Check out my post here:
http://www.xoutpost.com/x5-e70-forum/...-solution.html

once I discovered this obscure setting in Idrive my ac has been freezing me out (its been 100 degrees here the past two weeks + 100% humidity- and I am literally cold in the X5)

Note: once the rear air is turned on this changes and the front ac sucks.

My settings are already set according these settings and still it doesn't really cool down fast unless I turn the fan up high. Problem is the fan is so noisy that anything above 1/3 speed is simply annoying, so I elect to bear with a really slow cool down period and a somewhat bearable amount of noise. Do other's fans sound really loud in comparison to just about any other car?

do you have rear ac? if so turn it off and see what happens.

When my rear ac is off, the unit is very quiet and cools very fast. If the rear ac is on, the noise is unbearable and it wont cool worth a sh*t.

I do have rear ac. I thought i turned it off and it did reduce the noise very slightly and make the front ac a bit more effective, but i was simply reaching over the center console and may not have turned it off properly. I'll try a proper test. Thx for the suggestion.

turn it off in the idrive....deselect both options