Airbags, smokers package, DSC, interior and exterior mirror with anti-dazzel function, business radio; power folding mirrors
Mods: iPOD (OEM), BMW OEM floor mats, BMW OEM trunk mat, ///M Aerodyamics kit (OEM), 18" rims style 184 (OEM), 245/45 R18 93Y Contisport, ///M boot-lid spoiler (OEM), OEM Headlight washer system
Future Mods: Solaris Invisibulbs - Amber Flash all-round; LED interior kit; LED License Plate;
The Mrs.:
2009 e90 320i LCI - Carbon Black, Beige leather interior, Dark Poplar Wood, moonroof, cruise control, electric seats with memory, nokia 6233 bluetooth + cradle, extended lights package, rear power sunshade, NEW I-DRIVE with HDD + 2USB Slots +AUX Jack, steptronic, DSC, Smokers package, business radio
Mods:BMW OEM floor mats, BMW OEM trunk mat
The cars were manufactured in Egypt! :)
when u get to know how it works, pls let me know... had mine for almost a year now and failed to learn miserably!!
Thread Starter
Members
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 39
Likes: 0
I WORKED IT OUT!!!!
Ok, so it took me about half an hour of sitting in my car with the engine running but here's what I found.
1. Unless you have the little cold button pressed, you don't notice much happening with regards to temp. This button cools,dehumidifies and then reheats. Turn that off and you don't get any decent air temp control. Think of it like the aircon on and off button. If it's off, you only have fans. If it's on, you have airconditioning which is running from the condenser.
2. Auto resets all the stuff in iDrive when you push it.
3. The changes take about 10 seconds at least to take effect, so if you randomly mash buttons and turn dials you won't know what the hell is going on.
Here's what I did.
Push in the cooling button.
Turn up the fan to max.
Open all the vents on their individual manual controls.
Go into iDrive and set so that only the main vents are blowing so I can feel it properly. Turn the windscreen and footwells riiiight down. If you enable the windscreen vent it takes most of the air, so turn this one right down anyway.
You should now have a powerful airstream blowing from the main vents.
Adjust the "heat" in iDrive so that it's at 4 bars for both driver and passenger.
Then... turn the right heat all the way up and left heat all the way down on the aircon controls.
DUAL ZONE WORKS!!! (if you wait long enough for it to adjust). Cold for the passenger, HOT for the driver. AWESOME!
Now you are in a state where you know what is happening and can return to it, so you can play with all the adjustments and see what they do.
I played with the different vent strength settings - they also are pretty cool, but take a little while to adjust. Like I said, the top vent seems to hog most of the air!
BMW should hire me as a consultant to run courses on this shit.
Ok, so it took me about half an hour of sitting in my car with the engine running but here's what I found.
1. Unless you have the little cold button pressed, you don't notice much happening with regards to temp. This button cools,dehumidifies and then reheats. Turn that off and you don't get any decent air temp control. Think of it like the aircon on and off button. If it's off, you only have fans. If it's on, you have airconditioning which is running from the condenser.
2. Auto resets all the stuff in iDrive when you push it.
3. The changes take about 10 seconds at least to take effect, so if you randomly mash buttons and turn dials you won't know what the hell is going on.
Here's what I did.
Push in the cooling button.
Turn up the fan to max.
Open all the vents on their individual manual controls.
Go into iDrive and set so that only the main vents are blowing so I can feel it properly. Turn the windscreen and footwells riiiight down. If you enable the windscreen vent it takes most of the air, so turn this one right down anyway.
You should now have a powerful airstream blowing from the main vents.
Adjust the "heat" in iDrive so that it's at 4 bars for both driver and passenger.
Then... turn the right heat all the way up and left heat all the way down on the aircon controls.
DUAL ZONE WORKS!!! (if you wait long enough for it to adjust). Cold for the passenger, HOT for the driver. AWESOME!
Now you are in a state where you know what is happening and can return to it, so you can play with all the adjustments and see what they do.
I played with the different vent strength settings - they also are pretty cool, but take a little while to adjust. Like I said, the top vent seems to hog most of the air!
BMW should hire me as a consultant to run courses on this shit.
Super Moderator
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 17,310
Likes: 2
From: Pittsburgh, PA USA
My Ride: G30 M550i
Model Year: 2018
Originally Posted by BMWBen' post='806212' date='Mar 3 2009, 11:10 AM
I WORKED IT OUT!!!!
Ok, so it took me about half an hour of sitting in my car with the engine running but here's what I found.
1. Unless you have the little cold button pressed, you don't notice much happening with regards to temp. This button cools,dehumidifies and then reheats. Turn that off and you don't get any decent air temp control. Think of it like the aircon on and off button. If it's off, you only have fans. If it's on, you have airconditioning which is running from the condenser.
2. Auto resets all the stuff in iDrive when you push it.
3. The changes take about 10 seconds at least to take effect, so if you randomly mash buttons and turn dials you won't know what the hell is going on.
Here's what I did.
Push in the cooling button.
Turn up the fan to max.
Open all the vents on their individual manual controls.
Go into iDrive and set so that only the main vents are blowing so I can feel it properly. Turn the windscreen and footwells riiiight down. If you enable the windscreen vent it takes most of the air, so turn this one right down anyway.
You should now have a powerful airstream blowing from the main vents.
Adjust the "heat" in iDrive so that it's at 4 bars for both driver and passenger.
Then... turn the right heat all the way up and left heat all the way down on the aircon controls.
DUAL ZONE WORKS!!! (if you wait long enough for it to adjust). Cold for the passenger, HOT for the driver. AWESOME!
Now you are in a state where you know what is happening and can return to it, so you can play with all the adjustments and see what they do.
I played with the different vent strength settings - they also are pretty cool, but take a little while to adjust. Like I said, the top vent seems to hog most of the air!
BMW should hire me as a consultant to run courses on this shit.
Ok, so it took me about half an hour of sitting in my car with the engine running but here's what I found.
1. Unless you have the little cold button pressed, you don't notice much happening with regards to temp. This button cools,dehumidifies and then reheats. Turn that off and you don't get any decent air temp control. Think of it like the aircon on and off button. If it's off, you only have fans. If it's on, you have airconditioning which is running from the condenser.
2. Auto resets all the stuff in iDrive when you push it.
3. The changes take about 10 seconds at least to take effect, so if you randomly mash buttons and turn dials you won't know what the hell is going on.
Here's what I did.
Push in the cooling button.
Turn up the fan to max.
Open all the vents on their individual manual controls.
Go into iDrive and set so that only the main vents are blowing so I can feel it properly. Turn the windscreen and footwells riiiight down. If you enable the windscreen vent it takes most of the air, so turn this one right down anyway.
You should now have a powerful airstream blowing from the main vents.
Adjust the "heat" in iDrive so that it's at 4 bars for both driver and passenger.
Then... turn the right heat all the way up and left heat all the way down on the aircon controls.
DUAL ZONE WORKS!!! (if you wait long enough for it to adjust). Cold for the passenger, HOT for the driver. AWESOME!
Now you are in a state where you know what is happening and can return to it, so you can play with all the adjustments and see what they do.
I played with the different vent strength settings - they also are pretty cool, but take a little while to adjust. Like I said, the top vent seems to hog most of the air!
BMW should hire me as a consultant to run courses on this shit.
I think the biggest mistake people make is that they mess with the fan speed dial. Once on automatic, the fan speed will increase or decrease in conjunction with the temperature set on the temp dials. If you're warm, turn the temp dial down. If your cold, turn it up. Everything else will be adjusted automatically.
In my opinion, the only thing that might need adjusted to personal taste is the "intensity" setting (low, medium, high). The trade off with the higher intensity setting is increased cabin noise...
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
BigxPx
E60 Discussion
7
Apr 23, 2015 10:11 AM