04 X5 heat only on passenger side

[Neil1982]

I have been getting hot air out of passenger side but cool air out of my drivers side. Adjusting the temps does nothing for the temp coming out but adjusts the fan speed when in auto. I have replaced the water pump and also tested the auxiliary pump and it works good. I thought the heater control valve but I would think that it would either put hot heat to the car or none at all if it was out? I read to fill the Freon and it would fix it so I tried that and nothing changed. Anyone else have this problem and we’re able to fix it? Any help would be great.

[cn90]

-When posting thread to get help, always post: Year, Model, Engine, Miles b/c these are important factors for others to help you. Saying 04 X5 does not mean much.

- One thought: bad thermostat. Use only Wahler or BMW OEM.

[Neil1982]

It is a 04 BMW X5 4.4i with 145,000 miles on it. Thermostat seems ok as it is not over heating nor staying cool. It runs at normal temp.

[80stech]

The heater control valve controls left and right heat separately. Freon is for the air conditioning, not heat.

[crystalworks]

^Yep. The rubber seals inside fail and stick the valve(s) open or closed. You could definitely have one side working and the other not. I had one side stuck open in an e36 with dual climate control so had heat from around the center of the dash/console all the time even with A/C on. That was really annoying.

[Neil1982]

Ok is it pretty easy to tear one apart? can you get rebuild kits for them or anything or do you just have to buy a new one?

[cn90]

Someone on ebay sells the rebuilt kit for heater valve. I have no experience with this kit.

Or get a Genuine heater valve.

[crystalworks]

Taking one apart is not overly hard, just a few torx screws if memory serves... but there are some small wires that are kind of fragile and easy to snap. New ones are expensive, I wouldn't blame you for attempting a rebuild. If you go that route, keep us updated as I would like the info for future reference. BMW uses this control valve across A LOT of platforms.

[Neil1982]

Ok so to update everyone I purchased a cheap $30 heater control valve off ebay and tried it and it didn’t work. I then disassembled it and found that the valves inside were complete crap and there was no way it was going to work with those, so I then took apart the original and took the good valves out of it and put them in the cheap eBay one that has good rubber gaskets and parts. I did use the eBay one’s top electrical and saved mine Incase it fails. I am proud to say though that everything works perfectly.

[crystalworks]

Glad to hear. Congrats on saving a ton of money. New ones are ~$230 if memory serves. Will have to keep a rebuild/frankenstein job in mind the next time one of mine fails.