Where is the outside temperature sensor?

I have been curious.

Anyone knows where the sensor which reads the outside air temperature is located on a E92 coupe?

It's on the outside of the car.


Ok, bad joke, I know.

On my Acura, it was locate in the front, below the bumper. The end result was that it tended to overestimate temps (because of heat radiating off the road). My impression is that the readout in the BMW is a tad more accurate. So, where it is seems like an interesting question.

I am thinking somewhere around the windshield? Or perhaps in the shark fin?

On a different thread and to answer another question I had, jwac had explained that the fin has got a bunch of antennas stuffed in it so why not the temp sensor also?

Passenger side engine bay, near the windshield, sitting over a tray that runs crosswise across the engine bay.

Oops. I was thinking about the wrong sensor. Disregard my last post. Damn.

Which sensor is that then (the one you mentioned)?

Originally Posted by Kilgore Trout

On my Acura, it was locate in the front, below the bumper. The end result was that it tended to overestimate temps (because of heat radiating off the road). My impression is that the readout in the BMW is a tad more accurate.

The outside temperature gauge on my 2003 Acura sometimes seemed to work properly but at other times it would show readings that were obviously incorrect. I remember once driving for an hour in temperatures ranging from the 60's to the 90's and gauge stayed constant at 72° F. I replaced the sensor below the front bumper but the gauge continued to act the same way.

The chances of two sensors being faulty were about zero, so the problem had to be related to the connection of the sensor to the gauge itself. Acura said that tracking things down could take a few days and that it could be a difficult process. Because I didn't want to leave the car there so long for such a relatively minor problem, I never had it checked out. I got the impression that replacing sensors was all that Acura really cared to do and that anything else related to the problem had a very low priority.

On the other hand, the temperature readings outside my 2009 328i sedan seem to be very accurate. It's just one of the many, many reasons why I prefer BMW over Acura.

Originally Posted by v12

I have been curious.

Anyone knows where the sensor which reads the outside air temperature is located on a E92 coupe?

On the E46 it's located in the front lower part of the wheel well of the left front wheel.

Originally Posted by tturedraider

On the E46 it's located in the front lower part of the wheel well of the left front wheel.

It's in the same place on the e92.

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

It's in the same place on the e92.

I figured it was.

Thanks guys. I'll try and take a look/ a picture over the W/E. I am curious that way.

I got lost. Where is it? Galahad05 said in the engine bay near the windshield. HotIce said wheel well. Anybody know for sure?

Originally Posted by sekitori

The outside temperature gauge on my 2003 Acura sometimes seemed to work properly but at other times it would show readings that were obviously incorrect. I remember once driving for an hour in temperatures ranging from the 60's to the 90's and gauge stayed constant at 72° F. I replaced the sensor below the front bumper but the gauge continued to act the same way.

The chances of two sensors being faulty were about zero, so the problem had to be related to the connection of the sensor to the gauge itself. Acura said that tracking things down could take a few days and that it could be a difficult process. Because I didn't want to leave the car there so long for such a relatively minor problem, I never had it checked out. I got the impression that replacing sensors was all that Acura really cared to do and that anything else related to the problem had a very low priority.

On the other hand, the temperature readings outside my 2009 328i sedan seem to be very accurate. It's just one of the many, many reasons why I prefer BMW over Acura.

Hmm. I never had this problem. I just found that the sensor ran slightly warm on really hot days. For the most part though, it really wasn't bad.

The BMW sensor is really, really accurate (at least for me).

Originally Posted by dlpuette

I got lost. Where is it? Galahad05 said in the engine bay near the windshield. HotIce said wheel well. Anybody know for sure?

Originally Posted by tturedraider

On the E46 it's located in the front lower part of the wheel well of the left front wheel.

Originally Posted by -=Hot|Ice=-

It's in the same place on the e92.

Originally Posted by tturedraider

I figured it was.

For sure.

It is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.

Originally Posted by v12

Which sensor is that then (the one you mentioned)?

Damn I can't remember any more. All I remember right now is that you have to twist the sensor counter-clockwise then pull backwards to get it to come out of its housing.

Originally Posted by dlpuette

I got lost. Where is it? Galahad05 said in the engine bay near the windshield. HotIce said wheel well. Anybody know for sure?

No no no, I took it back in my very next post in this thread--I apparently had a brain aneurysm and thought that sensor was the ambient air temp sensor...

The ambient temp sensor is always located somewhere near the condenser.

I looked in the left front wheel well and saw only access point for the turn signal bulb.

My air temp is reading -40*f and the SA is sight unseen telling me that i damaged the sensor. Hmmmmm I smell B.S.

I saw the sensor in the cowl, and thought that was it, but after searching I found this thread.

Car is a 2007 328 xi wagon. Is the sensor easily located in the wheel well, or is it under a access panel?