E91 Straight Six Bearding

E91 Straight Six Bearding

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Court_S

13,849 posts

183 months

Tuesday 27th June 2023
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I’ve been catastrophising about the A/C in the 330i….how common are evaporator failures in the uk? It seems a very common issue on US forums and potentially a royal pain in the arse to sort (dash out).

The condenser was leaking and so is the high pressure line, but I’m starting to think what else is and maybe that’s why it’s been left.

Gad-Westy

15,010 posts

219 months

Tuesday 27th June 2023
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Court_S said:
I’ve been catastrophising about the A/C in the 330i….how common are evaporator failures in the uk? It seems a very common issue on US forums and potentially a royal pain in the arse to sort (dash out).

The condenser was leaking and so is the high pressure line, but I’m starting to think what else is and maybe that’s why it’s been left.
Given where it is, it seems the least likely failure point on the system. Most of the other areas are exposed to stones, corrosion etc or in the case of the compressor the fact that it's a moving part. The evaporator would indeed be a right old pain to swap but seems a long way down the list of possibilities.

JakeT

5,616 posts

126 months

Tuesday 27th June 2023
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I had one leak very slightly in an E46. I put in an AC stop leak product and it sealed it up wonderfully, and I had no more issues. This was after a new condenser and it still had a leak.

Court_S

13,849 posts

183 months

Tuesday 27th June 2023
quotequote all
Gad-Westy said:
Given where it is, it seems the least likely failure point on the system. Most of the other areas are exposed to stones, corrosion etc or in the case of the compressor the fact that it's a moving part. The evaporator would indeed be a right old pain to swap but seems a long way down the list of possibilities.
That’s what I was hoping…it just seems too common in the American forums.

I’m hoping Saturday is third time lucky with it.

Gad-Westy

15,010 posts

219 months

Tuesday 27th June 2023
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Court_S said:
Gad-Westy said:
Given where it is, it seems the least likely failure point on the system. Most of the other areas are exposed to stones, corrosion etc or in the case of the compressor the fact that it's a moving part. The evaporator would indeed be a right old pain to swap but seems a long way down the list of possibilities.
That’s what I was hoping…it just seems too common in the American forums.

I’m hoping Saturday is third time lucky with it.
My theory there would be that they probably don't suffer as many of the environmental failures that we see and so when someone goes on a forum there to post an AC problem, there would be a higher chance it's the evaporator than it would be here. Their AC systems also probably sees a much more severe duty cycle than ours in many states. I don't think that evaporator failure is that common generally on European BMW's

pmorg4

746 posts

122 months

Tuesday 27th June 2023
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Court_S said:
3) the dipping mirror was only a available with either the folding mirrors option or with electric seats.
I believe it's either electric folding mirrors or memory seats. There was a non-memory electric seats option and I don't believe that would get you an auto dipping mirror unless you also have electric folding mirrors.

JakeT

5,616 posts

126 months

Tuesday 27th June 2023
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I forget you could get these cars with electric seats that weren’t memory, E36 style.

Who would even want that? Electric seats are a bit crap without the memory function.

Gad-Westy

15,010 posts

219 months

Tuesday 27th June 2023
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JakeT said:
I forget you could get these cars with electric seats that weren’t memory, E36 style.

Who would even want that? Electric seats are a bit crap without the memory function.
Yep. It's really the only reason I can think to have electric seats otherwise they're just a slower, borkier way to adjust your seat. Memory is great though if you share the car.

helix402

7,913 posts

188 months

Tuesday 27th June 2023
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JakeT said:
I forget you could get these cars with electric seats that weren’t memory, E36 style.

Who would even want that? Electric seats are a bit crap without the memory function.
Mine has these. Not sure why the 1st owner didn’t go for memory as the car has most other options.

TheGinger1

74 posts

70 months

Wednesday 28th June 2023
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Dipping mirror comes with folding mirrors

My load cover doesn't automatically raise when I open the hatch, but it is what the guides are for. Weirdly, whenever I do use this feature manually, it tends to pop up of its own accord afterwards when I hit the first pothole or bump in the road

Court_S

13,849 posts

183 months

Wednesday 28th June 2023
quotequote all
TheGinger1 said:
Dipping mirror comes with folding mirrors

My load cover doesn't automatically raise when I open the hatch, but it is what the guides are for. Weirdly, whenever I do use this feature manually, it tends to pop up of its own accord afterwards when I hit the first pothole or bump in the road
And memory seats; my 335i doesn’t have folding mirrors but does have electric memory seats and the mirror does dip in reverse.

Swervin_Mervin

4,581 posts

244 months

Wednesday 28th June 2023
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I might be teaching people to suck eggs but JIC - double press of the tailgate button when opening the full tailgate to activate the pop up load cover

MajorMantra

1,464 posts

118 months

Thursday 29th June 2023
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Swervin_Mervin said:
I might be teaching people to suck eggs but JIC - double press of the tailgate button when opening the full tailgate to activate the pop up load cover
That's news to me!

Tbh I hardly use the load cover these days. I drop the seats fairly frequently and I got annoyed with constantly taking it in any out so it's been parked in the loft for a while now.

pmorg4

746 posts

122 months

Wednesday 5th July 2023
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Today I replaced my LCI start engine button with a pre-LCI version. You might find this a bit strange as most people tend to go the other way, but having compared the two I realised that the LCI button is yet another example of BMW cost-cutting, leading to a much less durable design which is why so many LCI buttons are peeling and fading. Mine was suffering from the usual peeling around the outer ring, as it's simply a coated plastic, whereas the pre-LCI button has a proper brushed metal surround. I could have bought a new LCI button but knowing the differences I prefer the higher quality pre-LCI version. I took a similar approach with my heater controls, where I grafted a higher quality pre-LCI fascia onto an LCI back end (with the "ALL" button swapped over) so I got the LCI functionality with the pre-LCI quality.

It's a straight swap that takes 5 minutes with the right trim removal tool to pop the trim next to the steering wheel.

pmorg4

746 posts

122 months

Wednesday 5th July 2023
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Just captured a pic:


meddler

139 posts

32 months

Wednesday 5th July 2023
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pmorg4 said:
Just captured a pic:

The pre-LCI Start/Stop button is just…better. Now you’ve made me decide to swap it for my LCI one biggrin

I have aluminum trim so I’m thinking pre-LCI will look much better than the peeling, fading black paint of the current one

Edited by meddler on Wednesday 5th July 14:44

helix402

7,913 posts

188 months

Wednesday 5th July 2023
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I did the same! But went for a Limited Edition one.

Swervin_Mervin

4,581 posts

244 months

Wednesday 5th July 2023
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I didn't know the LCO one was turd. I've been in a few LCI cars and always had the impression it somehow felt a bit cheaper but could never place my finger on why or how. Just assumed they were shagged examples that hadn't been cared for.

pmorg4

746 posts

122 months

Wednesday 5th July 2023
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helix402 said:
I did the same! But went for a Limited Edition one.
Your Limited Edition button looks good but way too spendy for me! biggrin

pmorg4

746 posts

122 months

Wednesday 5th July 2023
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Swervin_Mervin said:
I didn't know the LCO one was turd. I've been in a few LCI cars and always had the impression it somehow felt a bit cheaper but could never place my finger on why or how. Just assumed they were shagged examples that hadn't been cared for.
So far we have determined that the start button, heater control panel and the map reading lights (LCI version is missing the lens so you can see the bare bulb, as discovered by Helix) have been "downgraded" in quality in the LCI. The CIC iDrive controller is also plastic compared to the brushed metal of the CCC version, but of course there is significantly more functionality in the CIC controller so I won't swap that one. They also got rid of the haptic feedback that the CCC controller had, although I don't miss that as the software was quite buggy resulting in it sometimes fighting you.

I almost forgot - the cooled drinks holder in the centre console was also removed from the LCI.

I'm not aware of any other obvious areas of LCI downgrades but I'm sure they exist. I'd be interested to hear anyone if any others have been discovered.