Upgrading from standard air conditioning to auto air conditioning?
 

Would anyone know if it would be possible to change the standard air conditioning controll unit to the automatic temperature controll unit? Would it be just a matter of changing out the contoll box and adding the sensor to detect temperature? If so would the cost be substantial?
Thanks for your help.

I asked my dealer about doing the reverse on my '03 Cooper. I hated the auto A/C and wanted to switch to the dials, but they wouldn't even give me an estimate; they just said the cost would be prohibitive.

Now I have an '05 with the manual controls, and I'm loving it!:thumbsup:

I'm wondering what you didn't like about the auto air. I just kike the fact that you can set it and forget it.

I have the auto and other than looks, I am not won over. I seemed to fiddle with it more than the old manual system. I would save the $300 the next go-round. I am impressed with the AC--it will flat get you cool/cold quick: this from a Florida guy. :thumbsup:

I'd be interesting in hear if this would work, as I uderstand it w/ manual A/C the MINI already has an interor temp sensor next to the sunroof controls. I test drove an auto and liked the set and forget, keep 2 hands on the wheel.

I got the auto AC on my recently acquired MCS mostly because of good experiences with auto systems on other recent cars I've owned. In hindsight, I probably could have lived without it. Auto is not really completely auto, like others have said, you still fiddle with to adjust to changing conditions. Personally I'd just live with whatever I've got.

It's fine until you want to defog a window, or change the direction of the air, or do anything else besides just adjust the temp up and down. Then you have to either deal with the fan going up to jet engine speed, or else hold a button down for five seconds so that the fan returns to normal speed, which sometiems would work and sometimes wouldn't. I found it to be unpredictable and aggravating, and the manual was not much help. It was too easy to accidentally do the wrong thing, and on multiple occasions I had to pull over and get out the manual to try to figure out what the hell I had done and how to get it back to normal. I definitely spend much less time adjusting the manual controls than I did futzing around with the "automatic" climate control.

Compared to the auto HVAC system in my A4, I'm underwelmed. I would go weeks without even touching the controls in the Audi. Just set it for 70 degs and leave it.

The MINI's system is either to cold in the morning, or to warm on the way home in the afternoon. And it doesn't have a single button "off", you have to run the fan all the way down until it shuts off (unless I'm overlooking something :razz:

My feet seem to get cold in the MINI as well, however the heated seats (which I didn't have in the Audi) kick A$$ :thumbsup: