1st Post Question

[guenthfa]

Greetings,

I drove my first BMW today and want to buy it but have a question about the air conditioning: The car is a 1994 325is with app. 150K miles. The seller has told me the AC was recharged and worked fine for a few days then went dead. Can you guys or gals give me a general idea of what could be the problem and how much to get it fixed. I know there is a lot of "what if's" involved but I'm just trying to decide if I should purchase the car and how much less to offer. Other than the AC it is a nice clean car.

Thank you in advance.

 

[DSK]

Most likely cause could be a leaking Air Condenser as these do fail with age. This happened to my Toyota Celica. Usually when you get them regassed and then after a few days the AC goes, its down to a leak somewhere. The regassing station should be able to put a dye into the AC system so that when you use the dye will show where the leak is under ultra violet light.

Most cars suffer from faulty condenser units (about £100 part on an BMW E36) provided that the AC is used often enough and the seals have not broken down.

I'd try and reduce the asking price by the cost of the condenser unit + labour if you are happy with the car.

 

[frolf]

is it just the air conditioner or is it the entire HVAC system that went dead?

 

[guenthfa]

It appears to be just the AC, the rest of the system, heating etc. works fine.