E92 climate control problems

[TX1]

Couple of weeks ago noticed no cool air coming out, had it regassed by a mobile guy but no change.
Took it to my independant who pointed out that I had a problem where no air was blowing ( even though the blower is working) out a couple of years back, at the time he removed the control panel and reconnected it and it started working again, so his advice this time was to get another panel which I had delivered today and as I could not wait until monday I removed the old one and connected the new one (second hand as new is £700 +) and nothing has changed, no air blowing out of anywhere and obviously no aircon.
Problem is no errors are coming up according to my mechanic, anyone has any ideas what it could be as mechanic has already spent about 2 hrs with no result.

[MartinFC]

I had a similar problem when I refitted the heater control panel after installing an MMI. It turned out to be the connector closest to the steering wheel - I had noticed that it didn't slide in and lock as easily as the other one and it clearly wasn't connecting properly. Initially I took the locking connector off (it just unclips) and put the plug in carefully on its own - it worked fine, so if you're noticing any resistance when putting that one in, I'd try it without the locking cover as a test. Once I knew where the problem was, I put the locking cover back on the connector and very carefully plugged it in by wiggling it so that it went in without resistance - it's hard to describe, but you can feel when it's right.

[TX1]

Hmm interesting as the mechanic had disconnected the panel a couple of years back when the same problem occured and reconnected and the problem was sorted, he tried it again this time and it did not work so he suspected that the control panel was faulty.
So might be the connecter or wiring going into the panel that is faulty, going back to mechanic on Monday and shall mention it.

[MartinFC]

Of course it could be something else and best not to rule anything out, but it's much more likely to be the connector than the wiring.

[nipsips]

The mechanic probably isnt using a proper bmw scan tool. You have to recode the control panels - they’re not a straight swap and the air con won’t work until it does.

[d_a_n1979]

nipsips said:

The mechanic probably isnt using a proper bmw scan tool. You have to recode the control panels - they’re not a straight swap and the air con won’t work until it does.

Yup; as per pmorg's comment on the other thread the OP had up the other day:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[TX1]

Well removed the connecters and reconnected and it is now blowing out of all the vents.
Still no cool air however at least have air coming out of the vents.
Have to drop it off on Monday and let him sort it out regarding recoding, these blokes are ex bmw technicians so they have all the gear required.
Like I said earlier the part was staring me in the face so could not resist and wait until Monday, hopefully the recoding will sort it out.

Edited by TX1 on Friday 19th May 22:36

[d_a_n1979]

TX1 said:

Well removed the connecters and reconnected and it is now blowing out of all the vents.
Still no cool air however at least have air coming out of the vents.
Have to drop it off on Monday and let him sort it out regarding recoding, these blokes are ex bmw technicians so they have all the gear required.
Like I said earlier the part was staring me in the face so could not resist and wait until Monday, hopefully the recoding will sort it out.

Edited by TX1 on Friday 19th May 22:36

Fingers crossed

[nipsips]

They just need to code it as per the vehicles VO and then the air conditioning will work - as long as there’s no pressure issues with the air con.

There are still a few things that could stop it working, for example air con high/low pressure switches or ambient temperature sensors but I’ll keep everything crossed for you

[TX1]

nipsips said:

They just need to code it as per the vehicles VO and then the air conditioning will work - as long as there’s no pressure issues with the air con.

There are still a few things that could stop it working, for example air con high/low pressure switches or ambient temperature sensors but I’ll keep everything crossed for you

Well the mobile bloke who regassed it with no success came over a couple of days later with his scan tool and it was coming up with an error pointing out to the high pressure sensor, he was supposed to come back and change it but did not turn up.
Took the car to the bmw independant and said the high pressure sensor error was not coming on his scanner, so he pointed out that also no air was coming out of the vents , we had the same problem regarding no air from the vents a couple of years ago ( I had totally forgotten about it )
On that occasion he romoved the panel and reconnected and all was well, so it was a connection issue.
This time he said he tried removing and reconnecting with no success and that is why he pointed out I should buy another panel.
So yesterday I tried the new one and the vents worked, took it off and fitted the facia that goes around it and reconnected and noticed in the process the gray connection did not slip in nicely, again no air from vents, removed and reinserted the grey connection which this time slipped in comfortably and it worked fine, air from vents but no cold air.
So this got me thinking, this morning put the old one back and made sure the grey connection slipped in perfectly and air came out from vents, but still no cold air.
Basically the grey plug is pretty finicky, so the problem is not the control panel, so back to square one as the old one is doing the exact thing the new one does as far as I can see, also the old one is coded correctly but still not getting cold air so the problem is somewhere else as far as I can work out.
I find it very strange that the mobile guy was getting the high pressure sensor error and my mechanic is not.

[nipsips]

This sounds daft but is he reading the correct module? To get a full picture you have to read everything?

The high pressure switch will definitely stop it working - he’s definitely using a dedicated BMW scanner? Some of them try and give standard codes like for example P0234 etc and BMW have dedicated codes.

[TX1]

nipsips said:

This sounds daft but is he reading the correct module? To get a full picture you have to read everything?

The high pressure switch will definitely stop it working - he’s definitely using a dedicated BMW scanner? Some of them try and give standard codes like for example P0234 etc and BMW have dedicated codes.

This is a BMW specialist, this is all they fix so have to presume he is using the correct stuff.
The mobile one who got the high pressure sensor error is an aircon guy and most probably not a very good one, I think that is why he did not return to change the sensor.

Edited by TX1 on Saturday 20th May 16:15

[TX1]

Took the car to an aircon specialist, he emptied the gas and done all sort of tests with his big machine on wheels, he has come to the conclusion that the problem is an Ac compressor, expensive job from what I can see.