bmw air con problem?

jon1981

hey,

i have a e46 320d coupe, 05. I'm trying to figure out if the air con is broken or not. When i stick it on i feel air coming out of the vents but its not as cool as i expect it to be. what potential problems can you have with air con? does it need to be recharged?

rebel.ranter

It could be just low on gas.

Hopefully it won't be a leaking pipe or a compressor that is kaput. Do a search for aircon on this forum, there have been a few posts on it very recently, including a few BMWs with issues. You should be able to find the name of specialists on these threads too.

jon1981

can anyone tell me where i might find the air con refill port?

Shamo

Can't tell you exactly for your car but generally there's a H and L valve cap under the hood somewhere. If you buy a refill can with a pressure gauge you use the Low pressure valve to fill up the gas again. The can contents will try to seal any small leaks too.

I've just done this today and worked fine.

EPM

When you have the car idling and turn the air con on, do the revs go up slightly? If not its probably your compressor. If the compressor kicks in as it should you might have a leak/be low on gas. You can get the system leak tested and refilled for about 100-150 squid (got quotes similar to these last year)

jon1981

actually now that you mention it, i dont recall hearing or noticing any extra noises or increase in revs when i turn the AC on, would it be really noticeable?

jon1981

well just bought some refill connected it up, nothing wrong with the pressure, it was at 100psi...so i guess there is some other problem! ill live without AC

beam99

How much air is coming out of the vents, I have come across people you think there air con is out working and the only problem is that the POLLEN FILTER is blocked.