Hi Guys/Gals....
My AC is WEAK!!! With the recirculate Air pushed in, it gets colder but without, it's just cool...not cold at all. Driven for the longest time too..still just cool air....It's cooler than outside air of course but shouldn't it be cold.

If some one can do me a favor and get an accurate temp so I can bring back to the dealer and complain. It's only 8 days old and I don't think it leaks already.

btw the snow flake is pushed in and I don't have auto AC, just in case some one has diff. model options.
Thanks in advance.

 

If you're accustomed to American brand cars, then yes, the A/C is weak in comparison. MINI = BMW ---> weak A/C. If you feel your A/C is actually defective, take the dealership's tester [or a local MINI friend] for a drive and compare their A/C to yours.

 

Is the air blowing out cool at all? You may have issues with the coolant/R134A or whatever they pump in.

I second the notion about German cars having weaker ACs.

 

Mine gets pretty damn cold...

 

I find my AC is good up to about 90 degrees. Anything over that and the AC is pretty much always on full speed and recirculate.

When I left work today it was 99 degrees. I didn't even bother turning the AC on as my commute is only 4 miles. Not a chance to cool down in that distance. Open window motoring is more fun anyways.

 

My a/c is a little weak also, thought it was just me.

 

OK...you're right about me accustomed to American cars or Japanese cars/SUV's but when I test drove the demo, it was ice cold like postlapsaria and I think Lono and I have low R134 or freon or whatever they use nowadays. It's time to bring back to the dealer to check for leakage or recharge.
I don't know any one here that drive MiNi so can't compare. I was hoping some of you guys own the same year as mine to take a temp for me. Anyways, thanks a lot for all the info.

 

BTW....Mini is German car? I thought it's BMW and it's British???

 

I live in Az, it was 110 today and I was cool, cold actually without the recirc. (I always forget to turn it on)

 

BMW=Bavarian Motor Werks.

Assembled in Oxford.

 

I've owned a number of germans cars (mostly Audis and VW) all except one (my current allroad) had weak AC.

 

FWIW, the a/c in my R56 is significantly better than my R53. Gosh the R53 just did nothing in this AZ sun/heat....

 

Auto A/C no problem in hot, humid 100+ today in Jersey. Took two coworkers out to lunch midday and no complaints temp-wise.

 

I agree with the other posters. Most european cars I have owned also had weak A/C when compared to their american/asian counterparts.

 

This is my 1st non-american vehicle, i have the auto a/c, havent had any complaints, seems the same as all my other vehicles. 95 out today, tho the recerc kept kickn on, it stayed cold throughout my commute. Guess i just luckd out

 

Auto Air set to "LOW" ("MAX" is re-circulate) over 90f today with Sunroof wide open and AC kept car plenty cool.

This is better AC performance than I expected and it sound like yours needs attention from MINI Service Department.

 

Let's stick a thermometer in the vent when the car cools off and see what the temp is. I don't think anybody's done that before. They've done the hot bonnet and footwell temps but not cold.

 

Thanks all for the info. I will definitely bring it back. It was 96 here in MA two days in a row and AC didn't work as good as it should.
btw...my first non-American and non-Japanese are too...also for the silly question. What is R53 and R56 and how do I know what I have? Mine is 2008 MCS.
thanks again.

 

I disagree. He needs to have it checked out although they
will probably say it is OK.

It's been 106F here. Mine blows cold on outside air, it blows
icepops on recirculate. It's 5 minutes from sitting in the sun
to cold inside.

My 93 E36 black on black blew icepops (owned it in 2007).
My 99 E36 silver on tan blew icepops (owned 2006-2007).

My wife's passat blows icepops.

My CRX used to blow icepops even more than the above.
That's the only one with the 'old stuff'.

 

R53 is the 2002-2006 MCS. R56 is the 2007 and newer MCS. Your 2008 is an R56. Lifted from motoringfile.com:

MINI Model Number Cheat Sheet:

1st Gen MINI
R50: One & MC Coupe
R52: All 1st Gen MINI Convt.
R53: MCS Coupe
2nd Gen MINI
R55: Clubman
R56: One/MC/MCS Coupe
R57: One/MC/MCS Convt.
R60: MINI SUV

 

Thanks for the info again :-)
Trying to make an appointment to bring it in.

 

"Old Stuff" Refrigerant (Freon) was called R12 for autos, the "New Stuff" (CFC free) is R134A.
__________________________________________________ _

For a performance test, a thermometer placed in the center outlet *should show a temperature of 36f-45f after ten minutes if the outside temperature is 90f.

That is *generic, but MINI Service Manual should have specifications to check on your system.

MINI Service would check that, along with a lot of other Temperature and Pressure readings to see if components needed changed or adjusted.

 

Thats a lot of icepops!

 

My 03, keeps the car cool never cold....as the heat is high here

 

Ok in my 03 checked it with my AC temp. thingy... 38-39 degrees,...