AC on in Winter Question.

lordhamster · Feb 11, 2005

Hey everybody. I've been lurking here for about a week, and finally decided to ask a question.

I just got my 2005 325xi on monday and I am so thrilled. Its the greatest car I've ever owned. Not saying much since previously I drove a Plymouth Breeze and a Ford Taurus hehe. Anyway, let me cut to the chase.

Im in the Cleveland area, which is quite cold this time of year. I have the Auto-Climate control set to 68F and set to "Auto." Oddly, whenever I turn on Auto mode, the AirConditioning (snowflake) icon lights up as well. I can manually turn off the snowflake, but when I turn the car back on, or if I turn off auto and turn it back on, the snowflake comes back.

Is the Auto Mode doing this on purpose to prevent moisture and windows fogging, or is there something not right with the system.

Im in the process of writing down all the little problems with the car for the first visit to the dealer. So far the only problem I've found is my Auto-Light green led indicator is not working. But this AC phenomenon is curious....

[bmwdance]

Big Daddy · Feb 11, 2005

I am not sure about your question as I have never experienced that. I know GM model cars cycle the AC even when it is off, but the AC switch remains in the off position. I would have the dealer check it out.

Regardless welcome to the board and let us know the outcome.

codex57 · Feb 11, 2005

lordhamster said:

Bingo! Let the A/C run (with the snowflake on) for a while too. 10-15 minutes every week. For some reason, your a/c system can conk out if you don't run the a/c at all for a whole season (typically winter cuz it's so cold).

aNoodle · Feb 11, 2005

The snowflake should not come back on again when you turn it off. Are you using two different keys? The keys remember different settings. My aunt drives around in her X5 with the A/C on in the middle of winter. What a waste of gas and it really sucks power. When you hit the defroster, the a/c comes on automatically, but that would not light up the snowflake. The snowflake should come on again until you press it, even after turning off the engine and restarting it....unless they changed something in the later E46's.

gizzy · Feb 11, 2005

lordhamster said:

I've seen references to the "Auto-Light green led indicator" before, but have never found it on my car. Does it really exist? If it does, could someone post a pic of it for us dociles.

My ac will turn on as well once I hit the auto button but only seems to do it on certain moon cycles. It hasn't done this for some time now, but if you have turned it off, it should stay off. I could see if you were using different keys, it could possible remember the setting from the prior key and probable doesn't set back unless you open the car with your normal key.

lordhamster · Feb 11, 2005

Found it in the Manual now...

Hey guys... Ok I've re-read the section in the manual and I think that perhaps this is normal behaviour.

On Page 100 of the manual, it says that when the Auto Function is enabled, the cooling function turns on.

The statement is a little vauge, but it is repeated under the explaination of Auto and of the Snowflake... so I'm guessing it is normal for it to come on when I press auto.

Once I've turned it off, it stays off unless I hit "Auto" again... at which point it comes back on.

Thanks for all the help guys.

///M SPEED · Feb 11, 2005

Hey lordhamster, I am here to officially welcome you to the board. There is only one thing to remember. No question is a dumb question here. Stay a while and feel free to give input on any thread. All opinions are encouraged and welcomed (flaming not included [;)]

). Posting pictures of your car is most appreciated....

bmwrocks · Feb 11, 2005

gizzy said:

There are two green LEDs I think he is referring to. One in each of the buttons below the temperature graphics.

lordhamster · Feb 11, 2005

bmwrocks said:

That is not the one I'm referring to actually.

In the manual it states that by the Light switch (left of the steering wheel) where you switch the headlights off or to auto etc... there should be a green LED which indicates to you that the Auto-Lighting feature has engaged the lights.

In the case of my car, this feature does not seem to be working. Although I can see the little lens where the diode should light up. Its not a big deal, but it would be nice if that worked. I've not taken it to the dealer yet because I'm sure I'll find other small issues in the days to come and would like them all handled at once.

Unlike many of the people here, I don't have the skill nor the dough to pimp my car. Mine is a regular old fashioned factory model with no modifications. Just plain vanilla 325XI w/ heated + power seats.

Again, nothing unusual, but I'll go ahead and post some pics anyway.

BMWCA · Feb 11, 2005

Isn't that little lens the sensor that reads the light level in the car? If you have your lights on during the day, cover it up with your finger and the light level of your dash changes.

bmwrocks · Feb 11, 2005

BMWCA said:

First let me correct myself and say there are actually 3 LEDs in the switches I referred to. One in the left button and TWO in the right.

And sorry about that lordhamster. You are right that little LED to the left of the light switch is to indicate your lights are "auto" on. And yours should light up appropriately. Mine does.

And BMWCA, the little lens you refer to is to the right of the switch. And I always thought it was the backlight sensor for the light switch. Of course I have never had my lights on during the day and tried covering and uncovering that sensor!!!!!

I am still amazed at all the intricacies of our cars. I was just playing around with the auto buttons previously referred on my way home from work and the way they have engineered the functions is downright fascinating to me. All the interactions between the fan, circulation and temp is frikkin cool.

codex57 · Feb 11, 2005

I like that little wheel that controls temp. Sometimes, I want cold air blowing one place and hot blowing another. This car lets me do that.

geneo · Feb 11, 2005

the ac will come on to stop that first blast of air from foging up the windows, ac drys the air and prevents fog up, some moisture is always held in your heater box and people would complain about fog on the first start up of the day

Average Jae · Feb 11, 2005

welcome to the board Andreas!

i used to hate the auto climate system, but now i just set it to around 70s, and let it do its thing. i believe that turning the ac on is part of the auto climate system. and even in the winter having AC on is nice, because it gets rid of the moisture in the air. and it'll still blast warm, or hot air (depending on your temp setting) even w/ the ac on, so i wouldn't worry too much about it.

i don't have the auto lights, so i can't really comment, but at first i thought you might be talking about the fog light indicator. (isn't auto light indicated by having the light btn turned to the light logo w/ the a?) i dont' remember ever seeing a auto light indicator on the display, and frankly i think it's annoying to have it on all the time, esp when you can just glace over to your left to see that the light is in auto mode..

i think you are just going through the new car anxiety. where you just dropped x amount of dollars. (i mean, you now have a bimmer, so of course you over paid [:p]

) and you want every little detail to be perfect, whether just perceived or real. i suggest enjoying the ride.

gizzy · Feb 12, 2005

lordhamster said:

That is not the one I'm referring to actually.

In the manual it states that by the Light switch (left of the steering wheel) where you switch the headlights off or to auto etc... there should be a green LED which indicates to you that the Auto-Lighting feature has engaged the lights.

In the case of my car, this feature does not seem to be working. Although I can see the little lens where the diode should light up. Its not a big deal, but it would be nice if that worked. I've not taken it to the dealer yet because I'm sure I'll find other small issues in the days to come and would like them all handled at once.

Unlike many of the people here, I don't have the skill nor the dough to pimp my car. Mine is a regular old fashioned factory model with no modifications. Just plain vanilla 325XI w/ heated + power seats.

Again, nothing unusual, but I'll go ahead and post some pics anyway.

No light for me either, never noticed one in loaners either. By the way, beutifull car - looks just like mine. Mmmmm - must go drive......

jrt67ss350 · Feb 12, 2005

lordhamster said:

In my opinion, that's the best kind of BMW - the unmolested, un-pimped factory models without a bunch of modifications.

Good looking car, and welcome to the board!

Average Jae · Feb 14, 2005

i like simple upgrades like a nice thin black bmw licence plate holder (w/ out the bmw letters in the bottom) and the pink ribbon Lisha is giving away on the general chat lounge. [thumb]

i like nice subtle touches.

aNoodle · Feb 14, 2005

Average Jae said:

Agreed. When I welded my spoiler to my trunk lid, i cut off about six inches first so it wasn't any higher than the roof line. [ohcrap]

AIO · Feb 14, 2005

aNoodle said:

Schumi · Feb 16, 2005

OMG that is one high wing [cheers]

AC on in Winter Question.

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