ac blows cold out of only 2 vents
 

did a search and found some kinda similar issues but nothing exactly the same. its a 01 3.0 5spd with 220k on it. the 2 driver side dash vents will blow cold air, the passenger side middle vent will blow hot air, passenger side outer vent will blow luke warm. and the floor vents will burn your feet off. i have a feeling its the blend door but i havent found any good diy on how to access that to replace it. also want to verify if that is the real issue. im sure this has been discussed before but i was not able to find it. any links for the diy or any other suggestion on where to look would be greatly appreciated.

The first thing I'd check is the refrigerant. You can take it to an AC place, get some gauges and a can of R134a, or use a product like AC Pro, which is available at Walmart. I have used AC Pro to recharge my 04 every spring for the last four years or so.

https://youtu.be/0RkJDfmJXBE

https://www.walmart.com/ip/A-C-Pro-A...0-oz/353326131

cold air w/o refrigerant?
 

I would think the OP is correct about the blend door (or the BMW equivalent) being the problem. If his X5 was low on refrigerant, he wouldn't be getting "cold air" from any vent at all.

This comes up a few times a year and in many cases it's the bowden cable.

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That was the symptom in my case:

https://xoutpost.com/bmw-sav-forums/...ht-thread.html

Yes, this would be the first thing I would check. The valves should be on the drivers side fender IIRC, tap on them both and check the wiring.

To be clear: In my case, the symptoms were similar to the OP's. The solution was adding refrigerant.

I'm a newbie to the BMW world of HVAC
 

I read most of the thread you linked; it seems that A/C problems on an X5 can start anywhere, at any time, for any reason.

I had a problem with the Bowden cable sticking last summer, not allowing me to get full cold air from the main vents, until I turned the rotary dials all the way, and wedged them that way for a week. After that, my main vents allowed for 40F degree air on a 100F+ day. It was just something I'd not had a problem with on other makes before.

So, reading about the HVAC inter-related components:
like HCV, FSR, Bowden cables, heater core (and other unmentioned problems like the DME shutting down the IHKA controls and blowers if the battery is low, the auxiliary fan problems, the A/C variable compressor faults...the list goes on), makes me glad that my automatic climate problem was so simple to remedy.

I guess that, faced with so many possible causes of HVAC problems on the X5, then starting with a refrigerant top-up might be the logical place to start.

i have a ac bottle at home with a gauge so i will double check that. only other reason i think its a blend door issue is during the winter i would have the temp set to around 75 degrees for dash and floor vents. and the vent under the passenger seat for the rear passengers would blow at full heat even if i tried cranking it to the lowest temp setting. i also battled this issue last year and most of the time if i adjusted back and forth on temp along with vent position it would work its way out.

I see no mention of blue dots... do you have the dial set to three blue dots ?

You may have several issues.
Low refrigerant
you may have a blend door issue
you may also have a failed heater valve - mounted in the driver's side engine bay