XSeries-forum

Hi Guys.....im in need of some advice please.
I have a E70 2009 X5 MSPORT 30.D.   

I noticed a couple of months ago that the air con seemed to have stopped working, so i thought i would wait until the summer months before i get it sorted.
Anyway, i presumed it needed just re-gassing, so i booked it in to my local garage (not bmw).  So i took the car in this morning and left it with him for an hour or so, but when i went to collect it, he said there is another problem here, as it's still not coming out cold !!!Although when you press the air con button the fan speed goes noticeably faster, but i dont know if that is normal or not. So i thought, just my luck, an easy job is going to turn into a small nightmare.
He said its "probably the air con compressor". So i went away with my tail between my legs thinking how much this is going to cost me.
So my questions are.....

Is the compressor the most likely fault?
Or could it be something else?
How long a job would it be to replace the compressor (the garage told me its a nightmare job of around 4 hrs)
How much should i expect to pay for a new one or indeed a used one?
And finally, what sort of price would i be looking at to do the whole job.....supply and fit? (my garage has not got back to me yet with a price)

I hope someone can advise

Cheers

Hi MSPORTBMW,

When they re-gased the system did they do a system clean and check for leaks in the condenser? If they did and there is no leak in the condenser then I am afraid it does sound likely that the compressor has gone. Did they check the actual compressor to see if it was receiving electrical power?

Though I have not had this issue on my X5 I did have this 2 months ago with my Golf and had the compressor replaced for £385 all in. I was also able to get the aircon specialist to not charge me for a second re-gas.

In the meantime I found this one available

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-X5-E70-3- ... Swu4BV1SrM

Hi Ricky......Yes apparently cleaned the system and checked for leaks, and there was power going to it.
So its looking like a new compressor is needed

Also the one you listed is for a SD one, mine is just a D (single turbo) although i dont know if they are the same or not.
I will have to do some research.  Just wondered if anyone knew how long a job it is?

Thanks for your reply

If the system is anything like that in the E53 then a fault with the auxiliary fan will stop the compressor clutch from triggering.

It needs the pressure switch and aux fan to be running correctly before the clutch engages.  Is the compressor clutch triggering?  You should here a very clear click when the a/c switch is set to Auto and the snowflake symbol light is also on.

***UPDATE*** (read my 1st post)

Well i ordered a used compressor for my 2009 x5 3.0D.  But......

I decided to take to another garage (again not BMW) to have the new compressor fitted, but after an hour or so the garage rang me and said "are you sure that you had it re-gassed" i said yes it was done last week.  He said well i have just flushed and re-gassed the system and checked for leaks again and its working !!!  So obviously i was happy about this as it would save my the cost of having a new ac compressor fitted. 
Anyway...i collected the car and yes it was blowing nice and cool.  The following day however i noticed that the ice cold air was only coming out of the vents on the passenger side and just ambient cold air coming from the drivers side vents.  Then the following day i noticed that the ice cold air that was coming out of the passenger side vents was not so cold.....and later on in the day it was just ambient air.  So it slowly got worse over the 2 days since i had it re-gassed !!!  Its now at the point where no 'ice cold' air is coming from any vents.
This is really annoying and seems like there is another fault somewhere......the thing i find strange though, is the fact that it was working fine and now 3 days later there's no ice cold air anymore.

Any ideas guys?

Sounds to me like you have a slow gas leak in the system and they haven't found it.

Hi X5SPORT........

If that was the case (small gas leak) how would that be fixed?
Sorry for my ignorance

Regards

I used this sort of stuff on a minor leak on our Smart.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PROFESSIONAL- ... SwRoxXm2J3

From gassing to empty would take about 6 months. 20 months after using the sealant, it's still lovely and cold.

There is a dye that glows under UV light that is used to look for leaks on any part of the system. 

BMW systems, like many, need to be used very regularly as the gas lubricates all of the seals.  If it's not used then the seals dry out and usually that's that.  Another possible source could be the evaporator which could have a pinhole.

A dye tracer done by an a/c service agent will find the hole in the system or compressor.  Gas loss is typically 15% a year but the systems self protect by shutting down the compressor (and therefore cooling) once the pressure drops.

Had a similar issue with mine, started to blow cold from passenger side, but ambient from drives side, had a small leak in the aircon rad, apparently they get easily punctured from stones as the front vent/grill has large holes in it, maybe worth a look here with the leak test.

Cheers Wipeout, i will get it checked.