Biggest Disappointment in My 550i

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07-18-2008 | 09:00 AM

#11

calpalmer

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Joined: Dec 2007

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From: Western Washington

My Ride: 2008 Space Gray 550i, Light Poplar Wood, Anthracite Head Liner, Sport Package, Sport Automatic Transmission, Cold Weather Package, Front Ventilated Comfort Seats in Black Nasca Leather, NAV, HUD, Active Steering, Comfort Access, Night Vision, Lane Deviation Warning, Active Cruise Control, Heated Rear Seats, Folding Rear Seats, Power Shade w/ Rear Side-Shades, Rear Air Bags, Logic 7, HD Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio, iPod/USB Adapter. Car in BMW Body Shop, estimated completion 01/24/07.

In the spirit of "Coming Clean", I have discovered that I had not properly set my Automatic Program settings in the climate control properly. I had balanced the air flows the way I like them just fine, and had turned up the amount of "temperature" with the bars, but didn't relize there are both red and blue bars. I know, read the manual AGAIN! Anyway, based on your reports above, I started fiddling withe iDrive again, discovered blue bars, thought "maybe that Will make a difference.." And it certainly did. Things are fine, the AC is working great.

Thanks again!

Cal

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07-18-2008 | 09:19 AM

#12

GT Premi

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Joined: Nov 2007

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From: Charlotte, NC, USA

My Ride: 2008 BMW 550i Sport Carbon Black Metallic/Cream Beige Manny tranny and other stuff Recently gone, but never forgotten: 2005 Ford Mustang GT (hence the name) Torch Red/Crimson Manny tranny and every option available for that year 2002 Chrysler 300M Special Brilliant Black/Light Taupe/Dark Slate Autostick and goo-gobs of neat features that I will sorely miss

Don't feel bad, calpalmer. I went through the same thing a couple of months ago. Learned from this forum that you have to fiddle with the bars. (The AUTO button is a lie. LOL) I still find it to not quite be what I expect. I'm curious what the rest of you have the temp set at. In my 300M Special, I could set the temp to 72* year round and was just fine except for the most extreme days. In my 550, I have it set to 70* and it's barely adequate for cooling at that temp. Guess I gotta drop it down to 68* or so.

What temps are you guys running?

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07-18-2008 | 09:27 AM

#13

Rudy

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Joined: Mar 2004

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From: Pittsburgh, PA USA

My Ride: G30 M550i

Model Year: 2018

Quote:

Originally Posted by GT Premi' post='627389' date='Jul 18 2008, 12:19 PM

I tend to like things on the cold side and usually keep it set around 68 but sometimes I drop it down to 66.

To me, I don't really care what the "number" is that makes me comfortable (68, 70, etc.) as long as I'm comfortable. On my two E39s, I usually set it to 68 or 66 with full auto and was always comfy. On both of my E60s, it's the same thing -- 68 or 66 and full auto.

I'm a firm believer in using the automatic mode and simply dialing the temperature up or down as desired to keep things comfortable. Too many people, when warm or cold, start messing with the fan speed or the vent settings and end up on a "roller coaster ride" of climate change where they never seem to catch the "sweet spot" and get locked on to a comfortable cabin. Remember, as soon as you touch the fan knob or vent settings, you're no longer on automatic so you've assigned the burden of constantly adjusting things to yourself instead of the computer.

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