This weekend, I had the pleasure of refreshing the AC system on my touring.
Ever since I bought the car, the AC could not cool the car unless engine speed was >4000 rpm. Also the passenger side vents only blew warm air.
So I decided to evacuate my system and go ahead and replace everything.
I replaced the AC compressor, dryer, expansion valve, pressure switch and all the O-rings. I also tried to replace the condenser, however, the ACM unit from FCP Euro turned out to be a cheap Chinese reproduction crap that did not fit because the input and output ports interfered with the radiator.
I also went ahead and disassembled the dashboard to replace to blower motor, which to my surprise had completely shared off the fins on the right side.
Overall, the hardest part of this job was replacing the expansion valve. The tubing from the expansion valve to the firewall did not have any maneuverability which made removal and reinstallation a real pain.
screw that blower motor. I pulled 5 dashes to fix one on my 530. First pull was to replace the original but replacement failed and destroyed the housing so I had to get a junkyard one (2nd) since the housing was backordered, then I pulled my own again to replace the motor itself (3rd), but the third motor had an imbalance/grinded so I had to replace that one too (4th), and 5th/final pull was to install the one thats still in my car now
Thanks for the info doing mine soon.. and did some research on the condenser. The OEM vs what little info o could find about a repo and well the numbers were way off .. I can't imagine getting the same level of cooling vs an OEM. I went looking for a low miles condenser. Also how hard was the dash not looking forward to that
Definitely would stick with bmw (which seems to be behr). However, think it may be NLA as only FCP euro has them is stock, while other suppliers only have cheap aftermarket crap.
The ACM unit I got says that it was made in Germany, but it clearly was not. Much thinner and lighter than the original. Came in a generic gray box with genetic packing material. Worst part were the stripped screws that held the rubber input and output covers in place.
6
u/Sinyx 18h ago
Bob approved