So, why does the AC always come on with the auto climate control? This am for example it is 27 degrees. I set the auto at 62. On comes the AC! I can turn it off and the system works fine, but I would think it would only turn on if the goal is cooling, not heating.

 

Even in the winter, the defroster works better with dry air. The system uses the AC to remove any humidity, and then re-heats the air as needed.

 

Thanks. Figured there was a good reason

 

...what Walt said, the system determined that the humidity was too high and visibly kicked in the A/C. When I purchased my Mini and was going over the car with my MA, she gave me a 20 minute primer on how the Mini auto climate control system works. Part of that was some stories on other customers that would return to the dealership swearing that the system wasn't working properly, generally in the winter months. Apparently some owners came in with water dripping off the sunroof panels and running down the insides of the windows. Typically the inside of the car felt like a sauna. The main cause was folks were setting the system to recirculate vs 'fresh air' and shutting down the A/C. Combine that with snow/water residue on the inside of the car and cold outside temps created a terrarium in the car. In every case, shutting off the recirculate and letting the A/C cycle as needed...with the appropriate temp setting...cleared it up every time.

My main gripe is that my car shuts off the recirculate setting when I run through the car wash and I have to keep hitting the button multiple times on my journey through the tunnel. I do this because the soap scents can be a bit overwhelming in the cabin on the ride through. I hate it when the system 'thinks' it knows what I want!!!

 

Does the AC turn off after a few minutes of dehumidification, or does it always stay on? I don't want to burn out the AC compressor prematurely.

 

While the AC system is technically 'on' (enabled?), the compressor itself will cycle on and off, as needed, just like in the summer.

 

gotcha, thanks!

 

To clarify, when you hit the Auto button the A/C light will always come on (unless you've coded the car to not have this happen, like it is in Europe). However, whether or not the A/C compressor actually comes on is temperature dependent because, for example, the compressor will not come on if ambient temps are below (I think) 39F. You can still get full auto functionality without A/C from the system if you hit the Auto button and then hit the A/C button. I run mine in Auto mode without the A/C virtually all the time, and only hit the A/C button if it's humid or too warm for my liking. And as previously mentioned, I coded my car so that hitting the Auto button does NOT also automatically turn on the A/C (did it in my BMW, too).

 

Is that available in Bimmercode, or did you use a different program?

 

Yep, I made the change with BimmerCode. You don’t need expert mode, either.