Where is the evaporator coil in an 04 X3?

[newX3user]

I would like to clean the evaporator coil with a brush or with lots of mold killing foam, but I do not know where it is located. When I looked at realoem website, for other cars (like 5 or 3 series) it shows the center of the console, but for 04 X3 it shows it outside of the passenger door. I have attached the picture below. Can anyone explain where it is located?

RealOEM.com BMW E83 X3 3.0i Evaporator / Expansion valve

[Flyer1]

The evaporator and heater core are contained in a large black plastic housing that sits on the transmission tunnel under the center of the dash. If you look under the dash from the foot wells you can see part of the black housing. The evap sits vertically in the housting, the heater core sits horizontally at the bottom. I doubt you will be able to reach the evap with with a brush. Its really burried in there and is behind gates/valves that are used to control the temperature. (EG one of them is connected to that dial at the top center of the dash)

My guess is the entire evap/heater core assembly is procured by BMW from another company (Bosch?) and that's why you don't find any details about it in the manuals. I had to replace the evaportor a couple years ago to fix a freon leak so I learned the hard way what it takes to remove and replace it.

Chip