[vladman]

Resurrecting this thread, rather than starting a new one on potentially the same issue.

My car (November 2012, so 5 months out of warranty) seems to be having the same problem as described in this thread, and the one in the first post.

Aircon stopped working (the fans still work, but doesn't blow cold air) last week.

Just been to my local dealer... He had a look on the system, and initially said your car has an advisory (or something along those lines) for the condenser issue... I was relieved when I heard this as this was described in that other post, that some people were getting confirmation from their dealers that their cars were eligible for this work, and other ones that they weren't (regardless of whether the car was in our out of warranty).

But then the dealer kind of backtracked a bit, and went "Hang on... Showing here this was done last October...". I was thinking what's he talking about, I've only ever taken the car to them since I bought it, and it's true it was in October last year, but nothing to do with aircon, and no one mentioned any work done on the aircon to me... I asked him and he peered at the screen some more and said it was "checked" in October... Anyway, as the car is out of warranty, we booked it in for diagnostics, which he said will be £150 (eeek , does this sound right?), and then they'll have to speak to BMW to see if there's any "good will", if it turns out it's the dreaded condenser issue.

Definitely not impressed, car just out of warranty, and already issues like this. Air-con on my old Jaguar S-Type R (sold to my friend when I bought the BMW) which is nearly 14 years old is still going strong.

[Andehh]

I would definitely get it to an indie to be honest, something like this should be fairly easy to diag & fix for them...can't see it requiring a specialist BMW Master Tech & his toys for it

For what it's worth, my Rybrook dealer only charges £80 + VAT for an inspection, so may be worth ringing round the local BMWs for a better price.

[Hasser]

i have an active hybrid 5 registered december 2013.

i got a letter from my local BMW dated 13th April.

"due to a problem with the air conditioning condensor in the vehicle, this part was replaced at an earlier date.

as part of ongoing quality analysis at BMW, it has been established that the replacement part that was fitted is not sufficiently resistant to corrosion. corrosion may cause the condensor to leak, allowing refrigerent to escape. htis leads to air conditioning failure.

therefore, we would like to check the air conditioning condesnor and, if neccessary replace it."

i bought the vehicle from the dealer in July 2014.

[vladman]

Thanks for the replies.

I have a feeling the £150 for the diagnostics only is the dealer trying to fleece me a bit. If this part is being changed by BMW having been identified as an issue on some cars (and mine seems to be one of them as the dealer saw a note on his system that alerted him about this) then the part should be changed FOC without needing any diagnostics. I realise it's possible that my issue might be something else, but it may also easily be this, and that should be done first, and then see if the issue remains.

Can anyone recommend a reputable independent in the West London area roughly (I live in Northolt).

Thanks.

[vladman]

Originally Posted by vladman

Aircon stopped working (the fans still work, but doesn't blow cold air) last week.

Just been to my local dealer... He had a look on the system, and initially said your car has an advisory (or something along those lines) for the condenser issue... I was relieved when I heard this as this was described in that other post, that some people were getting confirmation from their dealers that their cars were eligible for this work, and other ones that they weren't (regardless of whether the car was in our out of warranty).

But then the dealer kind of backtracked a bit, and went "Hang on... Showing here this was done last October...". I was thinking what's he talking about, I've only ever taken the car to them since I bought it, and it's true it was in October last year, but nothing to do with aircon, and no one mentioned any work done on the aircon to me... I asked him and he peered at the screen some more and said it was "checked" in October... Anyway, as the car is out of warranty, we booked it in for diagnostics, which he said will be £150 (eeek , does this sound right?), and then they'll have to speak to BMW to see if there's any "good will", if it turns out it's the dreaded condenser issue.

A few more details... The £150 quoted for diagnostics is NOT inclusive of the VAT, so it's actually £180!

I also confirmed both with this dealer and the dealer I originally bought the car from as AUC that this was indeed done in October last year. My local dealer didn't say a word to me about it back then, which I find really odd.

The dealer I bought the car from said that if it turns out the same part has failed again, it will be replaced FOC to me, but my local dealer is saying there's no warranty on the part fitted in October (!) and they'd have to talk to BMW to see if there's any "good will" and if they'll cover it.

Hmmm!

[tmarshall57]

This is worth a read:

http://forum.bmw5.co.uk/topic/118563...recall/?page=1

[Apples12]

Hi,

I believe...your dealer is chatting out of his rear end

any part fitted by BMW be it under a normal retail sale or as part of warranty work is covered by a 24month unlimited mileage warranty.

I would contact BMW customer services myself and ask for clarification and try a different main dealer. you may have to do a bit of leg-work but it will mean the repair is done by a main dealer and is warranteed

mine had its condensor and pump replaced under warranty when it went for service in february - although my car is just under 3 years old. it also had an exhaust clamp as a 'quality enhancement' a little under a month ago

[vladman]

Just had a look at the condenser, and wasn't able to see any serious damage, although it was hard to discern as I was trying to do it in bright sunlight (with a torch).

If it's not the condenser, then whatever else it might be, it won't be covered by any warranty... Ugh. In which case, I might be better off going to an independent?

Another thing, I remember I noticed, the day before air-con failed, a slight whistling noise, coming from the front central vents (air-con still worked at this point). Then it failed the next day. When I just had a look again, I could hear the whistling again.

Has anyone else been able to hear this, and has any idea if it's an indication of a particular fault?

Thanks.

[dippo]

When my condenser failed (car build date Feb 2014), I had a whistling noise which I thought was coming from the ventilation system somewhere.

I became frustrated with my supplying dealer in West London (Berry), and got my last service done at H R Owen in Park Royal. The general attitude seemed a lot better.

[Piers]

My car was in for a service in March, and automatically had the condenser change as part of the recall I was told, not that there was anything wrong with mine.

[E60MKF]

I had my condenser changed back in 2014 as part of the initial repairs and when the car went for its MOT in march, the service advisor told me that there was a note on the car to change the condenser. It was done FOC and its A LOT better. I think the replacement one stopped working/broke within months as this new one is great

[vladman]

I dropped it off this morning. Fingers crossed it's the condenser and they change it again FOC. I'll keep the thread updated.

[Martin2C]

I wasn't aware of this issue until I read this thread a couple of days ago. Took my car in this morning to have a replacement steering wheel fitted (wasn't happy with some wear on the leather after 38k miles, but amazed they agreed to replace it) and was told that it would take longer than I expected as it was getting a quality enhancement....a new aircon compressor. They didn't mention it when it was in for service 2 weeks ago, nor when they called yesterday to confirm the booking.

Had a nice bacon sandwich while I waited and they had a selection of pastries too, small things, but makes a difference to the whole experience. Still not quite at Porsche levels, but neither are their prices so it's fair enough.

[E60MKF]

Originally Posted by Martin2C

Still not quite at Porsche levels, but neither are their prices so it's fair enough.

what is Porsche like (service wise, i like all these small things)?

im thinking of changing my F10 to a cayenne

[Martin2C]

They're expensive, but nothing is too much trouble. On the 'little things' side, tea comes in a pot with a cup/saucer, you get Porsche branded water, they have little cakes, get an office if you wait with the car etc. The service when you take the car in and collect it is more personal too.

An example of a bigger thing. We had a leaking master cylinder which made a mess on the drivers side mat (it's located above the pedal box), not only did they fix it, they replaced both mats (nappa edged, so expensive) and took the carpets out to clean them and the foam backing, in case it has soaked through.

When we bought the car it felt like we were buying the most expensive car in the showroom (we weren't!), it's nice to know that doesn't stop when you've signed the paperwork

[Alcenos]

For those of you that had or still have the condenser problem, did your A/C sound like a hissing noise on startup?

[remmib]

Originally Posted by Alcenos

For those of you that had or still have the condenser problem, did your A/C sound like a hissing noise on startup?

Funny I found this thread now, I got my AC fixed to days ago, and they changed the condenser.
And yes, I had the hissing noise before, but it's gone now.

[Alcenos]

Originally Posted by remmib

Funny I found this thread now, I got my AC fixed to days ago, and they changed the condenser.
And yes, I had the hissing noise before, but it's gone now.

I have confirmed that it was the condenser. It is getting replaced as we speak and is covered under warranty.

[vladman]

Originally Posted by vladman

I dropped it off this morning. Fingers crossed it's the condenser and they change it again FOC. I'll keep the thread updated.

So, it's fixed. But apparently it wasn't the condenser. It was a "short circuit" in the fan or something like that. Bottom line, I don't trust a word that comes out of this dealer's mouth. They kept the car the whole day (8am until 6pm), rang me 25 minutes before closing time to ask me to come pick it up (I made it with one minute to spare), told me a different story about what the problem was when I got there (on the phone they said they replaced a fan). The car was returned cleaned, but with two big greasy streaks on the lid of the storage compartment in the middle (cream leather).

They charged me £150 to fix "this little wire" (words of the girl who rang me and who handed the car back to me).

I'm thinking of writing to BMW about this whole thing, and see if they're willing to at least partially contribute towards the cost (especially as there were other issues with the car before (when it was still under warranty), mentioned in another thread).

Will also have to find another dealer, or go with an independent, now the car is out of warranty.

[Bored of Audi]

Condensers are a real pain in the arse, and are susceptible to damage from stones etc from the road.

The problem is design inherent on all cars, some are obviously better designed than others. Its all a catch 22 scenario to be fair and by making the condenser lightweight and smaller you have to engineer it to be super efficient. To do this you have to make them using aluminium and other specialist alloys with extremely thin tubing which is them more like to get damaged from stones, and of course to make it more efficient it typically sits in front from the rad so it gets the ambient air first.

You can look all day for a leak but refrigerant is colourless and generally odourless and you realy need a leak detector. You will normally see a very small trace of oil which has come from the compressor.

I have also seen leak occur where two dissimilar metals have caused a reaction and it has increased the corrosion to a leve a leak occurs.

I am surprised that if BMW / dealer were desperate for pars they would have got non genuine condensers in stock as there are plenty of companies that sell them.

[Dexteryout]

So my aircon stopped working a while ago for a few days, and then just started working again, and has been fine ever since.

I called the dealer, and the usual pay for diagnostics blah blah. Anyway as it's been working I left it.

My friends car has now done the same, so he called up and they are saying that there has been a recal, so it's now going in, I told him to tell them about mine, and they said mine can also come in, so they are now both booked in to have something done, what I don't know.

Annoyingly mine was in back in March for a service, so could they not of told me then? Or did they not know.

Anyway, once I know what they do, I'll keep you posted.

[morellomax]

On my April 2015 car, the aircon works but it's not very powerful, and the temperature setting on the climate control feels about 5 degrees out i.e. if I wind it right down to 16C the car cools to about 21C. I think it is getting slightly worse over time.

Could this be a linked issue, or is this a different problem anyone else has experienced ?