air conditioning. installation/swap costs. and a few Q's

[gareth]

my wife has a E30 320i with air-con and as she's thinking of selling it soon to get a VW Corrado VR6 i am thinking of havingthe aircon out for my 325i!!!!

1) what's involved in swapping it all over from the 320i to the 325i?
2) will i need to swap the radiator over and if so will the 320i one be ok with the 325i lump?
3) what is the score with regassing? at the moment the aircon doesn't work in the "donor" car and i want to re-gas it cheaply to check it all out before i undertake a double dash removal on order to swap everything over!!!
4) what do i need to remove other than the obvious parts? any relays, controls etc?

5) the big one... i am looking to fit a M30 3.5 in the next year or so. will the pump etc fit the 3.5? if not, will a pump from a 3.5 (a lot more common i hope) work with the rest of the E30 setup? oh, is there likely to for with the M30?

heeeeeeeeeeeeelp!

[tourer-dan]

The aircon has it's own rad in front of the regular one. Don't know anything else!!!
Except I wouldn't bother having it regassed first, but you will still need to have the system evacuated before you start work.

[A1BMW325iSport]

here is the list of parts.....

radiator, condensor and fan, compressor, pump, metal pipes, heater box, heater wiring loom, heater control panel with rotary switch, slider switch and the main dual button control switch, and you will also need some wiring from the engine bay that connects to condenser fan etc

the relay is mounted on the heater box and it connects to the heater box loom

[beardymat]

just done a swap from an se i broke into my poorly sport,from inside the car you only really need the switches and the heater box,the wiring is the same from the fuse box to the large white multiplug for the heaterbox! in the engine bay you need the pump and mount bracket,the drier(cylinder mounted in the o/s inner wing) the condenser and fan and the cooling radiator and the wiring which runs from all these parts to the fuse box and the metal plumbing.the wiring in the fuse box has a small multiplug and two connections to fuse sockets(unused in non aircon models)and two connections to relay sockets(also unused).the rest of the loom can be removed separately from the other engine bay wiring.you will need the extra relays and fuses too!if you look on the non aircon car where the pipes enter the cabin you should see a faint outline of the hole that is on the aircon cars,the hole is pre stamped with just a few tabs holding the metal in place,a good tap with a hammer and screwdriver will dislodge this(gotta love them german folk).the only other holes you need are three under the heater box for condensation drainage but you will have to drill these yourself!!!!
dont bother with a regas or having someone vac it out for you as there wont be any gas in there,probably a failed condenser which arent dear.
as for the dash out business ,it isnt really that much hassle and when youve done one the second is easier
anything i havnt covered just ask
if you dont want the hassle sell the car to a1325isport cause hes bustin for an aircon system

[A1BMW325iSport]

if you dont want the hassle sell the car to a1325isport cause hes bustin for an aircon system

hehehe nice1

[gareth]

cheers beardymat! it all sounds fairly straightforward, though time consuming!

how long realistically does it take to pull it all out and refit?

what bit is the condensor? (apologies for my ignorance!!!)

what's the score with regassing costs and gas compatibility etc?

[beardymat]

hi gareth
if you set aside two full days and have the cars side by side i think you should be able to complete it,i spent half a sunday on mine to do the dash out,heaterbox swap,pipes into engine bay and rebuild dash.i was taking my time and the beer was flowing too!! i didnt sort the rest out cause as you can see from my sig pic it needs a little remedial work first but thats the easy part.

the condenser fits in front of the radiator along with its own electric fan,looks like a thin radiator.

as for regassing, a good friend of mine is a specialist in sheffield and he charges joe public Ԛ£60 for a regas but also puts oil in the system,pressure tests it and puts a die in the system to show where any leaks are coming from in the future.as for gas compatability he says its no problem as they make different types for these older systems

[gareth]

hmm... sounds like it could well be worth it!

i gave the centre of the valve in the donor car a little shove yesterday and there was a very small hiss for about half a second then nothing so that looks like it's the reason for it all not working in the donor car.

are there any checks i can do to everything thet'll be getting permanently embedded under the dash? just so i don't have to do 3 dash removals if there are any problems!

any ideas on space with a 3.5 m30 in?

[beardymat]

if you want peace of mind before you remove it all then take it to a specialist and ask them to pressure test it for you,they should pressurise the system with compressed gas and any leaks will become apparant as the gas hisses out,if there is a fault with the evaporator(bit inside the heater box)you will hear it with the dash in.because there was still a little gas present you may not have a major leak as even the best systems will slowly depressurise over time.

as for the m30 engine i think it should all still fit but thats purely speculation im afraid