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How's your Air-Conditioner cooling this summer?

4K views 30 replies 17 participants last post by  stylinexpat 
#1 ·
I am not too fond of this air-con in my car. On the highway when you are rolling it is ok but if you are in the city or at a stop then you can pretty much forget about the air-con unit that comes with this car. I bet it works like a heater in Saudi, Kuwait or any of the other Gulf States in the middle-east.
 
#3 ·
Triple digits here and A/C is not the greatest, but adequate. Wiith fuel economy in mind (or as an excuse?), most car manufacturers seem to go for the minimum acceptable IMO. It could also be that the system is not optimally charged, but we'd have to pay to check it (R134a has smaller molecules than R12, so it's more prone to seeping over time). Good day.
 
#4 ·
Triple digits here and A/C is not the greatest, but adequate. Wiith fuel economy in mind (or as an excuse?), most car manufacturers seem to go for the minimum acceptable IMO. It could also be that the system is not optimally charged, but we'd have to pay to check it (R134a has smaller molecules than R12, so it's more prone to seeping over time). Good day.
Can you elaborate a bit more on that:dunno: From what I understand is that what is used in cars shipped to the US is not as cold as others to other countries, is this true?:dunno:
 
#7 ·
I do this on the E90 and it works well. In this sequence: 64 (or less) degrees both sides, auto, output override to feet and body. After a while this gets too cold and hitting auto again will reautomate the output (to the body only). Max button works well, too, for the initial, quickest cool-down.

If you're into total manual control, I'd suggest: 60 degress both sides, manual fan, output to feet and body.

I don't like to use the recirculate feature, but setting it to recirculate will be better for cooling, too.

Just some suggestions. YMMV.
 
#8 ·
I took my M3 to Vegas tonight and on the highway the air-conditioner was fine. I arrived in the evening so I will see how it holds up in the day time tomorrow. It was 107 coming up from California to Vegas this afternoon.
 
#13 ·
Well, I tried full manual control on my 2 cars (both with reportedly substandard A/C), and both cooled a lot better than on auto. I set the temp to 60º (min), body vents, and fan speed according to comfort level. It was 95º during the experiment, but I took off from my garage, and didn't park the car. One thing I noticed is it took a long time for cold air to come out, compared to my Honda. And the other Honda (family car) cools even quicker. Will use it this way in summer; 'auto' climate controls rarely works as I want them to.

As a comment, if you're A/C doesn't cool on the highway, there's a problem with it. The real test is in traffic. Good day.
 
#18 ·
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Yep, I am concerned about this: driving in Sth France in low 30s C this month and it felt warmish on Auto :( I sometimes went manual to compensate - maybe I need to learn a bit more about the settings in Auto. Car is JzB.

Believe me - by the time the M gets to Sth Central TX, where we are already having a heat wave into low 100s, I will be reading the air con pages of the manual post haste!
 
#19 ·
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Yep, I am concerned about this: driving in Sth France in low 30s C this month and it felt warmish on Auto :( I sometimes went manual to compensate - maybe I need to learn a bit more about the settings in Auto. Car is JzB.

Believe me - by the time the M gets to Sth Central TX, where we are already having a heat wave into low 100s, I will be reading the air con pages of the manual post haste!
I would say that it gets any where from cool to cold after running a while but no way on earth will that car blow cold air out if it were sitting some where hot.
 
#20 · (Edited)
FWIW, I have black interior, Interlagos blue, carbon fiber roof. It was 96 the other day, car parked in parking lot at work all day, no problems. When I first start the car, it does seem to take a little longer than most cars before it starts blowing cold air... like the amount of time it takes to put seatbelt on and get settled in, so I'm only talking about 15 or 20 seconds longer than I would have expected, but other than that, seems to work fine. I just leave it in auto, set at 69 degrees. I do have tinted windows, but not much tint (they're legal), and I park with the rear tinted window facing the afternoon sun, and also put my rear window sun shade up. Once I get moving, with the fan running 1 notch below max (in auto), everything is comfortable within a few minutes and maybe within 5 minutes the auto function is backing the fan speed back down to normal levels, just like I would expect it to as the temperature moderates in the cabin. Works pretty much like my previous 2 bimmers. To make a long story short, mine seems to work just fine. :dunno:
 
#22 ·
Wish we could 'share' some of ours - it's frikkin' HEISS down here! :yikes:

So much so we were floating in our pool after a party at 1AM last Sat ....
 
#23 ·
Aftermarket options?

I have come to accept that the AC in my 2008 M3 Sedan (jz black with fox red interior) is simply pathetic. If the sun is out and it is over 80 (which is just about all of the time in Baltimore over the summer) the car simply never cools off inside. Even after running on MAX for 2 hours, with all of the iDrive settings and every other trick pulled, if the sun is shining the ambient temperature in the interior cannot be brought under 80 to 85 degrees and the seats NEVER cool off. Moreover the car heats up to ridiculous temperatures (140+) within minutes of being parked. Basically every time I drive the car these days I sweat through my shirt. Tinting helped a little but I hate tinting so I wasn't very happy about that either. The factory system, which I have had checked (and was told "tough luck it is within specks"…), just can't cut it and I think that it is a crime that they would put this pathetic system in a $70K car. All that said, I love the car otherwise and HAVE to find a solution to cool it down.

Are there any aftermarket solutions to make colder air come out? Replacement systems, boosters, anything? I have to solve this problem or I am going to have to sell the car because it is just not usable as an every day driver at this point. The Sun shines here almost every day and it is hot here for a good 4 to 5 months of the year.

Any ideas…
 
#25 ·
I have come to accept that the AC in my 2008 M3 Sedan (jz black with fox red interior) is simply pathetic. If the sun is out and it is over 80 (which is just about all of the time in Baltimore over the summer) the car simply never cools off inside. Even after running on MAX for 2 hours, with all of the iDrive settings and every other trick pulled, if the sun is shining the ambient temperature in the interior cannot be brought under 80 to 85 degrees and the seats NEVER cool off. Moreover the car heats up to ridiculous temperatures (140+) within minutes of being parked. Basically every time I drive the car these days I sweat through my shirt. Tinting helped a little but I hate tinting so I wasn***8217;t very happy about that either. The factory system, which I have had checked (and was told ***8220;tough luck it is within specks***8221;***8230;), just can***8217;t cut it and I think that it is a crime that they would put this pathetic system in a $70K car. All that said, I love the car otherwise and HAVE to find a solution to cool it down.
It doesn't sound like your A/C is operating within normal specs. I'm in Houston, Texas, where for the last few weeks, it has been over 100 degrees almost every day. Granted, I have ceramic tint (better heat rejection properties than normal tint) and close my moonroof shield when parked, but I have no problems cooling the interior down to 70 degrees or below within 10 minutes under normal circumstances. I sweat like a horse and am very sensitive to heat, but the only time I have any issue is if I am driving the piss out of the car in the middle of the day. I wouldn't say the A/C in my M3 is the best, but it's adequate.

Maybe a fellow M3 owner in your area can give you a test ride for comparison.
 
#26 ·
My black on black M3 Vert's AC works great in the Atlanta heat and humidity. I run it on recirculate though to help with the humidity.
 
#29 · (Edited)
BMWs apparently have a different kind of compressor, which takes longer to cool than regular ones. Once it gets going, air gets pretty cold in my car, indicating A/C system is fine. I bet the problem most are having is with the stupid 'auto' feature; I've NEVER liked it on any of my cars. It's a matter or messing with it until you find a way to get it to work the way you want, defeating the purpose of 'auto'. If you get it on 'LO' and 'max' or 'recirc', it should blow pretty cold after not too long. If your car doesn't cool under those settings, then you might have a problem with the A/C system; try that first. That's the way I use it: set the temp to 'LO', and manually operate the fan as desired. Otherwise I have to set it to '70' first, so fan doesn't make a racket, then keep lowering the temp when it starts blowing less cold, but it gets to a point I have to turn the fan manually down anyway, so why bother. I like the air cold all the time, just not too high once interior is cooled, but you can't do that with 'auto' systems.

Somebody mentioned the seats; they're pretty thick in our cars, so unless you're driving a ton of miles, they WON'T cool off by the time you get to your destination, but that's perfectly normal, and that happens with all leather seats I've had, but black obviously makes it a bit worse. And I absolutely HATE perforated leather, so ventilated seats are out of the question for me. Good day.
 
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