BMW Air Con Info

[Motor84]

I was at the BMW event at Gaydon on Sunday, loads of nice Beemers, only saw 2 X5s though!! Whats that all about?

Anyway, we were chatting to one of the guys who works on the mag BMW CAR, he had been over to the BMW factory, and one of the engineers suggested that if you're running an older BMW, you should try and leave your air con on all the time if you can bear it, or at least use it very regularly! It keeps the whole system lubricated, stops seals decaying, and keeps it in good working order apparently.

I did wonder though, if you have it on 17 degrees, will it burn more fuel than if you had it on say 20 degrees? My guess is thats how it works, but I'm no engineer! Anyone know?

[Chompers]

Yes, always a good idea to run the Air Con more often than not IMO. To be honest I would think it would cost more to repair an AC system due to dried out seals and the such than the additional fuel cost to run the AC all the time. Another good idea tis to run the AC at the highest temp/Max fan speed for a good 10/15 mins the heat will burn off any bugs and will also get rid of the "Cat pee" smell you can sometimes get due to bacteria build up.

As for more fuel used at 20C instead of 17C, I have no idea but I would guess that if would be very minimal indeed.

[Motor84]

I never knew that , I will be running mine regularly from now on. Might bug the missus (who likes it like an oven), but now I have a valid excuse to have it nice and chilled!

[ChrisLux]

I've had problems with A/C on both my E36 and E39 , and after having them re-gassed and serviced , both the
specialist and an Independant told me that you should run A/C for at least 15 mins 3 times a week even through
Winter . I know a couple of people who even leave theirs on 24/7 365 days a year , although IMO that's taking it
a bit too far !!
My wife didn't heed this warning when I told her , and didn't use the A/C last Winter , and now I've had to have
the E39 done again this year !!

I've also been told that with the more modern type of A/C (not quite sure which year build this starts though!!)
that leaving A/C on all the time does not drain fuel like 'older' systems . Certainly in my B8 you don't notice a
difference at all .

Chris

[StumpyPete]

I run mine the whole time, and have done in my E70, both E53s and the E39 before that. Never had a problem with the aircon on any of them.

[Chompers]

[quote=""bwg""]I never knew that , I will be running mine regularly from now on. Might bug the missus (who likes it like an oven), but now I have a valid excuse to have it nice and chilled! [/quote]

As we all know A/C is not just for cold air, If your OH likes it hot like an oven then let her have it but keep the A/C on it'll save you big bills in the future

[CondorX5]

Have always run the aircons in my cars right through the year and rarely have hassles with them.......

[Motor84]

I will be doing so from now on. It was smelling a bit funny I must admit. Just completed a camping trip to Cornwall on which I had the air con on all the time, the smell seems to be going (only ever on startup), and its a pleasant temperature all the time! Wish I'd known this sooner!!

[Minda]

Keep mine on 90% of the time, had no problems with any of the cars, do spray the antibacterial (nothing special just of the supermarket shelf) spray in the the car and let recirculate time to time, gives it a little freshen.

[lizzie]

When I bought my car it smelt a bit funny and bought one of those aircon refresher cans from Halfords. It cleans all the bacteria out. Worked a treat and not bad for £11.99. You put aircon on and open all blowers on recirculating air for 5 mins then put can behind passenger seat, set it off, get out close all doors and leave car running for 10 mins.