It appears that the AC compressor is dying in my 2005 E53 4.4i. The symptoms point to something in the clutch causing intermittent operation. I have looked for a replacement clutch but it appears that the clutch is not available separately from the compressor. A BMW brand compressor is $1300 to $1500 but there is a plethora of aftermarket brands available in the $200 to $500 range. Does anybody out there have any experience with aftermarket compressors? I usually buy only BMW brand parts, but in this case the potential savings is high and my X5 has 140K miles on the clock. Looking for advice.....
AceEngineer