huh why would you need the a/c button on the same time as you want heat? Of course it makes sense to have to turn it off

 

Yeah I know about the all red in the idrive and mine is fully up 4 or 5 bars on my car, and like i said i can force the hot air out of the vent by over riding the vent settings but only after extended idleing and playing with the dials and the hash marks can I get any sort of heat. So I do believe something is wrong, my hkra has been replaced once under warrenty so if this is the problem it should still be covered according to my SA

As for the turning off the AC I think he means when he uses the auto feature if you hit that button the ac compressor engages automaticlly and you have to switch it off if you want only heat in the auto function, but in the auto you will not get your heat from the vents only hot air will come from the defrost and floor area and what air you get from the upper vents will be kinda cool.

thanks rhudy should have used the search

 

As a side note...

...the AC and heat should just simply *work* when you switch either of them on, just like your Dad's 1977 Chrysler, for instance.

If a BMW driver has to go into all this "adjustment" to basically make the air hot or cold, either something is wrong with the climate control or the system is way too cumbersome for push button use (which is what most people want).

What was wrong with just turning the damn thing "on" and getting whatever temperature you desired?

I'm not sure technology helped this particular issue. How many people really need all these choices when cooling or heating the air? (More choices in an automobile are often associated with more complex failures.)

 

Keeping the A/C compressor activated during heating season will help the car regulate humidity as well as temperature.

For me, keeping the climate settings on full auto on my E60s have resulted in the most comfortable automobile cabins I've experienced overall. Never too hot or dry, windows never fog, etc.

 

Amen

 

[/quote]
That's pretty much what I've been doing for years -- the system works perfectly...

 

and that is what I want to do Rhudy I would just love to put it on Auto and forget it I can do that for my AC but not for the heat.

I looked at the TIS and noticed a couple of sensors associated with the heat and it is possible one or more of them is the problem I also noticed that the fan speed adjust to the throttle as if it is dependent on it for proper electrical voltage as back in the day with older cars uno what i mean.

 

It's what I've been doing for years too (with other cars). But with this car, if I leave the aircon switched on, I do not get truly hot air from the vents, whatever setting I choose. When I switch off the aircon button, the air from the vents gets hot.

I agree, you shouldn't have to do it but...

 

That's what I meant by respectivly warm air as not to fatigue the driver that is how the auto works I think I read it somewhere some time ago it was discussed along time ago 04 or 05 if i remember correctly

 

I have a similar problem in my 550i. Today was the first really cold day that I have driven on (-15C). I adjusted the climate controls via iDrive so that they offered maximum heating and was greeted by a distinct lack of warm air. While I don't expect a cold car to blast heat immediately, I would expect that after 5 minutes of idling things would be heating up nicely. Additionally the car fogged up (actually it formed frost on the inside of the windshield and windows), which seemed quite unbelievable to me. My drive to the office is about 30km at an average speed of 60km/h - even after driving for 30 minutes the air coming from the vents (all of them) could best be described as lukewarm. Is this really normal operation? Seems crazy? I have owned many 3-series cars in the past and none of them ever behaved like this... Is this a trip to the dealer? It takes over a month to get an appointment in my town....