[nukezero]

At night time, I don't want to use AC. So I can save a little gas. I noticed that in my 335i coupe, when I turn off the "Cooling function", button #13 on the far right, and set the temperature to 60'C on both driver/passenger side, and the 'Auto' is also off... I still get hot air blowing out. This is in city and hwy crusiing.

Why?

i want the outside air , and the outside air is 65'F...yet its blowing me 78-80'F air.

It is only when I either hit Auto or when I hit 'Cooling Fan' button , which I assume in a german car means 'AC' , is when the air is blowing cold. But I don't want to turn on the AC..I want outside chilly air.

I also made sure the vents are switched to blue(cold) air side as well. What am I doing wrong, why won't it just take the chilly outside air , and blow it inside?

In my japanese cars, all I had to do was turn off A/C and set the thermostat to as low as possible and it would attempt to use the lowest temperature possible based on outside air.

please tell me the sequence of button #'s below that I need to press to get it right.

thanks !!!

[clark192]

I dont actually know the answer to that, but why don't you try just cracking the passanger or rear windows if you want some chilly air? Where I am, I have to use the AC or I turn into pile of mush in the car, and in then winter its either hot air or nothing at all, with the sunroof opened from time to time.

[Dwill335i]

About the only thing you can do is check that the dial under the center dash vent is set all the way to the cold (blue) side.

Unfortunately, the vent system seems to be designed in such a way that it picks up too much heat from the engine bay. No matter what you do, it will always be noticeably warmer air than outside. Yes, you are using the right buttons by turning off the a/c with the snowflake button and dialing down the temperature. Other than the dial under the center vent, you can also manually redirect the airflow with the buttons on the left side and also make sure you are not in air recirculation mode. Unfortunately, that's about all you can do.

I agree the 3 series ventilation system is poor and worse than any car I had for getting cool outside vent air. I came from a MB and if outside air temp was 77 -78, I could get air at that temp with sufficient air flow simply by turning off the a/c button but letting it go in auto mode. In my 335, I have to take full manual control of almost everything to get the coldest air possible, which is still hotter than the outside air.

[I335]

Originally Posted by Dwill335i

About the only thing you can do is check that the dial under the center dash vent is set all the way to the cold (blue) side.

Unfortunately, the vent system seems to be designed in such a way that it picks up too much heat from the engine bay. No matter what you do, it will always be noticeably warmer air than outside. Yes, you are using the right buttons by turning off the a/c with the snowflake button and dialing down the temperature. Other than the dial under the center vent, you can also manually redirect the airflow with the buttons on the left side and also make sure you are not in air recirculation mode. Unfortunately, that's about all you can do.

I agree the 3 series ventilation system is poor and worse than any car I had for getting cool outside vent air. I came from a MB and if outside air temp was 77 -78, I could get air at that temp with sufficient air flow simply by turning off the a/c button but letting it go in auto mode. In my 335, I have to take full manual control of almost everything to get the coldest air possible, which is still hotter than the outside air.

I disagree. I do exactly what the OP does and I get nice, cool outside air flowing in. I don't notice any heat at all in the air from the engine bay. I think a service call is due - perhaps for both of you!

[I335]

Originally Posted by clark192

I dont actually know the answer to that, but why don't you try just cracking the passanger or rear windows if you want some chilly air? Where I am, I have to use the AC or I turn into pile of mush in the car, and in then winter its either hot air or nothing at all, with the sunroof opened from time to time.

Unfortunately, the rear windows don't open in a coupe...

I think you have to press turn on the Automatic Recirculation Mode on the left of button #9.

[poiney]

Originally Posted by Dwill335i

About the only thing you can do is check that the dial under the center dash vent is set all the way to the cold (blue) side.

Unfortunately, the vent system seems to be designed in such a way that it picks up too much heat from the engine bay. No matter what you do, it will always be noticeably warmer air than outside. Yes, you are using the right buttons by turning off the a/c with the snowflake button and dialing down the temperature. Other than the dial under the center vent, you can also manually redirect the airflow with the buttons on the left side and also make sure you are not in air recirculation mode. Unfortunately, that's about all you can do.

I agree the 3 series ventilation system is poor and worse than any car I had for getting cool outside vent air. I came from a MB and if outside air temp was 77 -78, I could get air at that temp with sufficient air flow simply by turning off the a/c button but letting it go in auto mode. In my 335, I have to take full manual control of almost everything to get the coldest air possible, which is still hotter than the outside air.

+1000. There is no way I can get cool outside air in my car. My last car's vent worked just fine. I posted a poll to see if it's the fault of the 328 or because my vent is defective.

[TambourineMan]

Subscribe just in case anyone finds an answer. My 335 seems to blow air which seems hotter than the outside when on the lowest setting (60).

[MastaK]

I've never had a car that was this complicated to simply cool inside the car.
It takes forever for cool air to come out of vent.

[twinturboa51]

im pretty dissapointed in the hvac system as well. every other company has a dual zone button except this car, its constantly dual zone. to answer your question i get ambiant with my middle dial set to blue and hot air with the button set on the red

[drjoe66]

This used to work just fine in my E60. I like these settings, too, so I don't always get the preconditioned air. But in the E90, the air coming in is quite warm, no matter what settings I have.

[HermesRider]

Originally Posted by MastaK

I've never had a car that was this complicated to simply cool inside the car.
It takes forever for cool air to come out of vent.

I have the opposite opinion. I press auto and all is right inside. If I roll down the windows, I turn the HVAC completely off because I don't want the (admittedly) warm vent air. Very simple.

Why not run AC all the time when windows are up? It really doesn't impact fuel efficiency that much anymore in these cars. You save at most $10 per month. In this forum, $10 may be something to write home about I suppose.

[ede92]

Agreed on not being able to colder outside air into the cabin through the vents. I was able to in my 5-series but not this puppy.

[ablangc]

Ok good i thought this was just me. Oh well, looks like I will just have to crack the window open all the time. Damn black interior! You see all the dust particles in the car.

[NoMods]

venting your moonroof - problem solved

[Dwill335i]

Originally Posted by I335

I disagree. I do exactly what the OP does and I get nice, cool outside air flowing in. I don't notice any heat at all in the air from the engine bay. I think a service call is due - perhaps for both of you!

Apparently for a number of people, since more people seem to have this problem than not.

[ede92]

I think it is a design flaw. Of course turning the A/C on solves the problem and I am sure that is what a service rep would tell us.

[DenverJayhawk]

My 330 does the same thing. If I want cool air from outside, i have to roll down the windows.

[nukezero]

Okay, I guess I'm not the only dude with this problem. Is this a design where BMW thinks that the occupants prefer warmer air when A/C is off and windows up?


The reason why I don't like rolling down the windows is because atleast the ambient air coming through your vents is filtering some particles and dust. Whereas if you roll down the windows, all kinds of crap flies into your interior.

[ssam]

This is not "normal"
Go at your dealer and complain.
I had a 2006 325i (E90) and never had this problem. The ventilation was almost perfect.

Now I have a 2009 335i and it is impossible to get cold air from outside when the engine is hot. At first I taught it was because of the biturbo engine, but I checked with a friend`s 335i and he doesnt have this problem.

The dealer aknowledge the problem and sent a request to bmw engineer to try to find a solution

Is there someone on this forum who was able to get this problem corrected by their dealer ?

[I335]

It appears that this is a real issue then for some people... As I mentioned previously, I'd recommend taking it to the dealer to get it fixed if you have this problem.

Also FYI - if my car is hot from sitting in the sun or from driving around a bit the air coming from the vents is hot at first and it does take a few minutes for it to cool down, but it does cool down eventually. I think this is because of the residual heat in the duct work itself. Sometimes I'll turn the AC on for a few minutes to cool the duct work down (maybe 5 minutes or so?) and then after I shut it off it's fine...

[shark330i]

mine if fine in my 335. living in florida, outside temp is routinely 90 degrees+....and the vent blows cooler air without the a/c on as listed above. however, I rarely have the a/c off!!!!