Wow, my air conditioner sucks!

[sheepboy]

A/C works fine in my E93, even with the top down...

[raiste]

Mine blows really cold air and it doesn't take long to get there. But, like elp_jc said, the cabin is not well insulated and once it gets hot, it takes a while to cool down.

I would absolutely love to have ventilated seats. Mine take forever to cool down. I may have to get some kind of seat cover to help with the heat.



.

[Bubbles]

Originally Posted by ersin

Sounds like a winner. Where did you get it installed?


Cheers.

Down in FL. Not much use to you They did do a great job, I actually called the shop to today for the great job. I rarely do that.

[kmarei]

I always use the MAX button
And I close the vent going to the back seat and the 2 vents for the passenger
It's ok, but I've used smaller cars with smaller engines that had way better cooling

[richardbb85]

mine works just fine

you gotta remember, it's like 100 degrees outside......

[quality_sound]

Originally Posted by Bubbles

I got ceramic tint Pinnacle Formula One all round, it helps tremendously. I had the a/c set at 75 in the low fan setting in 96F temps. Before the tint, I ran Max Cool all the time without relief. A clear front tint is the icing on the cake if you have a doctors note. Perfect install even the dot matrix looks terrific with no use of vinyl or glue.

Why would you need a doctor's not for clear tint? It's clear...

[quality_sound]

Originally Posted by eatrach73

I don't think it is worse than an '02 VW Passat. That thing took 1/2 hour to get the interior cool. NOticed I said cool and not cold and I had it blast to the coldest. THese new system sucks big time.

There was something wrong with it. VW A/C gets COOOOOOOLD when working properly. However, noone beats GM for cold ass A/C.

[Scoobe]

95 degrees here in San Antonio today with a blinding sun. Felt more like 105. For the first few mins, I was just trying the auto A/C with the fan set on high, but it was taking a while so I hit the max A/C button. Cooled off much faster. After a while, it actually gets too cold. So no problems with mine. BTW it definately pulls a lot of power from the motor. When I kicked it off the RPM's jumped and then came back down.

[Leozap]

Here's is the trick to fix our "sucky" AC. When it's too hot, just press the auto button and set it to high. It'll cool down the cabin really quick.

[Brknbones]

I live in Arizona and it is currently 115. I park in the shade at home and work. The a/c does fine cooling the car down quickly before I begin to sweat. Now if I leave it to bake in the sun for 6 hrs that is a different story! Unless you have vented seats (which I wish was an option) I don't see how you are going to cool down those seats quickly if you are sitting in them. If you are sitting on a 135 deg leather seat I don't care what is blowing on you, it will take a while to cool down.

My cars before this were a 82 honda accord, jeep cherokee x2, and my wifes 2007 honda pilot. The AC in my 335i is better than all those by a mile. I have a hard time believing that a 1968 model car did better, but who knows.

Possible solutions
1) Park in the shade whenever possible (probably most important but not always possible)

2) Get aftermarket vented seats (F BMW for not making this an option on the lowly 3 series!!)

3) Dark tinted windows plus a reflector in your front window when you park. Defiantly makes a big difference

4) Get an autostart remote - not too expensive, was under 500 for the remote start and alarm on my wife's honda pilot. I am only concerned that BMW will try to blame anything that ever happens with the care under warranty on this. (Your DCT is lagging because of this aftermarket remote start?, your convertible top wont function right etc)

5) Hit the MAX button when getting in the car and it is very hot.

[skim]

aren't new cars equipped with "environmental" friendly AC liquid stuff, which isn't "cold"?
i always thought that's the reason why our AC isn't cold.. just enough to keep you from sweating

[SpencerM3]

I agree with most other guys here, system isn't horrible, but all in all not the best. It does get the car cool, but definitely takes a little but to get real cool.

[Bubbles]

Originally Posted by quality_sound

Why would you need a doctor's not for clear tint? It's clear...

In some states it is illegal to put any kind of tint (clear or otherwise) on the front windshield.

[quality_sound]

I don't know of a single state that prohibits a clear film. All that I know if prohibit ANY shade of tint, but clear hasn't been an issue that I've ever seen. I could be wrong though.

[Grauss]

Another issue you might want to think about is your car color. Obviously a jet black car (like the OP's) is going to absorb more sunlight than an alpine white car. If you live in a super hot environment like Houston then it might be smart to go with alpine white with a clear uv tint to keep the car cooler.

[Brknbones]

Originally Posted by Grauss

Another issue you might want to think about is your car color. Obviously a jet black car (like the OP's) is going to absorb more sunlight than an alpine white car. If you live in a super hot environment like Houston then it might be smart to go with alpine white with a clear uv tint to keep the car cooler.

Actually they found that it is the interior color of your care that is much more import then the exterior color.

[JC919]

Yeah, I also live in Houston and must disagree with you on this one. I keep the temp set at 63F in the summer and its more than comfortable. Though I'm somebody who spends a lot of time outside in the heat (running and what not) so I may be a little more acclimated. I do have relatively dark tint so that seems to help.

Oh, and growing up my dad had a 1982 911 SC and the pointless A/C in that car cannot be even remotely compared to that of the M3.

[TheRealOrosie]

Originally Posted by kaykay

Mine is fine so far, not a problem and cools down the cabin very well at the 3-4 fan speed setting. Make sure the dial between the vents is all the way to the left (blue).

It's been 90+ here in Los Angeles, and it's been managing fine.

Second. Been 90+ here in the Bay Area, and my system seems to work just fine.

[starkraven]

Originally Posted by JC919

Yeah, I also live in Houston and must disagree with you on this one. I keep the temp set at 63F in the summer and its more than comfortable. Though I'm somebody who spends a lot of time outside in the heat (running and what not) so I may be a little more acclimated. I do have relatively dark tint so that seems to help.

Oh, and growing up my dad had a 1982 911 SC and the pointless A/C in that car cannot be even remotely compared to that of the M3.

I'm exagerating only a little in comparing the a/c in my old 911 SC to my M3. Really.

But, I have left out a little detail. I have to park in the sun at my office, and my short drive home doesn't give the car a lot of time to cool off. I suspect that if I had to commute out on one of the freeways, it'd eventually catch up. When I went to work this morning, it was already pressing 90, but because my M3 was parked in the garage away from the angry sun, the air blew out of the vents nice and frosty.

My greater point is that I have done the same thing with many different cars over many different summers, and the only car worse than this one was the SC. (And yes, that includes the black on black '68 Mustang. The black on black Audi A4 I had immediately prior to this never had a cooling issue.

Well, like I said, no more bitching. I'm delighted with the M3. I think I'll go drive it to Memorial Park in the 112 degree index and run on the trails. I'll let the evaporative effect of sweat and trees cool me off!

And then a Guinness. Cheers!

[Mahmood07]

why don't you use the aux. ventilation setting? I had it in my x5, and im pretty sure we have it in the m3. Just input the time you leave from work and it will blow air in the cabin to keep it cooler when you get in.

[Kiemyster]

there is some sort of hot country setting which pushes the AC to be much better... next time you guys are by your dealer, make sure this has bee enabled.

i dont know if this applies to M3's, but this is what i know from my 320i and the rest of us at e90post.

[BCA]

I'm also in Houston and mine works totally fine. And I'm actually one of those people that likes things COLD COLD COLD and I'm totally satisfied with the system. Is it perfect? No. Does it do the job? Absolutely.

I have mine on 70 most of the time (rarely need to turn it lower) and control the fan manually. Even in this recent heat, I haven't even had the vent dial all the way on the blue square after the car cools down. I ALWAYS keep my A/C on full recirculation though. That helps a lot, especially in this hot and humid weather.