browellm

Hi amack. Don't worry about getting the advanced a/c. The basic one is really quite poor - definitely not up to spec in a ?30k+ car. The advanced a/c is the best I've ever had though.

stu

Absolutely agree with Browellm . Std air con, surprisingly, doesn't control fan speed - and leaves you with lots of fiddling around to maintain a fair temp on sunny days. You made a good choice.

colejl

The standard air-con does control the fan speed... However, it didn't work on mine until the s/w was updated to v13.2

alohalc

welcome aboard, colejl !

Iceman

Welcome aboard, colejl !

stu

Hi Colejl
thanks for the post .
I'm in the middle of a court claim with bmw over this - so it's pretty astonishing that you said that ! I'm really grateful for any info you can post ....Thanks
Specifically I'm interested in -
What was your model ( date of manufacture ?)
What country?
What was the reason for the software upgrade? ie was the fan issue the only problem?

Am I right to assume that in auto - (in a hot climate) the fan will speed up if req'd to cool the car ?

colejl

Ah, that sounds heavy! I bought my car December '03 and it had early software (v11?) See this post for why I took the car in to My Dealer

However, once the update was done the fan speed was automatically controlled! To be honest the old way didn't bother me too much, I was quite happy to spin the speed/temperature knobs But in retrospect I was surprised by the way it worked!

Now when pushing the AUTO button you're only allowed to play with the temperature dial. If you move the direction or speed dials the auto turns off...

In AUTO the fan speed varies depending on what temperature you request and how far away it is... For example, from cold if you set the temperature to 20C the fan goes quite fast, but if you increase it to 22C it goes even faster The fan gradually slows down as the temperature is reached.

I presume the same would happen in Summer when you want to be cooled! I only had the update (v13.2) done recently and we haven't any hot days

It's shocking that we're beta testing their software!

Hope that helps?

MTRHEAD

>I'm only anthracite cloth but it's dark in colour and blends well with the titanium finish throughout the car (that's the external colour too).

Amacuk,

Great review and thanks for posting,

That also made me feel better, I set my heart on the 530D and lost all the options (leather, advanced A/C) I would have got on the 520 to pay for it! I'm still waiting for my Anthracite cloth equipped 530D to be delivered...some piccys would be great as I never did see the Titanium Silver/Anthracite combo before I signed for it. I WILL miss the wood on my current E39 though

colejl

In AUTO the fan speed varies depending on what temperature you request and how far away it is... For example, from cold if you set the temperature to 20C the fan goes quite fast, but if you increase it to 22C it goes even faster The fan gradually slows down as the temperature is reached.
[/quote]
I've been monitoring the operation since I heard of your problems...

The system is actually quite clever! Upon a really cold start the fan doesn't blow much, it only starts to blow when the engine temperature has risen enough to blow warm air - there's no point blowing cold.

Does everything I would expect of the 'basic' Aircon! The advanced option looks fantastic but I wouldn't pay ?575 for it!