Heated/Cooled Cup Holder in Center Console/Armrest

[adikapoor]

Guys,

I have been dealin with this thing with the cup holder in my center console/armrest. Some days i find it to be venting really chilled air and other days its hot. There is a switch there that has I/O (presumming it means On/Off) . The switch does not seem to affect the temerature setting for that cup holder, although i wud assume it wud/shud.
Also, when that cup holder is, say, venting cold air, i notice that the ash tray and the area around the stick gets cold, even if i am heating the car to 75 AUTO. and vice-versa.

I think the manual shud have somethin on it, but its still better to ask the people on here. Always better advice than the manual. :)

Thanks

and ohhh,..its a 2006 325i, sports package, cold weather package

[mryakan]

The switch is just that, an on off switch. I would assume the temperature is dependent on the temp setting for your climate control since the center armrest uses the same air ducts that push air to the rear passegners, so if you have the auto climate setting on 70 in the winter, I would expect it would push hot air. In the summer the same setting when the car is cooking at 100F would be pushing cold air.

[adikapoor]

The switch is just that, an on off switch. I would assume the temperature is dependent on the temp setting for your climate control since the center armrest uses the same air ducts that push air to the rear passegners, so if you have the auto climate setting on 70 in the winter, I would expect it would push hot air. In the summer the same setting when the car is cooking at 100F would be pushing cold air.

It makes sense and that is what my initial guess would be. but like this morning, my car was set to 72, outside temp being 25. But the console was still chilly.
If it was just the console i wud be OK, but it seems to affect the area around the ash tray and the stick. [Well sometimes when the car is warming up on the whole at 72, the center console is cold, not a good feelin to lean the side of you leg onto the chilly thing]
havent talked to the dealer about the possibility of a leak?! I usually have the air intake/circulation set to auto.

Somethin dosent seem to make sense here. :)

[mryakan]

It makes sense and that is what my initial guess would be. but like this morning, my car was set to 72, outside temp being 25. But the console was still chilly.
If it was just the console i wud be OK, but it seems to affect the area around the ash tray and the stick. [Well sometimes when the car is warming up on the whole at 72, the center console is cold, not a good feelin to lean the side of you leg onto the chilly thing]
havent talked to the dealer about the possibility of a leak?! I usually have the air intake/circulation set to auto.

Somethin dosent seem to make sense here. :)
Was it chilly all the time or maybe just while it was still pushing cold air from outside until it heated up? TO be sure compare it to the air being pushed out the back and see. I don't have this feature nor the auto climate control, so I can't do any experiments :(.

[adikapoor]

i've noticed it go either way. Somehow is not dependent on the outside temp or the switch, and that is what seems to be puzzling.
I havent compared the air coming out of the back vents (passenger) to the air in the console. somethin worth looking into.
I guess thats the price you pay sometimes for things with "AUTO" written on em.

[mryakan]

i've noticed it go either way. Somehow is not dependent on the outside temp or the switch, and that is what seems to be puzzling.
I havent compared the air coming out of the back vents (passenger) to the air in the console. somethin worth looking into.
I guess thats the price you pay sometimes for things with "AUTO" written on em.
In a way sometimes I say thank goodness I don't have the auto climate control with all the issues people report on here. But in the end I am not a technophobe nor too anal and can live with things so maybe many of the things people report are fine by me. I see where you are coming from and there could be a real issue, in the end though it comes down to how important is it and does it necessitate a dealer trip and all the hassles that come with it including convincing the dealer you are not crazy and taking a chance you may be embarrassed by something obvious you missed ;).
Whatever you decide to do, keep us informed.