How difficult is changing the air con condenser on an F34?

[white_wolf87]

Hey,

Following the advice of this sub I recently repaired my rear ended BMW F34 330d. Was fairly straight forward , just swapping out the crash bar and replacing some of the reversing radars, and getting second hand bumper trim from ebay.

As part of keeping the car rather than buy a new one, I agreed with my wife to fix the air con that's been broken for about 3 years.

I suspect it's the condenser because of the oily residue on the fins , and apparently it's pretty vulnerable to chip damage.

I have been quoted by an independent garage to replace the condenser for £460, including the re-gas.

Is this a good deal or is it worth doing myself since a condenser is about £100?

Basically is it a massive pain like changing a rear wheel bearing or replacing the engine gasket cover? Or is there relatively few bits in the way?

Edited by white_wolf87 on Sunday 16th August 20:30

[Cheddarbang]

Pretty straight forward.

Unscrew, unclip, unplug and pull the radiator fan unit up and out.
Remove the water radiator.
Remove the condenser.

Create an account on newtis.info

Everything you need to know is on there.

[ian332isport]

You need to factor in a new receiver/drier if the system has been open to atmosphere for 3 years.

[Diffman3000]

The last one I did was a complete pain the arse as the alloy pipe had corroded onto the condenser, as they do. There is a steel locating pin and this is what the pipe union corrodes onto - it requires WD40 and lots of very, very careful wiggling to get it off intact.
You have to take the radiator out and at this age it's a good excuse to fit a new one anyway. Fit new O rings to any connector you've had apart and yes, the drier will be scrap at this point.