Air Conditioner not working

[trashheap]

I have a 2010 X5 35D E70 Diesel that the A/C stopped working a couple of weeks ago. I can push the A/C button and it lights up, and I get warm air regardless if I have recirculation on or off. The blower motor obviously works fine and I can hear it spinning away, but I don't see the RPM's change at all when I toggle the A/C button nor do I hear a click that for some reason I recall hearing before, of course it could just be thinking there is a click like my other car. Anyways, any idea's what it could be? I did some searching online, found someone say condenser, another a relay which I am not sure where that is at, and another say pressure in the lines.
I hooked up my laptop and ran INPA and found no stored faults, all modules online and reporting fine. So I am thinking it is something mechanical since no faults exist. About a month ago I changed out the Diesel Exhaust Cover p/n: 11 71 7 812 513 because it had a faulty weld in it and was putting black particulate all over the engine bay which seems to be a common issue with the E70 Diesel. Vehicle is out of warranty so taking it to my dealer is not an option for me.

Any ideas on how to test it to figure out what it might be?

[blue dragon]

If you are low on refrigerant, the compressor won't cycle. Any indy can check the pressure on the low and high side for you and tell you if you have a leak. If you have a leak, pray it isn't the evaporator under the dash....

[trashheap]

Thanks Blue Dragon. I will take it to a shop this week and test it. Yeah, I hope it is not under the dash, that is a nightmare to remove and reinstall from what I recall.

[spyderdoc]

I had the same thing way back when on my '09. It was one of the AC lines that had cracked and leaked all the refrigerant. They initially told me it was the settings (you know, that stupid center vent setting in idrive that acts independently of the rest of the system), but I called BS on that, so they rechecked it and found the cracked line, and replaced it under warranty.....

[trashheap]

Well I took it to the independent shop. What they found is kind of crazy. The belt for the compressor was gone. Not only GONE, but nowhere to be found in the engine bay. They had to order a special tool from BMW for the Diesel in order to install the belt, but once they fixed it I now have cold air again.

[TriX5]

Just for refernce, there is a recall on the EGR cooler and dealer will now fix for free. I think it came into force late 2013. I just got mine fixed a couple of weeks ago because it was smelling quite bad on start up.

When it first got diagnosed they said it was only for certain VIN numbers.

[trashheap]

Did you actually get a recall notice? I don't think it is a federal recall but under a good will campaign.

[ard]

Originally Posted by trashheap

Did you actually get a recall notice? I don't think it is a federal recall but under a good will campaign.

I just had my 12 serviced and there was a recall for the cooler bracket.

I had NOT received a notice, nor did I have symptoms. SA said 'computer says there is a recall for the bracket.

They replaced the cooler itself anyway as 'it was beginning to fail'

[pcotangco]

I am still waiting on a real diagnosis. One dealer while I was in VA said the compressor was bad. Drove it back to NJ with the diagnosis. Dropped it a Freehold BMW and was informed compressor is good and was very low on refrigerant. They did all the test etch and could not find the leak.

Long story short I had to pay for evac and recharge. No explanation on how more than half of refrigerant was gone. I hope they figure this out before my warranty expires.

[ard]

they SHOULD have added UV leak tracer when they recharged it...did they???? If not you'll never find the leak