Madwax

Last year I noticed my Air Conditioning getting warmer. (3 months from new!)

Eventually it was blowing warm air when turned down as low as possible, (even if I turned the dashboard vents from medium to cold) so I took it into my dealer suspecting a leak.

They regassed the AC with a dye to check for leaks. They said they didn't find any, so charged me ?100! When I got my car back I turned the dial down low and the AC was freezing. It was now working perfectly. I could once again leave it on automatic at around 21-22 and let it settle down to maintain the cabin temperature, no matter what the weather.

Recently I've found the same problem recurring (It is now set at 16-18 even on the coldest days), so I've taken it back to the dealer for this and another unrelated problem. They checked it (the dye was still in it) and this time found a leak in one of the pipe joints which was fixed on warranty. I then asked for my ?100 back, for now it was obvious it had a leak all along. They..eventually..agreed to this. Hopefully I'll get my money back when they've fixed the other problem (low speed steering screech..which I've got to take it back in for). But this time when I collected my car there was no freezing air and the air still felt warm set at 18 after 20-30 minutes.

I called them to say I didn't think they had re-gassed it, but they assure me they have and it must be another problem (suspicious?), so they are going to have another look when it goes back for this other (unrelated) issue fixing.

Can anyone give me any advice based on this information. Am I msissing something? Can low gas levels cause warm air? Shouldn't re-gassing make the air con colder? (and more sensitive?) I'm not sure whether to cancel the booking and get and independent to check the aircon.

Any suggestions?....What with this and all the other problems I've had with this car I'm beginning to wish I'd bought another Merc instead.

madoon

dont even think that thougt...mercs have the same problems like Bmws..
maybe more...
anyways...seems to me that they repaired the system and didnt regass it...or lets hope this is what happeneed...or..maybe your system has more than one leak and they fixed one and not the other (i dont think so).. but when the gas is low..the air will warm up gradually...when its full the cooling is faster, maybe even more sensetive..give the dealler another shot ar the air con before checkin it elsewhere..

havard@haslerud.no

Could the problems you are seeing be related to any of the SIB's listed in this great link form Cobradev.

Madwax

Unfortunately I can't see any of the problems I've had listed on there. But it is a great list and I'll keep a copy, just in case. Thanks.

Madwax

According to what you say it seems like to me the AC gas is still low. They didn't regass it, even though they said they did. I hope they're not trying to trick me just because I want my money back for the previous regassing.

1600

My air con is also screwed up. I've made a service appt. and actually expect them to replace the unit with a new one. BMW air con has always been pretty unreliable. However, with the string of seemingly endless problems cropping up every six weeks or so, I am actually considering selling this darn thing with less than 14K mi. on it. I love driving this vehicle more than any BMW I've owned, but I didn't think I needed a personal pit crew.

needforspeed

1st thing - if your car is 3 months old and ANYTHING stops working BMW should not be charging you - especially for failing to fix it. You should INSIST on a refund AND an apology.

2nd thing - BMW have had problems with their air con for the last 4 years. I've had three with faiiled thermostats, which meant that they never really did anything more than pump out lukewarm air.

This might the problem you've got or it might not - either way it HAS to be fixed under warranty at no cost to you.

Nova Invicta

Madoon
Ive had five Mercs and all of them had great AirCon units much better than the standard BMW unit in my E60

Madwax

I agree with you. I've had two Mercs and they've both had much better air conditioning systems as standard.

The last car I had so many problems with was my first, a Ford...I've never bought one since. Sometimes I find myself wishing I'd bought an E-Class, then I drive my BMW and the torque, the communicative steering & the perfect chassis balance have me wanting more (I also prefer the BMWs design!)...but my patience is wearing thin. The engineers at my dealer have been good so far, but they need to be.

Do all the E60s have the same problems, or have they been sorted in the recently released models?