Hi guys...

I have problem with my 2015 Mini Cooper S. Here is what happens... First of all, 90% of time I drive without AC being ON.. Most of the time I will open both windows and sunroof and enjoy the outside air.
Here is what happened today.. Temperature outside was 70F, cloudy. I started my car and drove it for about 1 hr 40 miles away... I have automatic AC system in my car. All my temps were set to 60F and AC was OFF.. just wanted air from outside..

In about 15 min from starting driving my car... the air coming from vents was hotter than the air outside of my car. At temp set at 60F the air should feel at least same as air outside of the car... and it was actually hotter, I would say in mid 80Fs..

Eventually I had to turn OFF my air circulation completely and let the windows being open to cool my car inside..

This literally feels like hot air from engine compartment is getting mixed with air from outside. Of course when I turn my AC ON everything feels just fine and its nice cold air.

I have 7K miles on the car and this is not the first time this happened.. I am 120 miles away from dealer and will take it with this issue for my next oil change.

At the beginning I thought it was just me being picky.. but now I can tell this is some type of issue with engine hot air getting inside, despite temperature being set to lowest possible (60F) (A/C OFF)

 

I am not sure what the issue is here. If your AC is off setting temperature won't do much. That engine with turbo gets really hot. I remember 07 Mini S - it would get so hot , some people complained about their hood scoop melting. Isn't there another thread with similar issue? A/C - cold, off- hot. Looks fine. Dealer is going to say works as designed.

 

Lol yeah there is another post. I know.
It's not normal. If you have temp outside at 60F and you set temp inside your car at 60F (AC OFF).... Why is it then that my fans are blowing air around 80-85F inside?

As I said in the other post..... In many cars I owned including my previous 2011 MCS this has never happened.
Literally this car is pulling hot air and blowing it inside regardless of temp setting and temp outside.

 

That's not right. Mine blows cool air when I set the temp to low and it's cool out and the AC is off. . Sounds like the temp setting thing is not working if it's always doing the heater.

 

I have to agree.

Try turning the "Auto" setting off for your AC and run the same test. If you get outside air blowing in (at ambient temp), then it's a issue with the Auto setting (I'd surmise). If it still starts to blow hot air when set to manual, then it may be a stuck or bad relay (which may be the case either way). Definite warranty issue and should be handled at dealership.

For sure, get this fault documented for future reference. I personally wouldn't wait on getting this checked, documented and fixed. Waiting on fixes only shortens "lemon law" periods.

Some dealers will blow customers off with "Working as Designed" statements. If you get that from yours, contact another dealership or MINI Customer Service. Vented air should never vary more than a couple of degrees from outside temps.

Heat from the Turbo should not have an effect on vented air (unless there is a huge design flaw in the car (not just yours).

Best of luck to you.

 

That really depends on what the car "thinks" is the inside temperature. For you the heater will not kick in with the A/C off and temperature set to temp lower than ambient temperature. For the OP, it seems he is in a cooler climate. If its 70F outside, what is ambient temperature if the car is parked in shade? I really doubt there is an issue here but as USA-RET suggested, get it checked for peace of mind and "documented" in case of an issue.

 

Either way if you set your non-AC temperature to the lowest setting there should be no heating of the incoming air, and the OP said the air was definitely being heated. So there's something wrong. He isn't in Phoenix in August at noon lol.

 

A/C off means A/C off - you're not going to get cold air if you don't turn the compressor on.

Otherwise you're just ventilating the cabin with the lowest possible ambient temperature air from outside.

 

I believe that is the point; it's not vent air but heated air coming in.

 

I have a 2013 mini cooper. sometimes I get hot air blowing when it's cool outside and the heater & AC are off. AC works fine, heater works fine. Feels like the heater is on when it's off. I brought to the dealer, they could not recreate the problem but told me they need to replace the "heater control unit". Any Ideas?

 

I have a 2013 mini cooper. sometimes I get hot air blowing when it's cool outside and the heater & AC are off. AC works fine, heater works fine. Feels like the heater is on when it's off. I brought to the dealer, they could not recreate the problem but told me they need to replace the "heater control unit". Any Ideas?

PS How to I start a new post ?

 

There's multiple factors there, but one of them that's important to understand is perception of temperature versus temperature.

It's plausible that the interior thermal sensor thought it was below target temp, and gave you warm mix air instead.

The other possibility is that even vented air is being pulled through the HVAC system and may very well get warmed up, especially with the mini's black panels/interior and a sunny day, and a warm engine.

Also understand that if it's 70F outside, and you set it to 60F, you will never get 60F air that way - you're going to get 70F + whatever thermal increase you get through the mechanism delivering it to you.

If you just want outside air, open the windows.

 

ok stupid question here...i have rtfm'd and can't find it. how exactly do we set the ***** so the ac is off, and where just the air from outside should be blowing in?

 

Do you drive in a lot of stop and go traffic/low speeds?

If you look in the photo below, the air intake for the cabin AC is right behind the motor. It may be pulling in heated engine air and that's why you see the temperature difference.