auto vs manual AC, and why?
 

hi, i'm in the process of ordering a new MCS and don't know if i want the auto or manual AC


i know this topic has been beat to death many times over but its a new car and maybe the r56 auto ac won't be so bad after all

so:

1. are the charcoal filters and the micro filters compatible? e.g. if i get manual AC can i still install a charcoal filter? or carbon or whatever fancy odor filtering filter they have?

2. does the manual AC work the exact same as the auto AC? e.g. say the compressor and evap are the exact same? maybe the auto AC has a better compresor or something

3. what about weight differences? nothing?





sorry guys about resurrecting such an old topic but thanks for the time

poll anyone?





_

What impressed me most about the auto air conditioning during my test drives is that it's so simple to set. It doesn't take my concentration away from my driving. If it's too cool just hold the outer ring clockwise for a second or two, and vise versa. Very nice.

Manual AC is standard equipment in Canada. I thought that would be the same in the US. Auto AC would have put me over my budget (like I wasn't already) and I would have lost wife acceptance factor (WAF).

The 2002-2003 MINIs had "stupid" auto a/c - it would blow to warm you without waiting for the car to heat up, so you'd get blasted with freezing air in the winter!
They fixed it eventually.

But if you're planning to order a new as in 2007 MINI - who knows how the new one will work!

I like the ability with manual a/c to direct air where I want it using the knob, so I can choose "mostly feet but a bit of windscreen" - with auto a/c you can only press the buttons, so you can't get anything except (presumably) a 50/50 split.
But I saw some R56 manual a/c pics that looked like there might not be a direction knob.


On the 2002-2006, you can put the better filter into a manual a/c car. Don't believe there's any much weight difference - same components just controlled differently.

I agree with Ian, and that is why I have manual instead of auto. I could have ordered the auto, but didn't want to deal with the auto quirks that I have seen in other cars. I don't mind a little more involvement - I look at it in the same way that I do a manual transmission vs. and auto transmission, except no fun factor.

I love my Auto AC... I had a loaner that had manual and it drove me mad trying to get the right temp and the right fan speed, etc. It seems it would take forever for it to warm up and would blow too softly. I like the fact that the Auto AC can of course be run in auto mode or manual mode and it tends to warm or cool much faster than the manual. It does blow harder and is louder sometimes, but you just have to know how to use it... For people without a bit of time to commit to understanding it fully, I would recommend the manual I guess. Otherwise, the Auto is far superior :grin:

I went for manual as it was cheaper and I wasn't having the sat nav.

I only really want it to provide cool air in the summer and having hyad auto air in various mercs don't think its worth the extra.