Air conditioner blows hot and cold air

[innovator54]

I am new to this forum in writing messages but have been lurking for some time. I have a 2001 325i BMW I purchased new , of course, in 2001.
I am dealing with a current air conditioner problem as follows and would like some help from anyone who has had this problem or is a tech geek.

Problem:
It is now 100deg F in Arkansas and my air conditioner quit functioning properly. When I turn it on Auto and set the roller device to three dot blue I get luke warm air. When I set the air conditioner on manual and run the floor and center vents I get cold air from the center and HOT air from the floor vents. If I turn on the front window vents at the same time these are also hot. If I moved the roller to the white line between the blue and red dots when on maual the air becomes luke warm in all locations.

When I intially turn the air on it is cold but as the car heats up so does the air.

Solutions tried:

1) Two weeks ago the blower motor would not work and I replaced the First stage resistor and this fixed this issue. This problem is not related to the first stage resistor as this controls the blower motor.

2) I checked refrigerant system for leaks and for proper refrigerant levels and they are ok.

3) Today I changed the Heater valve thinking it might be open but this did not fix the issue. The air conditioner started out cold for the first two mintues then as the engine heated up it becam warm ( mixture of cold and hot)

I have heard people talk about the auxiliary fan failing and causing this problem. Is the auxiliary fan the same as the cooling fan thats sits all the way up front in front of the radiator and radiator fan?

Also, my inside temperature gage is working properly reading 100 deg F today and the climate control settinga all seemed ok.

Has anyone had this issue or know of what might be causing the problem??
I do not wish to take the car to the dealer or repair shop. I have spent over $16k in repairs in the last year on this car including contol modules, transmisson, struts, drive shaft etc.

Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated. I am a mechanical engineer by trade and can be pretty handy with enough information. The final stage resistor and Heater (water) valve replacement were a snap once I had a little direction and it came from this forum by reading other posts.

Thanks
Innovator54

[Smilez]

bump, i would like to know too.

when you say the vents on the floor, do you mean like by the foot pedal, it gets really hot?

[innovator54]

Yes. By the gas pedal and also on the passengers side near the console and floor mat where the vent is.

[novemberwhiskey]

Hi there innovator54. I am new to this forum and have come across your posting about your e46 a/c heater problems. I have just purchased a 2001 e46 318i here in Australia and am having exactly the same problem. Have you come across a solution? If you have could I please have some help as we are coming into summer and am not looking foward to having cold face and burning feet. Thanks.
novemberwhiskey

[H1RSCHY]

im trying something new today.... i heard that you can get rid of the old refrigerant and re-pump it all up using a cool refrigerant tool that i got at autozone but only certain states carry it due to its effect on the atmosphere... ill see how it works and post how to do it and pics of the bottle so you can keep your eyes out for it! i hope this works!

[TizSuperrQ]

Could your dial be broken?

[H1RSCHY]

no the a/c in these cars just sucks all together im thinking of just taking it out kus its being a pain in the a$$... i tried the refrigerant and it sucked major balls so i wouldnt ever try that stuff again... im just going to take it in because thats ridiculous that you buy a car like this and the ac doesnt work that soon after...

[TizSuperrQ]

no the a/c in these cars just sucks all together im thinking of just taking it out kus its being a pain in the a$$... i tried the refrigerant and it sucked major balls so i wouldnt ever try that stuff again... im just going to take it in because thats ridiculous that you buy a car like this and the ac doesnt work that soon after...

So you buy a car thats 9 years old and than bam@!! ac fails? and its the cars fault? please say ur kidding

[H1RSCHY]

So you buy a car thats 9 years old and than bam@!! ac fails? and its the cars fault? please say ur kidding

i bought this car last spring from a dealer who check all that stuff and it worked great last summer... now yes it failed. my fam has three bmws mine is the oldest and an 07 is the newest and all of them work almost as well as that ignorant fool above. dont kid yourself or any of us... you have no clue what youre talking about sport... go suck a pair fag

[TizSuperrQ]

^-----have fun this summer bra haaha

[ezbmr]

Hmmmm, I just had my a/c serviced, it is working pretty good, my 528i competes with my refridgerator

[KenstA]

I have an 01 E46 325i with the same problem, started to happen last year, and it still happens. Blows some a/c out for a while, then switches to warm air which makes me mad -_- .

[amancuso]

My cousin has a 99 323i with the same problem.. someone's gotta get it fixed then post the culprit here.

[OrovilleTim]

I have the same problem in a 2004 325. When I find out the cause, I'll post back here for the sake of others that may be searching.

Tim

[Black328ci]

my 2000 328ci is doing the same stuff.

[OrovilleTim]

I'm researching local BMW service folks to "develop a relationship", and one of the first things I'm going to do is have them look at this. Some more details on this that I've discovered:

If I leave it set at 59, it stays ice cold.
If I (well, if the wife) changes it and it cycles off, it does the hot and humid thing.
I can hear the compressor click on if I start the car with AC off, and then turn it on.
Fan speed works as desired and has no effect on temp, it's only when it has to cycle.

I've never stood the hot and humid long enough to determine if it will ever come back. I tried, and only lasted 5 minutes.

As mentioned, when I get around to having this look at though, I will definitely report back here.

[OrovilleTim]

I was hoping it just needed a little freon. But, I hooked up the guages, let it run for a few minutes and found the following:

43 PSI Low and 225 PSI High @ 90 Degrees F Ambient Temp.

Seems like that should be already "full", but I don't know a whole lot about A/C... just judge by the colors on the dial.

[Daler69]

im having the same kind of problem, when i turn the AC on, its not great but the passenger side vent (near the door) and the passenger side vent of the two big middle vents blow cold but the 2 my side blow warm.. my car hasnt got dual climate control but its acting like it does..

[titanvolfan]

I am new to this forum in writing messages but have been lurking for some time. I have a 2001 325i BMW I purchased new , of course, in 2001.
I am dealing with a current air conditioner problem as follows and would like some help from anyone who has had this problem or is a tech geek.

Problem:
It is now 100deg F in Arkansas and my air conditioner quit functioning properly. When I turn it on Auto and set the roller device to three dot blue I get luke warm air. When I set the air conditioner on manual and run the floor and center vents I get cold air from the center and HOT air from the floor vents. If I turn on the front window vents at the same time these are also hot. If I moved the roller to the white line between the blue and red dots when on maual the air becomes luke warm in all locations.

When I intially turn the air on it is cold but as the car heats up so does the air.

Clamp off the water line to the water/heater control valve. If that stops the hot air then you have a bad water valve. Can replace for about 80 bucks and 30 min. DIY here http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthread.php?t=617301
hth

[robby2c]

Anyone find a solution for this problem, i have the same issue?

[GreenBMW325is]

is that temperature of air different from driver to passenger side? Do you hear any abnormal noises with the a/c on? mostly from engine bay. could be your expansion valve going bad or is bad.

[Albanian325xi]

Ive heard of a lot of people having the same problem and a solution can be by using a vaccum pump removing refrigerant out and replacing it with new. I heard others that they said it can be a low charge in the system. It cannot be the expansion valve since all it does it changes the refrigerant from high pressure, liquid, med velocity to low pressure, gas, high velocity. The ac is working and it cycles so you can eliminate the expansion valve.

[GreenBMW325is]

true, but if the desacent bag in the a/c system condensor burst, can cause a line blockage.

[horsey21]

Ambient Temp Sensor??

[sqa4life]

I am having similar issue with my 2001 330i. When I heat the windshield, it only blow hot air, no matter if I set the temp to low or high. It does blow cold air if I turn on the AC though.