[Drivaar]

Seriously, if it's 63 F outside and my thermostat is set to 75 F inside, how on Earth can the A/C be blowing 60F air onto my hands???

I demand to meet the idiot who designed the BMW A/C!

Just was curious if anyone here actually could explain the A/C's mysterious workings!

[BTM]

Mine works fine

If the outside air is colder than you want, adjust your blend knob to middle or hot (all the way right) and make sure your snowflake button isn't on

[Express]

haha yeah in my car, its either hot or cold. no in between

[vasillalov]

Originally Posted by Drivaar

Seriously, if it's 63 F outside and my thermostat is set to 75 F inside, how on Earth can the A/C be blowing 60F air onto my hands???

I demand to meet the idiot who designed the BMW A/C!

Just was curious if anyone here actually could explain the A/C's mysterious workings!

Is your vent selector set to blue or red? Also, is your defogger on? You can still have your AC run while you are requesting hot air. It does that in case that you have defogger on so that it will dry out the air.

[MusclezMarinara]

let the car warm up

[Drivaar]

This is with no special vent selection, or defogging... I mean, just basics...

if (user_temp > external_temp) DON'T BLOW COLD AIR!

[BTM]

Originally Posted by Drivaar

This is with no special vent selection, or defogging... I mean, just basics...

if (user_temp > external_temp) DON'T BLOW COLD AIR!

Right, FWIW, the A/C doesn't produce air at 65* when you set it to 65*. It produces cold air until the ambient is about 65*. So even if you have your climate set to a temperature greater than outside air, it will produce cold air and will be blown in by the fan setting. The thermostat on cars is much less advanced than those on houses - if you have A/C turned on it's going to give you cold air no matter what the control is set for.

[Drivaar]

Exactly... I just wonder how it can be so stupid...

Even more interesting is that when you put it to MAX A/C... then it's pretty smart! Until the engine warms up, it won't blow cold air out at you like most cars. That's nice...

Also, it warms up pretty fast... Also nice.

Seems like the best actual solution given the stupidity of the A/C is to turn off the snowflake and leave it just as a fan if it's blowing air that's too cold. Simple enough, just lame that the engineers couldn't figure out how to regulate that automatically in a luxury car!

[BTM]

Originally Posted by Drivaar

Seems like the best actual solution given the stupidity of the A/C is to turn off the snowflake and leave it just as a fan if it's blowing air that's too cold. Simple enough, just lame that the engineers couldn't figure out how to regulate that automatically in a luxury car!

Like I said, if you want cold air use the snowflake, if you don't then leave it off. You're not calling for air to be conditioned to the exact temperature you have it set for, no system I've ever heard of does this. Snowflake on, it will always produce cold air, if at the lowest setting in an attempt to compensate for external factors (body heat, sunlight, etc). Additionally, it would be very inefficient to produce 65* air for a desired 65* climate that is currently too hot - this means that all of the "current" air must be displaced with air that is 65* - this sort of system would undoubtedly produce more complaints as it would take much longer than to "mix" the current air with the coldest air possible.

I always have a little chuckle when say, the GF gets in the car and says "OMG it's so cold" and turns her heater and her seat warmer up all the way. It's not going to get hotter faster because she set it at 80*, it's just going to keep heating until it reads 80*. Same thing with cooling, it won't cool any faster, just stay on for longer.

[chromisdesigns]

You probably have it set to "auto", am I right? And the cold air problem occurs before the engine has warmed up? If not, skip the next part, and go to the end where "mixer knob" is mentioned.

Here's the problem: the computer is indeed smart enough to figure out that even if you have the A/C on (which "auto" mode turns on, BTW) and you have set the temp higher than the actual cabin temp, it needs to reheat the air. Which it will do..but it CAN'T do it until the engine warms up enough to turn on the heater circuit! They didn't make it smart enough to wait until then, unfortunately.

But once the engine is warmed up, you should be able to get warm, dehumidified air (A/C does the dehumidification) by using "auto", or by setting AC on manually and setting the temp up.

All this is independent of the hi-low circuit, which can also be either manually controlled by the buttons on the left, or let the computer do it with "auto". BUT you have to manually control the upper vent mix with the blue/red mixer knob, the computer has no control over that.

All clear now? You're welcome.

[AlterZgo]

Originally Posted by BTM

I always have a little chuckle when say, the GF gets in the car and says "OMG it's so cold" and turns her heater and her seat warmer up all the way. It's not going to get hotter faster because she set it at 80*, it's just going to keep heating until it reads 80*. Same thing with cooling, it won't cool any faster, just stay on for longer.

This is precisely why the A/C in the BMW sucks. Because every other car I've owned varies the temperature according to how hot or cold it's set. You set it at 80 degrees and the air blows proportionally hotter than if you set it at 75 degrees.

Every other car I've owned DOES get hotter much quicker or colder much quicker when set at the extreme high or low temps possible.

Sure I can vary the temp by messing with the slider and hitting the snowflake on/off. But, isn't the whole point of climate control to avoid this manual messing around w/ all the temp settings?

Also, WTF is up with the dual mode temp btw the leg warmers and front vents? Most of the time, the air to the bottom feels downright warm whereas the forward vents feel cold. Who the hell would want the top vents to blow cold air with the bottom warm? When it's hot outside and the thermostat is set to 67 degrees, why would anyone think it makes sense to blow warm air on your feet? Thank god the dealer told me about this "feature" before I took the car home, otherwise, I may have brought it back for warranty service.

[Bonziii82]

Originally Posted by BTM

I always have a little chuckle when say, the GF gets in the car and says "OMG it's so cold" and turns her heater and her seat warmer up all the way. It's not going to get hotter faster because she set it at 80*, it's just going to keep heating until it reads 80*. Same thing with cooling, it won't cool any faster, just stay on for longer.

I chuckle at this as well, my wife does the same thing.

[OnlyTruth]

Originally Posted by AlterZgo

This is precisely why the A/C in the BMW sucks. Because every other car I've owned varies the temperature according to how hot or cold it's set. You set it at 80 degrees and the air blows proportionally hotter than if you set it at 75 degrees.

Every other car I've owned DOES get hotter much quicker or colder much quicker when set at the extreme high or low temps possible.

Sure I can vary the temp by messing with the slider and hitting the snowflake on/off. But, isn't the whole point of climate control to avoid this manual messing around w/ all the temp settings?

Also, WTF is up with the dual mode temp btw the leg warmers and front vents? Most of the time, the air to the bottom feels downright warm whereas the forward vents feel cold. Who the hell would want the top vents to blow cold air with the bottom warm? When it's hot outside and the thermostat is set to 67 degrees, why would anyone think it makes sense to blow warm air on your feet? Thank god the dealer told me about this "feature" before I took the car home, otherwise, I may have brought it back for warranty service.

This is the basic principle to get warm while breathing fresher colder air at the same time, so your brain functions better and keeps enjoying ultimate driving)

[chromisdesigns]

Originally Posted by AlterZgo

Every other car I've owned DOES get hotter much quicker or colder much quicker when set at the extreme high or low temps possible.

Nah -- these systems all work pretty much the same way -- they have flapper valves that admit more or less hot air from the radiator heater core depending on what they need. If you have one that also pre-mixes the cold air, or reheats conditioned air, then it may FEEL like you describe. But it doesn't really work that way. Although for air conditioning, a lot of cars switch to recirculate automatically when you select "max ac", which WILL make a lot of difference.

BTW, I agree that BMW heaters and air conditioning both are pretty lame compared to a lot of other cars. I used to have a Nissan that could chase you right out of the car, winter or summer, if you set the temp slider to the max in either direction. Don't know why it's like that, but there you are. Every BMW I've driven was the same. The 335 is actually a bit better in that regard than our old E36. Still not great, though.

As far as the dash vents go, many (most) cars these days allow you to vary the temp independently of the floor vents. Heat rises, for one thing, and also many people don't like hot air blowing in their faces. If you do, just adjust the knob!

[Deltari09]

Originally Posted by AlterZgo

This is precisely why the A/C in the BMW sucks. Because every other car I've owned varies the temperature according to how hot or cold it's set. You set it at 80 degrees and the air blows proportionally hotter than if you set it at 75 degrees.

Every other car I've owned DOES get hotter much quicker or colder much quicker when set at the extreme high or low temps possible.

Sure I can vary the temp by messing with the slider and hitting the snowflake on/off. But, isn't the whole point of climate control to avoid this manual messing around w/ all the temp settings?

Also, WTF is up with the dual mode temp btw the leg warmers and front vents? Most of the time, the air to the bottom feels downright warm whereas the forward vents feel cold. Who the hell would want the top vents to blow cold air with the bottom warm? When it's hot outside and the thermostat is set to 67 degrees, why would anyone think it makes sense to blow warm air on your feet? Thank god the dealer told me about this "feature" before I took the car home, otherwise, I may have brought it back for warranty service.

Um, it's basic science. Heat goes up, thus warming the entirety of the cabin. The "cool air" on your face is likely the room temperature, but it's like that because I don't like getting blown in the face with 80+° air, only to have it heat up my hair.

[cb1111]

My car must be broken since my AC appears to be working fine.

You have to remember that the inside of the car is almost always warmer than the outside and the car calculates what air it should send where based on outside temp vs inside temp.

That "cold air" you feel blowing on you may actually be a lot warmer than you think.

Me? I keep the snowflake on, the thing set to auto and the temp dial at about 22-23 degrees Celcius. The inside is always perfectly comfy with the exception of the first few minutes during extreme temps.

You guys are trying too hard to fix something that isn't broken.

[F32Fleet]

My $.02. When on "auto" the system mixes cooler air from the dash with warmer air from the footwell to reach your desired temperature. Just turn off "auto" to go old school and you'll get the warm air out the dash vents.

It's really not that difficult.

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by BTM

I always have a little chuckle when say, the GF gets in the car and says "OMG it's so cold" and turns her heater and her seat warmer up all the way. It's not going to get hotter faster because she set it at 80*, it's just going to keep heating until it reads 80*. Same thing with cooling, it won't cool any faster, just stay on for longer.

You guys may laugh but it has been proven that when it comes to setting the climate control in a vehicle women prefer to feel the warm/cool air blowing directly on them whereas men do not. Consequently it's not surprise that men generally set the temp at a certain threshold (74-70 degree's) and have the vents turned away from whem whereas women set the temps either higher or lower with the vents turned on them.

[x5to330i]

I designed the A/C...im the idiot.

[Michael Schott]

Originally Posted by cb1111

My car must be broken since my AC appears to be working fine.

You have to remember that the inside of the car is almost always warmer than the outside and the car calculates what air it should send where based on outside temp vs inside temp.

That "cold air" you feel blowing on you may actually be a lot warmer than you think.

Me? I keep the snowflake on, the thing set to auto and the temp dial at about 22-23 degrees Celcius. The inside is always perfectly comfy with the exception of the first few minutes during extreme temps.

You guys are trying too hard to fix something that isn't broken.

Exactly right. You guys are way overthinking this. Set car on auto and let the system do its job.

[timmahh]

If you ever need something to make you feel better about the climate control in your 3, go drive a 05 - 09 Subaru Legacy w/ "automatic" climate control, in addition to the non-synchronized driver and passenger temps [not an option], you'll enjoy sudden bursts of freezing cold air while driving on a freezing cold morning because the sun hit the solar sensor in the dash and the car thinks suddenly it's 100 degrees outside.

[ChasVS]

Heat and cool work just fine on my e92. Maybe it's not the idiot who designed it, but the one who's using it...