Yet another new X5 3.0d Owner - SA
 

Greetings fellow Aussie X5 owners. I have just purchased (well, several weeks ago) my first ever BMW. I have an 04 X5 3.0d as the post title would suggest. She's black with a black leather interior and has been fastidiously maintained by the previous owner, including a trans service and full log book history from day one. I have to say I am very impressed with this car. I did test drive an 02 Sport V8 but opted for the diesel for the economy aspect and they were both a similar price.

This is a great forum with lots of information that I found exceedingly useful when researching these cars. Well done to all who contribute.

My first question (and yes I've done a search) is about the A/C. I am finding that it takes quite a while, around 20 mins or more, to cool down and also seems to cool down much quicker on the passenger side than the drivers even though both are set to the same temp. I'm thinking a re-gas might be required and possible issues within the system itself? Any advice or feedback on this would be appreciated.

Cheers! Pics of the new beast will go up soon!

If its not cooling whilst stationary and only really cools down once you start driving that is probably the AC condenser fan, I had that issue and it was shot. Replaced it and that sorted it out!

Good luck with it.

Would the AC condenser fan also cause the strength of the air blowing from the vents, and when set to maximum, to be weak?
I appreciate that's hard to explain. If I can compare it, I'd say the strength of the air blowing from the vents on my car when set to maximum is about 50% of the strength of my Honda accord.

Shouldn't affect it no, is that with it on "auto"?

Maybe there is a blockage in & around the evaporator? (ie cooled air cannot pass through the evaporator) That may explain the slow air and lack of cooling?

The condenser fan wouldn't have anything to do with the fan speed of the cabin fan.My cabin fan at full speed has heaps of capacity and the A/C cools down extremely quick.I have heard in the past that the fan speed resistors in the X5 fail regularly this may possibly be the issue with the low cabin fan speed.Also just check that the condenser fan is working correctly when you turn the A/C on and off as mentioned earlier this may have something to do with the cooling of the AC.If you don't think the cond fan is working and causing the issue just run a garden hose over the cond core to cool it down and see if the temp of the AC lowers.

Just a follow up to my original post for any that are interested. I took the car to my mechanic, a BM specialist (BM Connections on Greenhill Rd, speak to Simon) and he tells me it's just a regas needed.

Did it turn out that a re-gas fixed your problem? As your symptoms suggested to me something that I've experienced that was outlined in this thread:
http://www.xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-foru...-ac-delay.html

I got my problem resolved and it turned out to be something that I've not found anywhere on these forums.

As you know my problem was the poor strength of the interior fan and also that it took a while to cool down. In the end the answer was a faulty air-con/heater control unit. The part sits up under the dashboard.
It not only caused the above problem but it also drained my battery. Apparently whilst the car was locked the interior fan would come on.

With part replaced my interior fan blows strongly and my air conditioning is cold from the moment it's turned on and therefore cools the car quickly.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

Hi All, sorry for not posting any follow up information on this problem. I actually haven't done anything about it as yet, apart from talking to a few different mechanics. Life has gotten in the way and I've not had time to get the regas done. I will post as soon as I have.