AC working intermittently

[MADT]

Hi all.

Just wondering if anyone has experience intermittent faults with the AC?

AC usually works fine but occasionally it simply wont get cold. I have to turn it on and off and the heat up and down and eventually it will get cold. I haven't been able to work out what triggers it to start working again, I just switch things on and off and up and down.

I have had it re gassed and it has made no difference. I had them check it when it failed last time and they confirmed that the compressor was actually running but no cold air was being created.

Any similar experiences???

[330]

My AC took care of itseld when the bracket holding the pully decided to crack and fly off. Knoking th emain belt off into the fan blades which all broke off. Now I run it with no ac or fan. Only use ti as a winter car.

All my options have slowy failed, will soon be down to running engine and 4 wheel drive. That's all I need. Hopefully someone will help with your AC question. At least i sent it to the top.

[MADT]

Thanks, but I guess no one else must have experienced the same intermittent issue.

[ashrafkh]

Originally Posted by dcashion

Thanks, but I guess no one else must have experienced the same intermittent issue.

i did experience the exact same thing since 1 month ago.. afraid to take into a shop to look into whats wrong and then turn to pay $$$$

[BossRoss]

Up here in Canada no need for ac for a few months haha. I find with mine ac will be not very cold unless I adjust the middle vent setting to the 3 blue dots setting.... Weird that this controls the whole heating system, but oh well.

One issue I have with mine is that when I put on the defrost I only get max heat, no matter why the options are set at. This is a nuisance as often I need the defrost on but don't feel like sitting in a suana!!!! Anyone have any experience correcting this?

Cheers!

Hayden

[texmln]

This sounds like a final stage resistor problem. Easy DIY replacement and costs under $100 or so. You should find the DIY on this site or another BMW site.

[MADT]

Well today it did it again.

So it was blowing normal temp air and it was stinking hot inside the car. It tried getting the air to start blowing cold air by turning the AC button on and off repeatedly but this did nothing.

I then turned the temperature up from 16 degrees C to 32 degrees C but not even warm air started to come out and it continued to blow normal temp air! Once I hit 32 degrees on the screen, the AC unit stopped blowing any air!

I then dropped it down from 32 degrees and this caused the AC unit to start blowing cold air!

GO FIGURE

[texmln]

Replace the final stage resistor!

[JLW]

If blower speeds are normal it's not likely the FSU. From your post it sounds like it is just not blowing cold. I would ask a few questions. Have you changed or cleaned your micro filter lately? If it is packed with dust it will create an air flow issue which will cause problems. Second, is the Auxiliary fan working? This is also a know issue. Otherwise, I would take it to a good A/C guy to see if it holds a charge. It is pretty cheap to vacuum out the system and check this. They don't hold much R134 my 01 holds .97lbs (green sticker on the radiator support). A slow leak will cause the problems you suggest. As it appears you have a newer model than mine I know the compressor changed at some point. Had similar issue issue as you which ended up being the condenser. The leak was obvious once you pulled the nose and fan off the car.
System is fairly complicated, overview being Pg 17 on here:

http://www.bmwmotorsports.org/BMW_docs/2001changes.pdf

[ashrafkh]

i have changed the FSR but the problem is still there and the mechincal when changed it for me he adviced me that FRS is for blowing speed control and not cold/not clod, he said - since i have the automatic AC- it will be a button stucks causing this to happen and needs invistigation ... to be invistigated ..