I took my 2006 X3 (approx. 63,000 miles) in to the dealership in July/August 2009 as my a/c was not working properly. Only one vent was blowing sort of cold air, the other 3 blowing hot air. My car was still under warranty at the time. Diagnostics test were performed or so i was told (dye test), no leak found, cause was cited as needing freon and freon was added. Temporarily fixed the problem. This summer 2010, a/c gradually stopped working and has been blowing hot air for about 1 1/2 months. Took car in again, diagnostics test performed (some sort of dye test again) this time told evaporator core is the problem. Quoted $3000.00 all in. My question is, is there a way i can determine if this problem existed back in 2009 when first brought car in for diagnosis. My thoughts are that it did exist back when i was under warranty and diagnosis was incorrect or done improperly. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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There was a leak back then too. Any time the A/C system loses refrigerant there has to be a leak. Refrigerant is not used or consumed, it is a closed system.
Bmw have a factory known problems with them especially on the x3 and x5. They should known about this. But at 63,000 miles your vehicle is already out of warranty. Maybe you can get a better deal.
I had my 2011 repaired under warranty. It was fixed after 3 visits. The air conditioner was finally rebuilt 2 years ago. I am again having problems with my air conditioner. I brought car in two times I was again told that air conditioner was fine. My warranty runs in a few month.s I feel BMW is not following thru on what I think is a factory defect. What do I do with the car. It is still under warranty.
You are not alone. This is a common problem. We have a 2005 x3 and have to pay
$2000 for the evaporator core. They pushed you off saying it was freon. It is a 12 to 15 hour repair and expensive. BMW should recall it but they know that it would cost them a mint at $2000-$2500 a pop.
Of course it was leaking the first time you had it checked, they just added refrigerant and hoped it would last until the warranty ran out, now YOU pay for it and NOT bmw. With the modern electronic leak detectors, there is NO excuse for NOT locating a leak. All they do is sniff the condensate drain under the car , that is the tube that drips water when the A/C is on and the car is parked for a few minutes, you should see a little puddle under the car. The refrigerant is heavier than air and is easily detected . My sister-in-law has had the same problem with 2 beemers . They probably instal paper thin cheap aluminum evaporators at the factory, knowing that they will fail within 3 to 5 years. It is guaranteed future profit for the service departments at the dealerships.
I totally agree this is known problem by BMW. The evaporator core that BMW replace must be paper thin because if I have a 2006 760li and the evaporator core went bad and was changed 11/2009 at 22,453 miles and then the problem occurs again and the evaporator core was changed again on 12/2013 by BMW at oly 38,186 miles. A car with extremely low mileage yet evaporator core has been changed by BMW twice within 4 years. I guess it would safe for me to assume that in another 4 years I'll be due for another replacement of the evaporator core again. For the costs of these cars and maintenance BMW needs to do better and all BMWS should be warranteed for 100,000 miles no exceptions. Even it your problem is covered under warranty and fixed it is still possible you would run into the same problem again out of warranty regardless. You may want to consider getting rid of the vehicle and the new BMW's are no better, I tried that route also and having problems with a 2013 bmw already. I don't consider them to be reliable vehicles after my 3rd bmw with major costly problems with low mileage. I hate to say but sometimes I just wonder if my vehicles are being sabotaged by BMW dealership when you are close to and a little of the 50,000 miles warranty. It's just my opinion and bad experiences with 3 bmw's that makes me wonder.
I had my 2011 repaired under warranty. It was fixed after 3 visits. The air conditioner was finally rebuilt 2 years ago. I am again having problems with my air conditioner. I brought car in two times I was again told that air conditioner was fine. My warranty runs in a few month.s I feel BMW is not following thru on what I think is a factory defect. What do I do with the car. It is still under warranty.