*** NEW ONE to me anyway*** & air con???

I have actually been taking it easy for the last few days, It's costing me too much in petrol!  

I have never been to Germany and so have never had the chance to enjoy unlimited motoring. I have however had 140mph on the speedo and it was quite a blast. I was on a private stretch of road at the time, honest!! 

Last time I got airtime I was driving a 2litre Sapphire and it was a really scary moment. Change of underwear required afterwards. 

mjones21 wrote: Thanks to all the support re the theft of my last, I hope I can keep this one longer! Any advice on security greatly accepted.

In my experience there is no perfect security device (although you do get what you pay for). The more visible deterrents you have the more likely a scummy tea-leaf will decide to move on and try somebody elses pride and joy. I would recommend a steering lock and window stickers saying that the car is alarmed (even better if from a top notch security manufacturer). The blatant truth is that if somebody is a 'good' thief and they want your car, they will get it. This makes me paranoid every time a hear even so much as a squirrel scratch its privates near mine!

30.88mpg is the average with my 328is to date. 28 was the lowest and 33.something the highest.  Delighted with that. The 28 was mostly around town driving (I'm in Cork City so that means traffic ain't too heavy). Alot of my driving involves a 65mph cruise which accounts for my relatively high average.

sleeper wrote: hmmm, used to drive faster, but now no licence = no job! Still cruise at 90ish when traffic allows on the M'way (I didn't say that M'lud).

It's not about top speed it's about how quickly you get there. I find that dropping into second for roundabouts and flooring it helps to seriously dent the fuel consumption.

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The highest I managed is about 36mpg on a long run. Average since buying the car a year ago is 28.5mpg. I suggest you need to drive a bit faster!

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hmmm, used to drive faster, but now no licence = no job! Still cruise at 90ish when traffic allows on the M'way (I didn't say that M'lud).

Don't forget the 323 has a higher compression ratio than the 328 which helps too.

Mmmm thanks for that,

so im right in thinking that the unit will be running, cooling the air and drying it at the same time, before, if required heating it back up, before blowing it into the car! Seems a waist in cooling then heating just to gve you a bad throat!!!

Ill have fun in seeing what i an get MPG to running never using it, to using it all the time.

Thanks i think i understand now, the unit will turn off and on only to keep the temprature just above freezing, and not at the temprature set, to dry the air. (thus giving bad throat). I will look forward to cooling the car as much as pos, before letting my mates get in, to see if they notice(then i can brag "i've got air con") er can i say climate control or not? ? ?

Thanks again Jon Ive learned more today than any other this week!

The car is being MOT'd tommorow er today now in the morning 17/7/04 if it passes then ill get it in the afternoon!

The air con doesn't do anything at the minute, although the car has full service history, and ive a mate who works for a VW garage who says that he can get it re gased (and tested ) for £50.

I just hope that it will suit the new gas not the old.

I'll let you know how i get on, thanks again

Mike J.

If the a/c switch is on thenthe compressor will cycle on and off ensuring that the air coming off the evaporator (Aircon matrix) is just above freezing point. This dries the air before being directed to the vent or through the heater matrix, so if you are after saving money then turn off your ac (Mine is on all of the time). As has already been said winding down your windows will cause extra drag on your car and push up fuel consumption. Similarly using lights, wipers, heated rear windows all add to the load on the alternator and use more fuel. You will be surprised at the amount of water that is removed fron the atmosphere and I noted that today a puddle the width of the car had formed after it had been parked up this afternoon

mjones21:

The system does have a sensor - it's that little round bit that looks like a microphone grill to me on the panel with the controls ("this must not be blocked"). How it then sets 2 temp zones from that, I'm not sure.... anyway, the numbers are suposed to be degrees C and you should set to something comfortable and forget forever, the car will blow fresh or hot as wanted (as noted, driver's knob has cold and hot overides). Centre vent will always blow fresh air when open if the RHS wheel below it is set to blue, with air con on this will be cooled. If set to red, you will get warm air through if the interior needs heating (mine is set to about 19'C, so in this weather, heater never kicks in.

So long as the air con is on, and general temp is over what you've set, the other vents will all blow cold too. In fact, they don't seem to warm at all in this weather, so I guess I'm not getting cold enough!

In winter, the air con can be used to dry the air in the car if you're misting when you start too (won't work below 4'C) and then warm air does blow through too (ie "would be hotter if the air con weren't on" air), so I guess the temp control system does work.....

Have fun,

Jon

Well I have an E36 manual w/o aircon and the very lowest I've had (this is actual, not OBC) was 29.84: this was driving into, and around central london on a weekday and I don't have a light right foot!

 I do short runs and motorway work mainly, highest is 35.79 so the average is 32.82. (how retentive is that!)

I have heard that autos sap MPG, but that much???

congrats on the replacement! you needed cheering up!

dave323ise wrote: Not sure about the figures on the TDS but my 323i reduces from 29mpg to 26mpg with the a/c.

umm, that mpg seems a bit low! 29mpg from a 323? what is the bulk of your driving?