Air con

[LondonTom]

After a bit of advice, is the air con system in an E30 any good? I'm not expecting it to be on par with modern stuff of course.

Also, how difficult is it to be retro fitted to a car (325)?

Thanks.

[Cloggy Saint]

As you say, not comparible to modern systems but it does a job. I almost never use mine as it seems to suck a lot of engine power when it's switched on.

[pacerpete]

It is a good reliable system when in good order . Budget Ca £1000 - £1500 to fit and get reliable using a combination of new and used parts . Any one who tells you different has never done it or has no cold air several weeks later.......

[LondonTom]

Cheers Pete - I might concentrate on finding a car with it fitted, but would assume it was a fairly rare option?

[Simon13]

it is fairly rare but you'll still spend alot no doubt getting an old system working if you buy a car and its broken. Condensors,compressor rebuilds,dryer new seals etc. As Pete says it all adds up but it works well in an E30

Dave if you had more than a 2.0 you wouldn't notice the A/C on

[Cloggy Saint]

Dave?! It's 2.5 now but still a noticeable power drain.

[bss325i]

I've retro fitted it to about 9 or 10 E30's now and when working correctly is works as well as any modern system in its ability to keep an interior cool, the only advantage a modern car may have over an E30 is a digital climate control to regulate the temperature.

All the other components are the same basic items as fitted to any other car and in fact, E30's and other older BMW's usually have a much higher capacity of gas, almost double in some cases, than newer BMW's.

As said, it's not cheap to retro fit or even recommission as long disfunctional system but it's worth it, especially in my case as I have a black car with black leather.

Avoid dealer fit systems such as ones by Diavia. It almost never works, hard to get parts for, when it does work it's not as effective as the factory fit type system and every one I have come across has been nailed in poorly.

[LondonTom]

Cheers Lads - really helpful.

Tom