It's 50 degrees and rainy outside and all I want is some heat in my 08 550. Set the temp dials to 80 and heat blows out of the windshield vents and footwell vents but cool air blows out of the cabin vents (the ones pointed right at me). A/c is NOT on. What gives?

 

Go to the Idrive's climate control menu. In vent settings, there is the option to change the vent temperature, red being heat, middle being a mix, and blue being cool.

Put the vent setting on all red and you're all set.

 

Double post.

 

I never understood what was behind the ventilation temp settings in i-drive. If I set the dial at 70 degrees, I want it to blow at 70 degrees. By changing the ventilation temp in the Options menu it negates the graduated #s on the dials. Also, unless you are in auto mode, the dual temp dials are useless. Took me long enough to figure that one out.

 

One of the reasons the "default" settings allow "cooler" air to be delivered to the dash vents during heating is - believe it or not - to optimize driver comfort.
Most drivers find (over)heated air blowing in the face a tad uncomfortable. In winter or cold-driving conditions if the higher temp of heated air to the windscreen and footwells were also sent to the face-level vents it might contribute to driver fatigue.

I personally prefer slighter cooler air thru the dash vents. However, as noted, iDrive settings can be individually customized to suit the driver & passenger.