E70 Aircon Condenser?

[rehan]

Hi All,

Car just back from service. Asked him to topup the AC as it always needs a refilling every year. He said that the condenser is leaking. Got it home and saw that it is leaking from the bottom edge of it! RealOEM state a part number of 64509239992. I've searched online and found many different makes of condenser (with the dryer attached). I was wondering if anyone here would be able to advise which is a good one to go for at a reasonable cost - they appear to start from £25 and go up to over £250.

Also to get an idea, how many hours' labour would you expect a garage to charge to replace it?

Thanks in advance!

[X5Sport]

You should take measurements of the width, height and depth to find ones that actually match what you have fitted. That should reduce the number of options. See if you can see who the manufacturer actually is. Could be Hella, Valeo or Dietrich - the more pricy ones (it’s a BMW after all )

It doesn’t look like a major job to actually do it. An hour or so including evacuating and then refilling/replacing the refrigerant & lubricant. A main dealer will charge around £200+VAT plus parts and refrigerant. The trouble is they use menu pricing so could well add another hour on top. You’ll need new O-rings and seals etc.

I’m not sure that I would trust a £25 replacement unit though. That just looks too cheap IMHO.

[rehan]

Thanks for your advice for measuring the condenser. I've measured the condenser and can see some options. ECP have a Mahler one for about £114 including their bank holiday sale. I'll see how much the garage wants to charge me for it.

Although newtis.info is down now, I've found a page on workshop-manuals.com that show that it isn't too onerous. I might change it myself. I think it doesn't need the radiator removing, only the fan cowl and cover which is on top of the radiator. The hoses should come out easily and I will take your advice and order some o-rings from BMW as well as they can't charge too much for those! I'll then take it back to the garage so that they can properly evacuate and recharge the system.

I should convert the centre console to a piggy bank so that I have enough saved up from time to time for the next thing that goes wrong on it

[libra007]

had the same issue two years back
price varries so much, hella behr is the OEM part for this, but there is hella and and then there is hella premium line (which looks better and real replacement part) I did order the non premium hella one and returned it after looking at its built quality.
in the end i went for nissens one. and since then didnt have to top up air con gas every year.

[rehan]

Hi All,

An update to this...

I ordered a Mahle condenser from carparts4less - they had a BH discount so came in at about £90. What arrived was a Hella Behr, made in china and painted in black which is slightly different to the one that was on the car as it was plain aluminium. Anyway looking into it, painted black condensers apparently makes them more efficient at radiating heat. Came with a couple of new locating pins but no o-rings so I got a couple of the HNBR ones from BMW.

So I then started work on the car. Removed the fan, the cross member brace thing, and plastic cover on top of the radiator. Removed the hex bolts on the AC line connectors to the radiator, and what followed was an hour long frustrating exercise in trying to de-couple the lines. Seems that the alignment pin was siezed onto the connectors. Took some careful wedging of screwdrivers and hammering to get them to separate. There was some damage to the mating surfaces, but none where the o-rings meet the receptacle in the condenser. Applied new o-rings to the lines, and tried to get the connectors back on. Struggled a bit again. The locating pins on the lines appear to be fluted, and pressed on. I couldn't remove them to replace them with the new ones that came with the replacement radiator, so had to live with the ones currently in place. The depth of the receiving hole was a little narrow and not deep enough, so I just carefully drilled down into them on the new radiator and managed to get it all connected up.

Took the car for an aircon service expecting leaks from the connector area. Took about an hour as they evacuate, re-fill and test for leaks. They reported no leaks which is a result - let's see how long it lasts!

[X5Sport]

Black is good for radiating, white for reflecting. Annoying that it wasn’t a straightforward fit but good result for you.

BMW probably saved 0.001p not painting it so the bean counters insisted on not doing so

[rehan]

All the help here means that I can continue driving the beast without taking out a 2nd mortgage (I think!). I am extremely grateful for all the feedback and help!