Quote:
Originally Posted by No one
Hello,
I am not an expert either, but AFAIK the most typical reason for air cooling failure is a leak in the system. So what they told you does look doubtful ("water pump" - engine cooling, right?) and I would vote for taking the car to another place to make sure it's not bullshit.
Cabin air cooling is not a critical function, you can drive without it. I didn't have it in my first car and never even opened the windows (tried to keep the cabin clean) - just used the ventilation and it was tolerable in summer (with heat-protection glass all around?). Well, my second car tended to overheat and I had to watch the engine temperature and turn the AC off to save the engine... This can be the issue they suggest, by the way!  The diagnostics can be not too bad if they read computer errors and those suggested what they told you.
If the AC issue is engine cooling related, the AC should still work when the engine is not hot (idling after you've just started it, for example). Also, check the engine coolant level. You can watch the engine temperature using the system menu (a video, more available). |
First off, thanks for your help. I guarantee you this is helping me tremendously, also to regain some kind of perspective as I work in Germany but I am not a native German speaker although I am pretty OK at it. Nobody here speaks English (at least that I could find, so far) and I can smell a mile away (expat attitude, I guess) when the chit chat becomes fast, obfuscated, randomic, dialectical etc. - this, coupled with the explanation for the issue and the "I already ordered the parts, I already ordered the parts! It's gonna be 2,000 EUR, OK?" smelled very fishy. I instantly told them I did not agree with that and that I would think about it, and they had to abide by my decision.
I wrote the above just to give you some perspective that this kind of help is really a fresh breath of air in this situation. I know, I might be excessively suspicious etc. but I have good reasons to be. Also because of the symptoms, which I'll elaborate on:
The air condition "does work", in the sense that all lights turn up and work as expected. The air feels cool and stayed cool, but when PRETTY hot (>30C at least, even 35C and higher) I felt literally warm air coming from the vents. No feeling of fresh air conditioning dry air (you know what I mean).
So I took the car to the BMW dealer and they did the regular checks (it was time for a TÜV update) and also said they had refilled the gas for the A/C.
I turn it on, drive back home and sure enough after 5 minutes nothing works, same issue (same hot day).
So I take the car back to them and say "sorry, this is still not working". They make me leave the car, and the next day they call me with the super fast talk and put me on the hysterical side of "we ordered it, it's 2K EUR OK? OK?" which I then canceled.
When I picked the car up and drove with my wife 3 hours the next day, the A/C worked fine. Maybe as a placebo effect it felt a tad on the light side? But definitely worked and no warm air was coming through. The engine was fairly hot (no speed limits in some areas so I had some fun, too) and the day was still around 25-30. But it worked.
So as you understand, I became even more suspicious. It is quite probable that it's a leak, somewhere. And your suggestion makes a lot of sense, to take it to some air con specialist but probably, definitely not a BMW place.
Now, one thing I remembered, which might be totally unrelated, is that one day, way before the problem started, I did a short 30-50 feet backwards in reverse, at a gas station, to reach for a parking slot. When I finally parked, I noticed A LOT OF white smoke, dense and slow, coming from the bonnet. The car was -perfect- and had zero issues before or after that. It kinda felt to me that could have been the A/C cooling gas?
Anyway, since that episode it's now - supposedly - been refilled, although that will obviously end up to waste in case there is a leakage somewhere.
The explanation of the BMW place was super complicated, something along the line of: "the water pump does not work, no.. it does work but there is a sensor that is supposed to tell it when it's dangerously too hot to operate, so this sensor is now broken and reports wrong stuff, we need to change the sensor board and the water pump, and it's gonna be 2K". I don't mean to call people dishonest as a hobby, I don't enjoy it, but it did smell fishy.
I still need to find a good reference point here near Berlin for some tuning things etc. but I have failed to look around a bit.
Anyway, thanks for the help for now and I was able to elaborate a bit on more info and details! I'll keep an eye on the thread and update it when I have news!