E30 Zone

My cabriolet has a strange and annoying fault on the heater.With the heat turned on i get an annoying tick from inside the dash which gets faster with more r.p.m.If i turn the heater knob to cold the ticking stops but when i turn the heat back up there is no response,unless the r.p.m's drop below 1000,then i get heat through but the ticking has returned,it must be a motorised flap that is not turning off or something like that,anyone come across this before and know a fix?Or should i just turn the radio up!

Yeah sounds like a dodgy heater control valve, it's behind the dash on the left hand side of the central tunnel, just inside the firewall. I did mine not so long ago, the valve is about £60 IIRC from Euro Car Parts - although I think there are two types so you'd need to figure out which you need.

Personally I found it to be a really fiddly job to do but it is possible without taking most of the interior out. If you decide to have a crack post here and I'll tell you the approach I used. I daresay there are others who know some smarter tricks to get it done though!

Courtesy of Total BMW

http://www.totalbmwmag.com/HandsOn/TechJun01.PDF

Cheers Lads,No excuse not to do it now,i go to work at stupid a clock in the morning and cant take a loud radio early on(im 36 you know)and this ticking is doing my head in.

Ah yes! I remember now, it was the little pipe in front and not the valve that's the major pain to change...no worries; the valve itself is actually straighforward. Follow the instructions there and it'll be sorted in no time...good luck!

does your heater work ok??

ie will it blowhot even if the car is doing 60-70 mph or does it only work well when idling for a while??

john

c76jon wrote:does your heater work ok??

ie will it blowhot even if the car is doing 60-70 mph or does it only work well when idling for a while??

john

The heater works fine as im going along,i turn it to cold to stop the clicking and when i turn it back up theres no longer any heat,if i leave it tuned up and slow down for a junction the heat comes back on but so does the clicking,weird.

Before you get involved with any of the above, check the heater pipes are the right way around in the engine bay.

defo sounds like heater hoses are on the wrong way round -
takes 2 mins to swap them over they are the ones going into the bulkhead just behind and next to cylinder head.

Could well be the hoses,worth a try before pulling the dash apart.

Brianmoooore wrote:Before you get involved with any of the above, check the heater pipes are the right way around in the engine bay.

thats where iwas going if heater was not working