[the dope steez]

I have a question regarding the auto climate control on F30. On my E90 I'd set the temp and it would stick to it. I never really changed it ever from 20 (70 degrees Fahrenheit) and it just worked. Blew cold, blew hot, blew room temp air and it was great.
Now in my F30, I have to fiddle with the dumb thing way too much to get proper air temperature through. Unless I have the dial on cold, AC on and the temp set to 16 Celsius (lowest it goes), the system will blow HOT air. On a hot summer day I'd like to just set it to 20 and have it normalize itself rather than blowing hot air when it's about 40 degrees in the cabin... even on a cold winter day once it gets to 20 inside the cabin it continues to blow hot air and eventually I have to turn it down to 16 or roll the windows down.

Anyways I realize this is a long winded explanation but can someone let me know if this is normal?

[Billfitz]

Not normal. I set mine at 68F, leave it there 365 days a year. If it's really hot I might have to turn the fan speed up, that's all.

[Danddd]

I keep mine at 68F too. Hasn't been any issues same as the E91. Accept and probably a wagon thing, when it gets into the mid 90'sF the air has a hard time keeping up

[GCinFLA]

Originally Posted by the dope steez

I have a question regarding the auto climate control on F30. On my E90 I'd set the temp and it would stick to it. I never really changed it ever from 20 (70 degrees Fahrenheit) and it just worked. Blew cold, blew hot, blew room temp air and it was great.
Now in my F30, I have to fiddle with the dumb thing way too much to get proper air temperature through. Unless I have the dial on cold, AC on and the temp set to 16 Celsius (lowest it goes), the system will blow HOT air. On a hot summer day I'd like to just set it to 20 and have it normalize itself rather than blowing hot air when it's about 40 degrees in the cabin... even on a cold winter day once it gets to 20 inside the cabin it continues to blow hot air and eventually I have to turn it down to 16 or roll the windows down.

Anyways I realize this is a long winded explanation but can someone let me know if this is normal?

You are unaware that the blue/red dial on the Center vent overrides the temp setting for reasons no one outside of BMW can understand.

You are clearly turned all the way toward red.

[Patrick852]

Originally Posted by GCinFLA

You are unaware that the blue/red dial on the Center vent overrides the temp setting for reasons no one outside of BMW can understand.

You are clearly turned all the way toward red.

Agreed! A slight adjustment on that dial makes a huge difference on temperature. Mine is set at 25.5C (78F), and it is still too cold even outside is 30C(86), I had to turn that dial from extreme blue to little red shown, then the temperature raised significantly.

[-435UK-]

Originally Posted by GCinFLA

You are unaware that the blue/red dial on the Center vent overrides the temp setting for reasons no one outside of BMW can understand.

You are clearly turned all the way toward red.

I like cool air on my face even when it's cool outside and belting hot air on my feet. However I do find my air-con is unable to cope with very hot weather, the air just isn't cold enough. My wife has an Evoque - this has much colder air-con - has anyone else found the same?

[otay]

I keep the blue/red dial for center vents in the middle. Mine has no issues keeping things cool even in the 90 F days we've had here recently.

[Billfitz]

Originally Posted by otay

I keep the blue/red dial for center vents in the middle. Mine has no issues keeping things cool even in the 90 F days we've had here recently.

That's like putting a humidifier and a de-humidifier in the same room and letting them fight it out.

The heat is always working. What the blue/red dial does is to mix heat with the cold from the AC, or even send heat only through that vent, should you for some reason want hotter air in your face than elsewhere. In the back seat it allows the back seat occupants to have warmer air than up front. Either of those options are fine when you need them, but when you don't you should keep it all in the blue.
I got my car in the winter, didn't notice the position of the blend control in the back. As it was cold weather I had no problem. When warm weather came and I went over to cooling mode by chance one day I put my hand between the seats and felt hot air coming out of the rear seat vents, so the AC was cooling the front of the car while the heater was warming the back of the car. Sure enough, the blend control was in the full heat position.

[otay]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

That's like putting a humidifier and a de-humidifier in the same room and letting them fight it out.

The heat is always working. What the blue/red dial does is to mix heat with the cold from the AC, or even send heat only through that vent, should you for some reason want hotter air in your face than elsewhere. In the back seat it allows the back seat occupants to have warmer air than up front. Either of those options are fine when you need them, but when you don't you should keep it all in the blue.
I got my car in the winter, didn't notice the position of the blend control in the back. As it was cold weather I had no problem. When warm weather came and I went over to cooling mode by chance one day I put my hand between the seats and felt hot air coming out of the rear seat vents, so the AC was cooling the front of the car while the heater was warming the back of the car. Sure enough, the blend control was in the full heat position.

Get what you're saying, but don't think the humidifier analogy applies. It's personal preference. I rarely touch any of the climate stuff, and I'm comfortable year round. I don't think about it, because it just works. If OP is having issues, should get it looked at.

[otay]

Originally Posted by Billfitz

Not normal. I set mine at 68F, leave it there 365 days a year. If it's really hot I might have to turn the fan speed up, that's all.

+1

[RoundelM3]

I set my temp at 68 degrees F on both sides during the colder months (when A/C compressor isn't engaged except for defogging) with the center vent knob on full red. During the warm months, it goes to 72 F with center vents on full blue and A/C compressor on (green LED illuminated on the A/C button). Never have had any problems using those settings. If the Compressor is engaged, and the center vent knob is on blue with temp set to 72 or lower, there should be cold air coming out of the vents. If not, the system may be low on refrigerant or over-charged.

[Zentan]

Is there a setting where if you turn up the temperature on the driver side, it will automatically do the same on the passenger side, so that they stay consistent?

[Michael Schott]

Originally Posted by Zentan

Is there a setting where if you turn up the temperature on the driver side, it will automatically do the same on the passenger side, so that they stay consistent?

No. There is no "sync" function on the F30. They are independent.

[Zentan]

Originally Posted by Michael Schott

No. There is no "sync" function on the F30. They are independent.

Disappointing indeed. My 2013 Acura had it.

[elistan]

Originally Posted by the dope steez

I have a question regarding the auto climate control on F30. On my E90 I'd set the temp and it would stick to it. I never really changed it ever from 20 (70 degrees Fahrenheit) and it just worked. Blew cold, blew hot, blew room temp air and it was great.
Now in my F30, I have to fiddle with the dumb thing way too much to get proper air temperature through. Unless I have the dial on cold, AC on and the temp set to 16 Celsius (lowest it goes), the system will blow HOT air. On a hot summer day I'd like to just set it to 20 and have it normalize itself rather than blowing hot air when it's about 40 degrees in the cabin... even on a cold winter day once it gets to 20 inside the cabin it continues to blow hot air and eventually I have to turn it down to 16 or roll the windows down.

Anyways I realize this is a long winded explanation but can someone let me know if this is normal?

As has already been stated, sounds like your dash vent wheel thingy is set all the way HOT. That can cause a normally operating BMW to blow hot air out of the top vents even when the climate control is set to a lower temp than the cabin is at. If that's NOT the case, then something is broken on your car, perhaps a cabin temperature sensor or whatever actuator is used to divert air through the heater core.

I too set my car to 22C / 68F on hot days, and when I have the vent knob all the way to the blue setting it blows very cold air.

[no_hands]

So I just drove from NYC to Phoenix (LA is next up) and in the middle of the desert where the temp was 100, my AC just completely stopped blowing cold air as if it overheated or something. I tried the max ac button, the auto button, closing all the vents except the ones I wanted, manually telling it to only blow at my face but nothing, it was cooler to open the windows. However, once I parked the car to get gas it worked once I started the car for the first 15 min then stopped working once again.

Air wasn't even blowing from the vents

I did turn off the entire system when the windows were open then turned it on again about 2 hours later and it worked perfectly fine the rest of the way.. any ideas?

[Billfitz]

Your evaporator coils froze over. That's fairly common with high heat and high humidity, rare with dry heat. Set the thermostat higher. It's difficult for an AC to keep the temperature more than 20 degrees lower than the air temperature. 80 isn't cool and comfy, but it's better than 100.

[19bis]

Other things you can do to reduce the likelihood of the evaporator freezing are to turn recirculation on (set at M rather than A) and turn up fan intensity (maximum fan speed - the auto system will reduce the fan speed as the temp approaches the setting). For longer term solution, there is a software update. Look in other AC threads for the TSB/SIB designations.

[IK6SPEED]

Originally Posted by no_hands

So I just drove from NYC to Phoenix (LA is next up) and in the middle of the desert where the temp was 100, my AC just completely stopped blowing cold air as if it overheated or something. I tried the max ac button, the auto button, closing all the vents except the ones I wanted, manually telling it to only blow at my face but nothing, it was cooler to open the windows. However, once I parked the car to get gas it worked once I started the car for the first 15 min then stopped working once again.

Air wasn't even blowing from the vents

I did turn off the entire system when the windows were open then turned it on again about 2 hours later and it worked perfectly fine the rest of the way.. any ideas?

Year and model?

[Enabled]

Originally Posted by no_hands

So I just drove from NYC to Phoenix (LA is next up) and in the middle of the desert where the temp was 100, my AC just completely stopped blowing cold air as if it overheated or something. I tried the max ac button, the auto button, closing all the vents except the ones I wanted, manually telling it to only blow at my face but nothing, it was cooler to open the windows. However, once I parked the car to get gas it worked once I started the car for the first 15 min then stopped working once again.

Air wasn't even blowing from the vents

I did turn off the entire system when the windows were open then turned it on again about 2 hours later and it worked perfectly fine the rest of the way.. any ideas?

Evaporator core froze over. BMW has a TSB for a fix for it. It's a spacer for the sensor in the core.

[19bis]

Originally Posted by Enabled

Evaporator core froze over. BMW has a TSB for a fix for it. It's a spacer for the sensor in the core.

Depends on the model year whether the fix is a physical spacer or a software update.

[scottmoyer]

Originally Posted by 19bis

Other things you can do to reduce the likelihood of the evaporator freezing are to turn recirculation on (set at M rather than A) and turn up fan intensity (maximum fan speed - the auto system will reduce the fan speed as the temp approaches the setting). For longer term solution, there is a software update. Look in other AC threads for the TSB/SIB designations.

Are you sure about this? Every other car I have owned with auto climate control worked this way, but my BMW doesn't. Other cars get set to 68* and if the car is warm, the fans blow on high and automatically lower when the temps approach my setting.

The BMW fans stay blowing at whatever speed they are set at, regardless of the temp! If I set it for 70*, and the fan is set at mid range, the car cools to 70* and the fans continue blowing at mid range until I adjust it down. I read somewhere that BMW designed the climate system differently where the fan is just that, the fan. The temp itself adjusts when the car reaches the set temperature and it will maintain that temp, but the fan blows at whatever you set it to.

Is that true? I like the way other companies do it and allow the fans and temp to auto adjust to maintain the set temp.