E30 Zone

Before this turns into a wanted add what is the current going rate for a complete air con setup. All parts, so loom, ac heater box, extra fan, pipework, switch gear etc. Serviceable items like condenser and receiver drier etc aren't a problem. I know it's a pig to do but I want it and the car will be going back to a bare shell. I'm would be after an oe system not the dealer fit type.

I might need to do the same, unless there's an after market kit. I'm not after originality or looks but will need something that cools the car as I'm probably shipping it to a very hor/humid country to use as my daily.

The last two I've seen for sale were asking £150 - 300, one with differing prices depending on whether you strip or not. Unless you're a real masochist, I'd want to strip myself as there are lots of bits!

I already know I missed the N/S rad mount and top hose, both of which are different.

"I'd want to strip myself"

is that an aircon alternative to keeping cool

I would strip, but I'm not sure I'd trust myself not to miss anything as I've not had a lot to do with stripping down E30's before.......unlike a proper specialist breaker, also time and laziness. Cool, that's less than I though it would cost.

There will be new bits required, which will bump the final price up considerably!

at least a £1000 to get A/C retro fitted into your car and working. Thats doing the stripping and fitting all yourself.

waste of time and money .

E30 airco isn't great, I barely use mine. It just about does the job but isn't a patch on newer cars. It saps a good bit of power from the engine too.

That's a shame, I was thinking about fitting it as I'd like to use the car in Europe when it's done. I imagine finding a donor car these days that's complete. I wouldn't have imagined it to be too bad compared to modern standards when in good working order.

I find the A/C works well enough in E30's when its working as It should be.

magpie wrote:waste of time and money .

Up north maybe.

I'd say it works bloody well. Mine works very well and is as good as any newer car i've had

Like anything if the system is in good shape it does the job well.

All down to opinion I suppose. My system is regularly maintained and works as it should but I'm unimpressed. The 1200rpm idle when the AC is switched on gets boring...

it either blows properly cold or it doesn't...... mine blows 4 degrees out the vents which is good for a 2017 car

Your idle is too high with A/C on so there is a fault there for some reason i'd say

The increased idle RPM is controlled by the black/purple wire that goes through the small plug and socket that comes off of a M20 engine loom close to the big ECU plug.
0 volts on the wire gives normal RPM, and 12 volts on the wire gives the increased RPM. I don't know off hand what the increased idle should be, but I'm fairly sure that it should still be sub 1000 RPM.
If it's 1200 RPM, I can only suggest that there's a software fault with the ECU, or the tacho. is inaccurate.
If you don't like the increased idle, disconnect the black/purple wire, but this increases the chances of the engine stalling when the compressor kicks in when the car is idling.

^^ where else would you get such precise information! Keeps me using this place....
A/c retrofit is on my wish list.... prob get around to it in a decade

I did this in about 2006 to my M50 conversion and it cost over £500 then, I had the parts out of a scrapyard for £40 and replaced most flexi hose too.

Cloggy Saint wrote:The 1200rpm idle when the AC is switched on gets boring...

Simon13 wrote:Your idle is too high with A/C on so there is a fault there for some reason i'd say

Brianmoooore wrote:I don't know off hand what the increased idle should be, but I'm fairly sure that it should still be sub 1000 RPM.
If it's 1200 RPM, I can only suggest that there's a software fault with the ECU, or the tacho. is inaccurate.

The correct increase idea speed is 900 rpm.

I have retro fitted factory type A/C to approx 15 E30's now including my 325i and it came factory fit in my M3. Ive also broken several E30's with factory A/C and dealer fit A/C and the two systems are like night and day in terms of quality.

To help you out with values, I sold a full oem system on eBay recently for £275.

Noooo, really. I've been watching out on eBay too. Thanks for the opinions I think I will do it. Do the systems differ a lot chrome bumper to the later cars?

There are some differences in wiring pre and post 9/87.

Other than that the hardware is pretty much all the same but different brackets and a couple of pipes relating to which engine is fitted.

Radiators as also bigger on A/C cars.

Is the larger radiator an absolute necessity?

Cloggy Saint wrote:Is the larger radiator an absolute necessity?

Not in the UK's climate but a genuine BMW non A/C rad doesn't have the screw hole for the dual temp sensor for the fan.

Have you guys converted for R134a?

A few years ago I had my factory fit system charged with an "R12 alternative" - I can't remember the name now, but it worked great for a couple of years.

Jookeone wrote:Have you guys converted for R134a?

A few years ago I had my factory fit system charged with an "R12 alternative" - I can't remember the name now, but it worked great for a couple of years.

Every factory system I've installed had been converted to run on R134a.

My own 325i still blows ice cold and I've haven't charged the system in about 4 years.