00 E46 coupe Driver's AC vents=cold Passenger side=vent air only??? WTF?

[chefsboss]

Well, we have a balmy 80 degrees here in San ANtonio today... Went to turn on the AC, and realized that the right center vent and the passenger side vent were only blowing vent air, as in no ac... But the left center vent and drivers side vent were blowing cold AC air...

Major difference when holding your hand over the two. I;m sure people were wondering why I was waving at my dashboard in slow motion at all the stop lights..

Aha! One would think to just close the two hot air vents, but then it seemed to mix in with the AC'd air, making the drivers side blow an only slightly cooled mix...
I tried all the little different combinations of buttons to no avail...

What gives? Surely have to resolve soon, as South Texas 100 plus temps are a few months away.

Definately be resolving myself somehow... Any and help or pushes in the right direction are sincerely appreciated...

[Dahmwern]

Your car can sense when the passenger seat is void! Duh! :P

But in all seriousness, that is quite weird. What was the setting on your center vent "dial"?

[turningermanese]

Sounds like a possible blend door/actuator issue. I know on some Japanese cars, the arm that connects the actuator servo to the blend doors sometimes pops off its track. It's possible that the motor can die as well. Are you able to change the direction of the airflow (ex. defrost, center vents, floor)?

[crack46]

Sounds like you need to replace the "Final Stage"...I had the same problem here in Miami... Not hard to replace...

[02325]

no everyone is incorrect on your issue. your issue is that your a/c freon is low. i see this all the time during the summer mths. get your a/c recharged and it good to go.

[turningermanese]

no everyone is incorrect on your issue. your issue is that your a/c freon is low. i see this all the time during the summer mths. get your a/c recharged and it good to go.

But he said it's cold on one side. No refrigerant = warm all over.

[slvrXI]

Everyone is wrong except for 02325...

The Refrigerant level is low. I am a tech for BMW and this is the first sign that the level is low, I see it all the time now. Just take your car to a reputable shop to have them recharge the AC system. And you are done.

To put it simple... The evaporator is the box that the fan blows through to bring you cold air. What happens is the refrigerant enters the evaporator on the drivers side and leaves on the passenger side. When it is low, the driver side takes all the coldness out, and there is no more cold refrigerant once it passes through the passenger side of the evaporator. Plain and simple.

[danewilson77]

Everyone is wrong except for 02325...

The Refrigerant level is low. I am a tech for BMW and this is the first sign that the level is low, I see it all the time now. Just take your car to a reputable shop to have them recharge the AC system. And you are done.

To put it simple... The evaporator is the box that the fan blows through to bring you cold air. What happens is the refrigerant enters the evaporator on the drivers side and leaves on the passenger side. When it is low, the driver side takes all the coldness out, and there is no more cold refrigerant once it passes through the passenger side of the evaporator. Plain and simple.

Nicely done to you and 02325........

[chefsboss]

no everyone is incorrect on your issue. your issue is that your a/c freon is low. i see this all the time during the summer mths. get your a/c recharged and it good to go.

Everyone is wrong except for 02325...

The Refrigerant level is low. I am a tech for BMW and this is the first sign that the level is low, I see it all the time now. Just take your car to a reputable shop to have them recharge the AC system. And you are done.

To put it simple... The evaporator is the box that the fan blows through to bring you cold air. What happens is the refrigerant enters the evaporator on the drivers side and leaves on the passenger side. When it is low, the driver side takes all the coldness out, and there is no more cold refrigerant once it passes through the passenger side of the evaporator. Plain and simple.

Thanks, I really appreciate that. unfortunately, this must mean that there is a small leak. The AC was vacuumed and charged about 3 months ago when the motor was put together... Oh well, be doing the die thing,... Thanks alot though, at least I know it's not the
Climate Control motion actuator reverberator temperature sensing flux breez capacitor BMW part #3736299 List $5,699.02
You know???

[Starksie]

question.

I had this same problem happening I thought the A/C had gone out completely but after investigation the drivers side vent was slightly cooler than the passanger getting warmer from left to right across the dash.

So, my dad recharged the system slightly to see if it made a change. It did. Slightly... cooler on the driver's side and still quite warm on the passanger. I now know why this is happening. THANKS!

but my question is... what is the technical pressure that the system should be at? We didn't add a lot b/c we didnt want to overfill... merely wanted to see if it made a difference.

[CakePie]

at least I know it's not the Climate Control motion actuator reverberator temperature sensing flux breez capacitor BMW part #3736299 List $5,699.02
You know???

That's the longest name for the shortest, and most expensive, part number I've ever seen.

[slvrXI]

question.

I had this same problem happening I thought the A/C had gone out completely but after investigation the drivers side vent was slightly cooler than the passanger getting warmer from left to right across the dash.

So, my dad recharged the system slightly to see if it made a change. It did. Slightly... cooler on the driver's side and still quite warm on the passanger. I now know why this is happening. THANKS!

but my question is... what is the technical pressure that the system should be at? We didn't add a lot b/c we didnt want to overfill... merely wanted to see if it made a difference.

You can't acurratly measure the ammount of refrigerant in the system by pressure, since pressure is affected by temperature, and you have a high and low side to your system. The only proper way to fill the refrigerant is to measure it by weighing it. With the system at a rest, (not running maybe sitting over night, the pressure should be near ambient temperature. However this is NOT an accurate measurement) Look at the green tag under your hood, it should say somewhere around 1.65 lbs.

[filburt1]

You can try to recharge the refrigerant yourself: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...4#post11706194

[dudewith95E38]

I just bought an 03 E46, same issue with a twist. If I select the top two vent modes together (green light on), the vent on top of the dash along with the vents in the middle of the dash, cold air blows out of all vents. However, if I select just the middle dash, I get what the OP got, warm air from the pass vent, cooler air from the driver's vent. Does this still indicate low refrigerant or a blend door issue? Thanks

[bmw440]

Try this first. I had the same problem with my vert.The heater valve was stuck,I took a long screwdriver and taped the solenoid on the heater valve and unplugged the connector and reconnected it.Now i have cold air coming out of the center vents. Probably got stuck during the winter months. Hope it helps everyone.

[tabsE46]

Nicely done to you and 02325........

Mines blowing cold on drivers and slightly warmer on passenger sometimes it goes completely warm. Tried recharging today & said it was full so with that marked off the list what would be the next thing I should check for?

[White94RX]

How did you try and recharge it? If you didn't have a shop do a complete recovery, evacuation, and recharge, then you didn't do it correctly, and you DO NOT know how much refrigerant is in the system.

[jabela]

Well, we have a balmy 80 degrees here in San ANtonio today... Went to turn on the AC, and realized that the right center vent and the passenger side vent were only blowing vent air, as in no ac... But the left center vent and drivers side vent were blowing cold AC air...

Major difference when holding your hand over the two. I;m sure people were wondering why I was waving at my dashboard in slow motion at all the stop lights..

Aha! One would think to just close the two hot air vents, but then it seemed to mix in with the AC'd air, making the drivers side blow an only slightly cooled mix...
I tried all the little different combinations of buttons to no avail...

What gives? Surely have to resolve soon, as South Texas 100 plus temps are a few months away.

Definately be resolving myself somehow... Any and help or pushes in the right direction are sincerely appreciated...

I have the exact same symptoms. In addition, the temp blend wheel on my center vents used to stiff to actuate, then it went all loose and this started happening, which seems to me like the linkage stuck/broke on the passenger side of it. Moving the wheel still adjusts the driver side vent temp, but does not change the passenger side.

Maybe the #2 part here, the fresh air bowden cable?
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=64_0824

Which probably controls some flaps (#10?) in this
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=64_0817

Are there any diagrams or documentation on how this works? Maybe a replacement DIY?
Thx