The climate control system (along with the transmission) is one of my big gripes with the X5. In my prior BMWs, I could set the temp and never touch it again. It simply doesn't work that well in my X5 - I'm constantly having to tinker with the settings to get comfortable, and it's no better than a manual setup.

Plus, in the summer, it struggles to get the car cooled down, especially if the rear air is activated.

Strange, mine works perfectly, just set and forget. I will admit I haven't used it in any very high ambient temps as yet.

What's wrong with your transmission ?

JCL.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say,
"the best thing to do is to get it set right"! :dunno:

On the E-53 theres that dreaded wheel on the dashboard
with those red and blue dots that you can adjust.

Fooling with that wheel makes the options questionable
and the end result make any setting you choose
not quite right.

The e60 has an electronic equivalent of a wheel as well.
Just too many options IMHO.

AC Delco systems in earlier Cadillacs were "TRUE"
automatic climate controls. Set and forget it meant
exactly what it said. No matter what the outside temperature
it would automatically keep the cabin at the temperature
you choose period.

Cadillacs still function the same way today and I agree I
don't see why BMW's system needs to be as complicated
as it is. Why do I need to work so hard to get it right.

E70

Press auto
Turn knob to required temp
done

I mean get it set right for the driver and passenger, with their preferred temperature, airflow intensity, temperature offset for the dash vents, top/bottom balance, etc. Then leave it. I haven't played with my AC controls on my E60 since the week I purchased the vehicle in 2007. Works great. I did push the defrost button once, as it was wet inside the vehicle, but once the windshield cleared I pushed it again to return it to full automatic mode. Sit it and forget it.

I don't dread the thumbwheel, I welcome it. It works great IMO but it seems that many owners don't understand what it does, they think it is an absolute temperature control. It isn't, it is an offset control from whatever temperature you have set on the electronic controls (always on one blue dot, or -1C, in my case). It should be explained by BMW as being like an equalizer for your stereo, it simply boosts or reduces the output from one channel, in this case the dash vents.

It also boosts or reduces the temperature from the dash vents....:dunno:

Exactly, that is what I said. Clear now?

So does the number dial for temp override the red/blue bars you can set in idrive? Meaning does it ignore that and I don't have to switch it from red to blue when summer hits?

Now let's say the dial is set to lowest - 60F. Would it be more intense cooling with full blue as opposed to neutral?

The dial number that you set is the baseline temperature, that the automatic system will work to maintain.

The blue and red bars are adjustments to the temperature of certain vents (airflow), not to the temperature setting in the vehicle. If you have slightly blue bars on the upper vents (similar to one blue dot on the old thumbwheel) the upper vents will blow one degree colder than the other vents, to give you fresher air on your face, for example. The reverse is true for red bars, if you want your face to be hit with warmer air than the rest of your body (although that doesn't make much sense in terms of keeping a driver alert).

I keep the upper vents one degree colder all year, there is no need to change them by the season.

When owners sometimes get into trouble is by asking for an automatic temperature, with an incongruent offset on some of the vents. For example, if I wanted the automatic system to cool the vehicle down, but I asked for hot air to come out of the upper vents, the system will fight itself, to the point of sometimes not being able to achieve the desired automatic temperature. The easiest thing to do is to leave them all neutral, and let the auto system work as it was designed. A degree or two warmer or colder is fine as well, for certain vents. Using the offset control as an absolute temperature control is not how it was designed, though, and will stop the system from functioning in fully automatic mode.

Is it more intense when both are set to cold? Well, you can't get more cooling than the air conditioning compressor can deliver. If it is working full blast on automatic, turning it to blue on the upper vents won't do anything, it is like pushing the crosswalk button 10 times to speed it up, it just doesn't work that way. On the other hand, if you want maximum cooling and you have one or more vents set to slightly warmer, you won't get full cooling out of the system.

Although in the right direction the blue/red setting seems to be confusing some here. The purpose of this setting is to allow varying temperatures from top to bottom eg cooler air to your face and warmer air to your feet.

The blue/red setting does not actually have any control over the heater or the compressor. What it actually does is to mix the air coming out through the vents in varying amounts depending on where the "dial" is set to. So if it is on blue fully then the air coming out of the vents is from what has been cooled by the air conditioner. If it is on red then another circuit opens up to mix this air with external air.

In effect it is smilar to say having your hot water tank set to 50 deg celcius. You may want the full 50 to do the dishes so cold water tap is closed, whereas in the bathroom you may want to open up the cold water tap to bring the temps down to wash your face.

So all it does really is to open up a vent to varying amounts to mix air with an external circuit.