Car is 2007.

If your extended warranty covers AC then yeah the condenser and evap should be included. Hoses and stuff would be questionable as they are wear items.

I just remembered that I had a passenger side front end collision that required new hood, fascia, right front fender, headlight, headlight washers, etc. was less than 10mph, but was extensive. I wonder if the body shop, when they took it apart might have gotten into the a/c without recharging it. The accident was in the winter time so I never ran the a/c after the repair.

If they did and the system has been running on moist, ambient air- not properly pumped down, etc. you may have SIGNIFICANT long term issues. Remember the AC runs all the time, dehumidifying the air in the car even when the heat is on.... you just notice it in the summer.

Id not take it to the body shop, but rather an expert on the AC side...see what they diagnose. here's the tough call: if you implicate the body shop in the failure then you will need to go after them, and by implicating the body shop and the prior work, the extended warranty folks may say "not our fault"...you may get stuck.

GL

Keep us posted

A

Not going to be able to see the dye if the evaporator is leaking unless you pull the dash, and if you going through all that trouble might as well replace the evaporator.

When you are low on refrigerant, the system makes a whining sound when the snowflake button is activated. At first I thought it was my blower motor or the compressor going "kaput ". My indie knew right away that the refrigerant was low. When he filled it up with refrigerant and the dye, everything was fine.

Now, it's up to me to bring the car in for repairs. I've got a condenser sitting in the garage....

Having the same issue where passenger side blowing warmer than the drivers side on both front the rear. Will bring the vehicle into CPO service, should it be standard practice for them to run a dye diagnostic or will they just refill freon and put me on my way. If there is a leak I want them to fix it before my CPO is out.

I believe the OP mentioned that passenger side warmer than driver side. I am new to the X5, but no other BMW that I own has two evaporators/ac systems for driver and passenger side. Rather the HVAC system simply mixes the air differently from side to side depending on temperature selection per side. So, it makes no sense to me to say the evaporator is at fault just because one side is warmer than the other.

More than likely the culprit is an IHKA fault, stepper motor fault, or simply an idrive setting. Check those first. If the drivers side is cold, then the evaporator, condenser, expansion valve, compressor are fine.

Update:

SA called to say that the freon was a 1lb low and they evac and refilled. Then placed dye with black light and a sniffer to sniff out the chemicals and couldn't find anything at this point. 1lb is alot of freon to be low without a leak?!?!

I dont know what the system capacity is, but that seems like quite a bit. For reference the 2001 X5 has a total freon capacity of 16.0 Oz. (Which is one pound)

IMO, surely there is a leak.

if the SA is nice he will document 'there is a leak, but we cannot find it- drive the car for XX months are monitor performance'. That way it will be covered in the future.

A

FWIW, the best method to check for a leaking evaporator/expansion valve is to turn the a/c with blow on low. Place the halogen (or equivalent) sniffer in one of the center vents and sniff for a leak. Dye should never be needed or used in my book. A leak detector/sniffer is a must have tool if you do work on a/c systems at all.