[kitu_gudu]

Hello everybody,

I own an 1991 BMW E34 520i and I have a problem . The problem is that whatever temperature I set on the gauges, I always get only warm/hot air coming out of the vents in the windshield and foot area and cold air in the dasboard and door vents.

My heating radiator was leaking and I told the guy who changed it to also check this problem, but he told me that everything seems to be working fine and that this is normal in cars that dont have AC, but somehow it doesn't seem right to me . Can you tell me if this is normal or not? :dunno:

Sorry if my english is wrong. Thanks in advance!

_______________
Later edit: There is no problem. This is normal operation.

 

[E34ZombieHunter]

Have you read the owners book?
That is proper operation.

To get heat from the center vents move the wheel from blue to red that sits in between the two center vents

 

[Mamij]

One of your 2 heater valves is probably stuck. You need to do a cooling system flush, the tap method to unstick the heater valves, or rebuild the assembly entirely.

Hit up e34zombiehunter on these forums. He knows about all three and has made a good video on rebuilding the heater valves. It is a doable DIY. In fact I see that he has already replied to you.

 

[E34ZombieHunter]

I should have elaborated more.
Sorry for my rush.
If you have moved the temperature wheel then you do need to repair the heater valves.
Here is the video for the repair.

But it sounds like that is not the issue.
You said you get hot/warm from the top and bottom areas so that means the valves are allowing water to pass through.
Try to move BOTH dials to hot, then the wheel(i will attach a pic) and close all vents but the center. IF you now have heat through the center your issue is solved, if not there is another issue.
You can clean the valves for peace of mind, but i think the issue may be in the AC/Heater assembly under the dash.
That wheel moves a "door" aloowing heat through the center vents, and it sounds like it is broken.

But lets take it one step at a time and i will try to find the necessary info.

Attached are the wheel, and the Climate areas, in other words what temperature air comes from what vents.

Also what type of HVAC system do you have?
Manual

or Auto

 

[kitu_gudu]

I have Manual HVAC system, but I only have one button in the left area (not three) and mine is for defrost. As far as I know I don't have AC.

I will have to read several times to understand (because my english is not too good) and then watch the video. Thanks for your help.

 

[kitu_gudu]

I don't have the wheel that you mentiond. See pictures below (click on them for full preview).

 

[E34ZombieHunter]

You do not have AC, you have the most basic E34.
How you described the temperature zones is proper operation on your car.
You should have heat out of all vents when the dial is turned to hot, and only cool air from the center vents when turned to cool

 

[kitu_gudu]

Solved

@E34ZombieHunter Thank you very much sir!

Just to make things clear for future readers, the dials control the temperature of the air for all the vents except the center vents. On the center vents I always get cold air regardless of the temperature set on the dials.

 

[E34ZombieHunter]

From the research i have done and the little bit of info i found yes it is working properly. Cars that do not have AC or that wheel, only get cool air from the center vents, much like the rear vent in all other E34's, the air is "conditioned" not heated, nor cooled, it just is filtered. So as it may seen your system is working properly.