Do all four of your dash vents blow the same temperature of air with the A/C on?

 

no not really. there won't be the exact same amount of temp coming from all 4 vents. i usually find the 2 center ones to be colder. maybe since they are colser to the blower.

why was the matter?

 

Not if I can help it. I get the cold ones (Mwahaaaaahaaaaahaaa), passengers get the not-so-cold ones!
Seriously though, the center ones do tend to be slightly colder. Proximity to the blower? I dont know. I just turn off the far one by the passenger door and try not to look guilty.

 

has anybody put a thermometer on you vents? about what temp should we expect?

 

If your car has been sitting in the sun for awhile, it may take awhile for all the vents to lose their absorbed radiant heat. I'd think that after 20 minutes of the A/C blowing, they should be close to the same, however... Never thought to compare mine, though.

 

Alot of different factors to consider...Ambient temp, inside temp, blower speed, recirc on/off, temp request from driver.

When I test mine, I usually see 48 degrees or so after the car cools off.

Chad

 

I am just having some weird issues with mine. The driverside inner seems to blow much warmer air than the passenger side inner vent. I do not believe that the system cools quite as well as it is supposed to. I can't swear to it yet but it really seems like it cools best at around a speed of 55-65mph. however if you bump it up to 70mph it significantly drops off. When I take longer trips, the speed limit out of Tulsa is 75, so I'm doing 82ish. It barely keeps me from sweating with an outside temp of around 94ish. Now after i've driven about 100 miles, and slow down to about 45-55mph in the first town the A/C will run you out (very cold). However on the other side when you speed back up it starts warming up again.

It just seems so backwards. Just for info. At lights in general it is weak, as expected.

 

Also it is a newly changed compressor (by Mini)
2005 Cooper S White roof BRG body

 

Used to see that alot on the X5's, was always due to being low on freon. Our cars only hold .91 lbs, so the charge is critical

 

not saying that you are wrong, however the it was just serviced by Mini,

Are they that incompetant?

 

i have found with mine that to get it cold fast i need to put it on recirc. and high fan . once cold i can take it off recirc , periodically to prevent black-outs .

 

I made the same observation on my MCCa with Auto A/C.
Driver side was several degrees warmer (by feel, not measured).
It was a 95ish degree day, the car was driven an hour and then parked in half shadow for 20 min.
Plus it didn't really get that cold, even after several minutes.

The Auto A/C in my SAAB 9-5 in comparision is actually shock freezing you after 30sec.
And the temp is the same on all vents (if both cycles are adjusted to the same temp).

I have to get it checked by the dealer, somebody had mentioned that a low fluid level could cause both the higher temp in general and the difference between driver and passenger...

 

can a mechanic just put a gauge set on and look at the pressure for the A/C system? Or do they have to evacuate the whole thing and recharge to .91lbs?

 

Yes, but the gauge readings are also affected highly by interior and exterior temps making an accurate diagnosis hard. You could see that the cooling fan wasn't coming on by the gauges, or a bad expansion valve or compressor problem on the high side.. To easy these days to suck out the freon in about 5 minutes to check it for the proper amount.

 

I have the same Issue .. Mini 03,, My bro too BMW 330. My frired either BMW X5 :S

Yesterday i went to the dealer.. they told me it might be from the vibrator for the A/C :S

 

If the air is actually warmer then I would suggest that the vent has come loose from the blower.

 

Ok I looked this thread back up to give out some more info. I took it to my local shop to have them change the oil and I wanted them to check the vent temps with a calibrated thermometer. The far left vent came up at 63. The drivers middle vent was 70. The passengers middle was 53 and so was the far right. The compressor is only a couple of months old. However it only keeps the car fairly decent if outside air temp is below 86 on the cars temp gauge. The dealer keeps giving me the story "its not a real strong a/c" but really doesn't seem too interested in trying to really fix it. They said they could take the dash apart and try to figure out the temp difference, probably take a few days. Then thay shrug their shoulders like they really don't think it will help. Any great ideas?