I recently posted that my car has been STOLEN! It was a 325 tds and I loved it, and miss it! Good news, no my car hasn't returned, but ive found another similar!

This one is a 1995 model (1year newer) 325 tds, and it does have twin air con, (she didn't even advertise that). Thrilled to bits thought i'd not find another for ages, good ones seem hard to find.

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.

The air con doesn't seem to work right though! New to air con, can anyone tell me what i need to check happens when i push the snow flake button!

It has two dials, im told one for each side (guess to save fighting), the car has a very impressive full service history, but i don't think the owner used it much.

 Any advice on how it works, and what to check much appreciated, thanks

Mike J

Fire her up. Press the snowflake (green light on), turn at least the driver's side knob to fully cold (which overides the passenger, as does fully hot; fail-safe feature), turn fan to 2 or 3, direction knob to face level, open centre vent grill and turn blue/red vent wheel to blue, check cold air is coming out! The pump coming on usually causes the engine note to change (briefly?).

It does come out of all the other vents as well when directed there, but the centre face one is easiest to feel.

If you're not sure, get out for a couple of minutes, shut all the doors etc leaving the aircon running, do 20 pushups, get back in. Now you'll know whether it's working or not!

good luck, you'll never live without it again,

Jon

PS get a Tatcham class 1 alarm/imobiliser asap. Thieves are whatsits for coming back and stealing your new car too, cause they know damn well people replace but still don't bother to upgrade their alarm or other security. Your local car stereo shop will have a range or two.....

No worries, that was going to be my next question on these cars.

I was once told that running a car with all of its windows open at about 60 mph, causes about the same fuel consumption as running air con. This will include performance as well. But i would love the figures on these cars!

Seconded - my 325i goes from 28.3 to 25ish if I do a short-term check; otherwise I use the air con from time to time when I feel like it and I seem to get 28.3 overall forever.

Jon

Thanks for that!

How does the air con work, is there an interior temp sensor, or does it just blow cold constantly? It just has the two temp knobs in the middle, but they are marked with numbers! 

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?

sleeper wrote:   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?

I was about to suuport the 1-2 mpg reduction from using air con  but now you have me worried. My 2000 323Ci auto manages about 22mpg on a good week - mostly city / suburban driving though. Does this sound rediculously low?

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???

sleeper wrote: Well I have an E36 manual w/o aircon and the very lowest I've had (this is actual, not OBC) was 29.84

Wow, the lowest I have managed out of my 328 manual, no aircon is 24mpg, that was with a very heavy foot.

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

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!

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

Thanks for that jon, so it works more like climate control er i think!

Im i right in saying that leave the aircon button on, and it will only turn the air con on if the temperature is too hot? cus i dont want to leave it on if it uses fuel cooling the air and er heating it at the same time!!! Im confused.

What im asking is if i leave the button on, will it only activate the aircon when it is over the set temperature?

Thanks in advance. 

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.

There should be no problem regarding refrigerant type 1992/3 was the change over time for BMW.

We British are so used to living in a damp atmosphere that anything less than 80%RH gives us all sorts of problems. I have a buddy in Arizona who recons that he would drown in our air, its just what you are used to. The humidity really hammers me, so both cars have a/c, my new van will have a/c and so does my home. Ha! I used to work in Dubai going from my aircond office to aircond car to aircond home, so when I came home to Crewe the humidity hit me hard (No joke)

It sounds to me like you have semi automatic aircon, you can set the cabin temperature for each side of the car, but your blower output is manual? if you have a button marked auto then it is automatic air con (Commonly called Climate Control)

£50 is about the going rate for the potteries, the weight of refrigerant is marked on a green label on the bonnet slam, so even a VW mechanic should be able to wrap his head round that, do make sure that the aux cooling fan works as this is important to the correct operation of the ac in slow or stationary traffic

Good luck with your new motor

[/QUOTE]

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!

[/QUOTE]

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.

dave323ise wrote: Sleeper - my 323i driving is about 12 miles motorway and 10 miles in town each weekday. I'm fairly gentle on the gas. I was happy at 29mpg - should I expect more ?

There was a similar thread to this a while back from a chap with an E30 325i. That sort of distance won't really get her proper hot, coupled with the auto box and being an E46 (bit heavier) with aircon your MPG sounds about right. A mate has an E46 320 cab and that does mid-teens or less round london!

should have gone 330....

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.

Peter Fenwick wrote: The highest I managed is about 36mpg on a long run. Average since buying the car a year ago is 28.5mpg.

My old 323 would only get just over thirty mpg (32-ish) on a steady 85mph cruise.  Never worked it out for round-town driving !  The OBC on my "new" car said 29.7mpg for a 300 mile weekend trip last week that was a full mixture of M-Way, fast A-roads, normal B-roads and tiny little lanes.  I was quite happy with that.

wrote: 1996 BMW 328SE SAMORA BLUE, SILVER LEATHER

Shouldn't that be Samoa ?  

Steve.

SundayJumper wrote: [ wrote: 1996 BMW 328SE SAMORA BLUE, SILVER LEATHER Shouldn't that be Samoa ?   Steve.

It depends on where you look. On the car it says Samora, on the touch up bottle it says Samoa. I guess that Samora is the German spelling.

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!

Peter Fenwick wrote: 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.

Just for you old chap; the old girl had her ar5e spanked off last night! (MY CAR!) we even managed some air time too, jolly fun, what!!

and as for the speed thing, ever done 140mph on the autobahn? that'l melt your flexible friend! (CREDIT CARD)

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. 

I was in 3rd & 4th at the times I was airbourne and got loverly chirps from the rears. If there are any locals looking, it was on the lewes to wych cross road (A264?) with nice cool evening air..... mmmmmmmm

Peter, you really need to find an excuse to blast down to munich!