[jykishan]

Is it me or is the "auto" function of the climate control completely useless?? The immediate 2 car's I've had before this one was a Audi A5 and a Maxima, in both cars I had an auto climate button, in both cars it worked the same, you hit auto, you adjust the dial to whatever temp you want, and the climate control heated or cooled based on that temp you chose. So if its 30 outside, I turn the dial to 80, and I get warm/hot air from the vents, the vents that blew the air was determined by "auto".

In this car its useless, if its 30 outside and I want heat, I turn the dial to 80, I have to make sure the center dial is turned to red also, and if the air isn't blowing hard enough I STILL must adjust the air speed. How is that automatic? The temp here in N. FL is all over the damn place, some days like today its 70 and some days its 35 at night, not cold for you northerners but still. So like today if its 70 and I want cool air, I turn the dial to 60, but I still get warm air out of the windshield/side window vents because the center dial is still red, and if I feel like the air is blowing too slow, I gotta turn up the air speed. Whats the point? Am I doing something wrong??

[AtlantaDude]

I felt the exact same way man. I've since gotten use to it.... but it did seem... odd...

[Black5]

I was wondering about this bs too..

[HighlandPete]

Don't you guys set the temperature, air intensity level to how much baseline airflow you like, face vent blender to personal temperature preference and just let the system get on with it?

I run at 20-degrees Centigrade and it just does its job without any need to touch, works in the background as climate control is supposed to.

I ride with folks who keep changing their climate and the car is never comfortable, or stable in temperature.

BMW's systems are perfect for me.

HighlandPete

[GTME2010]

If you leave the center dial between blue and red, then it should blow same temp air as else where. I haven't had any issues with fan speed. This adjusts based on ambient, internal, and heater core temperature. If your car is cold, the fan speed will me minimal if you're trying to heat up the car. With a cold heater core, you're more likely to cool down the car when its cold outside than warming it with a high fan speed.

I personally like the option of adjusting the center to make the air blowing on my face cooler or warmer than the rest of the car.

[pillpusher84]

Originally Posted by GTME2010

If you leave the center dial between blue and red, then it should blow same temp air as else where. I haven't had any issues with fan speed. This adjusts based on ambient, internal, and heater core temperature. If your car is cold, the fan speed will me minimal if you're trying to heat up the car. With a cold heater core, you're more likely to cool down the car when its cold outside than warming it with a high fan speed.

I personally like the option of adjusting the center to make the air blowing on my face cooler or warmer than the rest of the car.

+1 ... this is the only brand of vehicle that has seemed to have an actual AUTO & independent zones configured correctly.

[bake]

The system works perfectly fine. The dial in the center vent does not alter your temp setting. That only adjusts the temp of the air coming out of those vents. The temperature setting you choose will still be maintained. The fan speed is determined by several factors, heater core temp being one of them. Just try setting the temp you like and set the red/blue dial in the center and leave for a whole day without touching. Report back and let us know if you still feel the same.

[ingenieur]

Originally Posted by bake

The system works perfectly fine. The dial in the center vent does not alter your temp setting. That only adjusts the temp of the air coming out of those vents. The temperature setting you choose will still be maintained. The fan speed is determined by several factors, heater core temp being one of them. Just try setting the temp you like and set the red/blue dial in the center and leave for a whole day without touching. Report back and let us know if you still feel the same.

Exactly!
Depending on the season you may want to adjust the set auto temp up or down a few degrees, but mainly adjust the center vents a bit cooler or warmer.

Trying to adjust it manually all the time would be frustrating and a chore

[jykishan]

Originally Posted by bake

The system works perfectly fine. The dial in the center vent does not alter your temp setting. That only adjusts the temp of the air coming out of those vents. The temperature setting you choose will still be maintained. The fan speed is determined by several factors, heater core temp being one of them. Just try setting the temp you like and set the red/blue dial in the center and leave for a whole day without touching. Report back and let us know if you still feel the same.

played around with it for a while today, today was a bit warm, so I set it to 72, when I had the center dial blue the center vents blew cooler air and the windshield/side window vents blew warmer air, and when I turned the dial to red the center vents blew warmer air and the windshield/side window vents blew cooler air. I see what y'all mean when you say just set the temp and adjust the center vent to the temp of the air you want to blow towards your face.
However at no point did the air speed change when I adjusted the temp up or down, and yes I waited a few mins all the way to 60 and 84. Does it work like this: if today it was 20 outside , and I have the temp set to 75, with the center dial set to the middle of blue/red, I'm assuming the air temp would change based on how fast I set the air speed?

[EV0LVE]

BMW climate control is crap, I gave up on it. It has to be adjusted with multiple knobs and wheels to get it right. So frustrating.

Don't even get me started about the lack of rear vents temp control...

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by jykishan

However at no point did the air speed change when I adjusted the temp up or down, and yes I waited a few mins all the way to 60 and 84. Does it work like this: if today it was 20 outside , and I have the temp set to 75, with the center dial set to the middle of blue/red, I'm assuming the air temp would change based on how fast I set the air speed?

First I must say how I run mine, I have my air intensity settings set to low, so don't expect the fast air flows on warm up or cool down. I never touch the air volume or temperature controls and leave the system in full auto to do its job. I normally set the face blend to mid position, so that also is gently regulated by the auto function.

So in use I'm getting a gentle air flow (low intensity) but the air volume is changing according to need, Even the face blend changes in a subtle way, when cold the air flow is slower and blended to save your face from chilling. Once the cabin is more stable it then builds a little more flow. If the car is cooling the air speeds do automatically speed up on demand and gently subside as I'd expect.

Say I get into my car and it is hot I don't mess with the settings, I just hit the MAX button for a few seconds to get a quick burst of cooling and then press again to return to full auto mode. That is really the only time I need to touch the controls or may just change the face blend to cool or heat according to my mood, but even that is rare.

The principle of BMW CC in auto mode is to heat as fast as possible, cool as fast as possible, in a comfortable way.

If you run higher intensity settings, then air flows are greater and adjusted more automatically according to need. So we have the flexibility to have an air flow range which we prefer.

Sounds to me you want/like greater air flows. Do you have your system set to the highest automatic intensity settings?

HighlandPete

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by EV0LVE

It has to be adjusted with multiple knobs and wheels to get it right. So frustrating.

Set it up once, to your preferred settings, and that's virtually it for the duration of ownership.

What can be more simple?

HighlandPete

[AP]

I find it fine for me although when I got teh car there were 2 features I didn't quite get coming from an E39.

The center vent (blue red) setting is not automatic so you have to manually choose what temperature you want that. as a rule of thumb in winter I leave that halfway between red and blue and in the summer, I leave it at blue.

The otehr oddity is the fan speed. In the E39, you set auto and the car would look after fan speed (you'd see it change as required)
On the F10 this is the setting for generally how strong you want the air to blow. I agree its not obvious, I've set it to the middle setting and left it as that.

Otehr than minor changes to the temperature dial and the central vent blue / red thing, its left to its own devices and works fine for me.

[Piers]

Sounds like the panel in the dash is faulty, I had this on my E60, new panel ( at £1k on warranty) fixed it perfectly.

You should hit the auto button, and set temp - job done. So yes yours is broken

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by AP

The otehr oddity is the fan speed. In the E39, you set auto and the car would look after fan speed (you'd see it change as required)
On the F10 this is the setting for generally how strong you want the air to blow. I agree its not obvious, I've set it to the middle setting and left it as that.

Yes coming from an E39 to the F10 will be different. The E60 had intensity settings, set via iDrive. Some E60 users were confused over the same sort of apparent air flow issues, until they grasped they had another airflow control level.

At least in the F10/11 we have the intensity control on the climate control panel, so easy to set and visually see where it's set.

HighlandPete

[raleedy]

Owners who find the temp adjustment on the center dash vent confusing or frustrating should trade for a different brand.

[The X Men]

Originally Posted by jykishan

However at no point did the air speed change when I adjusted the temp up or down, and yes I waited a few mins all the way to 60 and 84. Does it work like this: if today it was 20 outside , and I have the temp set to 75, with the center dial set to the middle of blue/red, I'm assuming the air temp would change based on how fast I set the air speed?

The air speed in the BMW HVAC system does not varies thru out the its min and max range, instead, you set a range of air speed you like by using the fan speed adjustment while you are in auto. Some people like to slowly heat up or cool down the cabin and some like it fast. When in auto, there are like 5 or 6 bars of fan speed adjustment and in manual, there are something like 10 bars. When the fan speed change, you will not see that on the bars, if vary the temp from min to max, you may feel or hear it in the vent but the fan speed indicator will not change like all the other cars because it is not an indicator, instead, it is a fan speed range adjustment setting.

[kyleitchi]

From what I understand, the AUTO function is used for condensation on the windows. I use it primarily for that function and it works perfectly.

Copied and pasted from 2011 BMW 535i manual:

"If the windows are fogged over, press the AUTO
button on the driver's side to utilize the condensation
sensor.

AUTO program

Press the button.
Air volume, air distribution, and temperature
are controlled automatically.
Depending on the selected temperature, AUTO
intensity, and outside influences, the air is directed
to the windshield, side windows, upper
body, and into the footwell.

The cooling function, refer to page 128, is
switched on automatically with the AUTO program.
At the same time, a condensation sensor controls
the program so as to prevent window condensation
as much as possible.
Intensity of the AUTO program
With the AUTO program switched on, automatic
control of the air volume and air distribution can
be adjusted.

Press the left or right side of the button:
decrease or increase the intensity.
The selected intensity is shown on the display
of the automatic climate control."

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by kyleitchi

From what I understand, the AUTO function is used for condensation on the windows. I use it primarily for that function and it works perfectly.

Copied and pasted from 2011 BMW 535i manual:

...

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Anti fogging is only one function for choosing/selecting Auto.

Auto is just that... it does it all automatically, anti fogging, solar influence control, adjusting and directing airflows according to demand for heat and cooling, auto recirculation for preventing pollutants entering the cabin, dumping damp air to the floor level on start up, etc., etc.

For sure, it is a complex bit of design and has lots of user tuneable variations. Clearly designed to be left in Auto mode for user comfort and true climate control.

I sense some users prefer the more simple A/C designs, just temperature and fan speed knobs, to continuously switch up and down on personal demand.

I sat with a guy the other day who was delivering me a hire car. He was fiddling with the A/C as we went along, from no air flow and misted up windows, to it being on full heat, then like an arctic gale, all within a 12 mile run. What is that all about? When I took over the car, I set the controls as I would my BMW and never adjusted them in the three days I had the car. Worked perfectly.

HighlandPete

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by The X Men

When the fan speed change, you will not see that on the bars, if vary the temp from min to max, you may feel or hear it in the vent but the fan speed indicator will not change like all the other cars because it is not an indicator, instead, it is a fan speed range adjustment setting.

Good point to emphasis, fan speed is adjusting, like older systems, but no visual indicator as you highlight.

HighlandPete

[Grover432]

Originally Posted by HighlandPete

Don't you guys set the temperature, air intensity level to how much baseline airflow you like, face vent blender to personal temperature preference and just let the system get on with it?

I run at 20-degrees Centigrade and it just does its job without any need to touch, works in the background as climate control is supposed to.

I ride with folks who keep changing their climate and the car is never comfortable, or stable in temperature.

BMW's systems are perfect for me.

HighlandPete

I agree, but it took me a while to figure that under "Auto" you can reduce the maximum fan speed. Sometimes you don't want the fan blowing the maximum that "Auto" would set it to, so you reduce it. You need to remember this because the next time you get into a freezing car and set the temp to 20C and wait for the engine to warm enough to ramp up the fan speed automatically, it doesn't blow at the max because you turned it down the last time you drove the car.

One think I find peculiar in my car though: If I set the temp to 22C and press the "Auto" button and leave the fan speed at the max under hat setting (Auto), the fan ill gradually ramp up to full speed, but then after driving, the fan speed will reduce. When the car is shut off and left to cool and you get back into the car to start it, the fan speed never goes back to a higher setting than it was at when you shut the car off. You have to press the auto button off and then on again to get it to ramp up to the maximum speed based on engine temp and the interior temp.

Confused? Me too.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by Grover432

One think I find peculiar in my car though: If I set the temp to 22C and press the "Auto" button and leave the fan speed at the max under that setting (Auto), the fan ill gradually ramp up to full speed, but then after driving, the fan speed will reduce. When the car is shut off and left to cool and you get back into the car to start it, the fan speed never goes back to a higher setting than it was at when you shut the car off. You have to press the auto button off and then on again to get it to ramp up to the maximum speed based on engine temp and the interior temp.

Confused? Me too.

You have the intensity setting to maximum (????) and it doesn't hold in memory? Or have you touched any of the buttons (fan speed buttons?)which turn CC to semi auto mode?

If untouched, don't understand why it doesn't hold the intensity setting in memory. Never had mine change on its own. But if you have modified some function after your auto setting, I see why it may default to an auto mode at the next start.

HighlandPete