aircon system

[Toby_Unna]

was in a breaker today and noticed an e30 with aircon.

strange spec - pre-facelift, m10 carb, autobox... and aircon!

anyway it seems complete apart from the underdash panel and the actual switches. everything else there - all piping, radiator, fan, compressor, condensor (intergral with heater matrix) etc etc.

will this be a complete nightmare to fit to my car?! i'm not sure i want the extra weight/drag but i'm going to go back and remove it anyway. and is it likely to be fooked (i.e. need more than a re-gas) as i don't know much about aircon except that it's rare on an e30!

finally is anyone interested in it if i decide i don't want it on my car?

[E30Mark]

A1BMW325iSport comes running in to snap your arm off...

[Widge]

A1BMW325iSport comes running in to snap your arm off...

.....and is rugby takled by Widge who is holding a heater matrix and a spanner!

[Stoney_god]

I've got A/C (fully working) in my pre facelift '87 325 Auto (which I might break) !!!

[ian332isport]

was in a breaker today and noticed an e30 with aircon.

strange spec - pre-facelift, m10 carb, autobox... and aircon!

anyway it seems complete apart from the underdash panel and the actual switches. everything else there - all piping, radiator, fan, compressor, condensor (intergral with heater matrix) etc etc.

will this be a complete nightmare to fit to my car?! i'm not sure i want the extra weight/drag but i'm going to go back and remove it anyway. and is it likely to be fooked (i.e. need more than a re-gas) as i don't know much about aircon except that it's rare on an e30!

finally is anyone interested in it if i decide i don't want it on my car?

Toby,

Fitting the Aircon system is not very hard. It's just a pain in the arse having to remove the entire dash to swap the aircon heaterbox for the standard one.

The only things that can really fail as such, are the electric fan, and the compressor. You could possibly have a damaged condenser radiator, but unless there is an obvious hole, it's hard to tell until you fit the system and get it leak checked. Most of the rest of the system is just pipes and the evaporator under the dash (in the heaterbox). You should replace the dryer unit anyway, as this is probably past it's sell by date.

If you are removing the system from another car, make sure you get the engine bay wiring for the aircon system. If it's factory fitted, then this will all be taped up with the rest of the wiring. It basically runs down from the fusebox to the left headlight, then across the front to the dryer container that's mounted behind the drivers side headlight.

One thing that is different on the pre-facelift systems is the heater sliders. On the early ones, they need to be in a certain position for the aircon to work. This is done with an extra circuit board on the back of the sliders, so you will need the correct ones. They changed the system slightly on the facelift, and the sliders are not relevant.

Cheers,

Ian.

[Toby_Unna]

that's extremely useful Ian thanks very very much!

assume there's no way to remove it without breaking the system and having it re-gased once installed.

i'm supposed to have a masters in mechanical engineering but still manage to get confused between evaporators condensors and all the rest

[A1BMW325iSport]

Ian`s right on 88onwards models they deleted the contact switch on the sliders

p.s. Jonb has an air con setup he is removing for me at the moment

[Widge]

What's an air con setur usually go for then? And are you going to break it Stoney_god?

[Stoney_god]

What's an air con setur usually go for then? And are you going to break it Stoney_god?

Absolutely no idea how much they're worth. We're gonna run some test this week to see why it dont run then decide coz it is quite a clean car.

[Widge]

I really fancy AC cos then my car will be totally tooled up with leather OBC Cruise control and rear blind/head rests/arm rest - hmmm any thing else I can get..................

Oh and can anyone explain how the dryer works? I get the evaporator and the condensor making the air going through the heater box cold and heating up the rad more but where does the dryer come in to it? Oh and is the evaporator a seperate part like on the Saabs where it is infront of the rad or is it built in to the rad?
Cheers

[A1BMW325iSport]

around 150 is the going rate

[Widge]

Cor bit pricy for me at the mo, 2.7 is real priority. I'd then have to get it tested and gassed which would be another Ԛ£100 with gas and labour.

[beardymat]

hey toby,

if you are gonna be in sheffield next weekend you can pop round to mine and have a look at my car to see whats involved in retrofitting as im about halfway through fitting it to mine(got heaterbox in and wiring in too,no point going any further till my cars repaired)can give you some good tips and also advise you on anything youre unsure about

[ian332isport]

that's extremely useful Ian thanks very very much!

assume there's no way to remove it without breaking the system and having it re-gased once installed.

i'm supposed to have a masters in mechanical engineering but still manage to get confused between evaporators condensors and all the rest

Toby,

Sorry, there's absolutely no way to remove it without breaking the system open.

Ian.

[ian332isport]

Oh and can anyone explain how the dryer works? I get the evaporator and the condensor making the air going through the heater box cold and heating up the rad more but where does the dryer come in to it? Oh and is the evaporator a seperate part like on the Saabs where it is infront of the rad or is it built in to the rad?
Cheers

Widge,

The dryer is literally just that. It's used to remove any moisture from the refrigerant. It's basically a container full of dessicant material that absorbs moisture. They can only absorb so much moisture before they become useless, so should really be changed every two or three years to keep everything working as it should. If you get a used one, it will almost certainly be junk. Even a brand new one will be useless if you leave it open to the atmosphere for a few hours.

I think you've got the Evaporator and the Condenser mixed up. The Evaporator is under the dash, and the condenser is in front of the radiator. It is a seperate unit, and not part of the radiator. The cooling fan mounts directly on the front of the condenser.

Cheers,

Ian.

[Widge]

Cheers Ian, I got them muddlead but I know what I mean. Just wanted to know if I was having to get the rad with the AC or if it was a seperate mini rad. Cheers

[A1BMW325iSport]

i have a condenser/fan and the larger radiator here i`ll take a photo for you in a minute

[Widge]

Oh is there a larger rad to go on too?

[Nelly]

The pipe work etc is really easy to run, every thing that needs to be run into the bay goes through "knock outs" that already exsist. If you look from in side the bay - top left corner (drivers side) you'll see the ovalish shape knock out and then behind the off side h/light another circular knock out about 3" in diamitar.

Also, on the transmission tunnell (directly below the matrix) there is three wholes required for the moisture over flow (looks like your cars taking a piss on idle with the a/c on) - there's 1 knock out on the top of the tunnel the size of a ten pence piece gear stick side of the matrix and 2 are needed either side of the matrix nearer to the fire wall/bulk head.

The last 2 either side of the matrix i told you about i had to make these myself as this was the only part of the retro fit that didn't have any knock outs, the metal skin is thin in this place so you should be able to core cut a hole no problem.

I hope this helps you in some way and don't forget to remove the little front rubber mount the matrix sits on as well as the over flow flow pipes from the breaker.

Good luck with the instale mate, Neil.

[Simon13]

I've got A/C (fully working) in my pre facelift '87 325 Auto (which I might break) !!!

Radiator please if u do and it's in good nick

[Nelly]

Get that a/c set up of Dave, Si.

[A1BMW325iSport]

condenser/fan and radiator from 1988 325i SE

[ian332isport]

Oh is there a larger rad to go on too?

Sorry, forgot to mention the larger radiator on A/C equipped cars. I assume they fit a larger one as it will be less efficient with the condenser mounted on the front.

It's not however necessary to fit the larger radiator to fit the A/C system. When I say 'not necessary', I mean it's not required to allow the other A/C parts to be fitted. It probably is necessary to avoid the risk of the engine overheating.

You don't specifically need an E30 A/C radiator either. I'm using an E36 M3 Evo radiator which is basically the same size and fit (assuming you have a facelift E30 - The early cars were a little different) as the larger E30 A/C rad.

Ian.

[ian332isport]

The last 2 either side of the matrix i told you about i had to make these myself as this was the only part of the retro fit that didn't have any knock outs, the metal skin is thin in this place so you should be able to core cut a hole no problem.

I had to do this as well.

It's strange that they provide knockouts for all the other holes, and leave the most difficult ones to get at for you to drill yourself

I bought a nice step drill to do mine, and it worked a treat.

Cheers,

Ian.

[ian332isport]

p.s. Jonb has an air con setup he is removing for me at the moment

It's about flippin time you found a complete kit. You've been looking for ages.

I hope it all goes in okay

Ian.

[beardymat]

the radiator i have with my system has a sender in the top of the offside, a plug from the a/c loom plugs into it,dont know what its for but suspect it may be linked to the fan.

[ian332isport]

the radiator i have with my system has a sender in the top of the offside, a plug from the a/c loom plugs into it,dont know what its for but suspect it may be linked to the fan.

That's the switch that controls the fan.

It's a dual temperature switch that switches the low speed fan at 91 degrees, and the high speed at 99 degrees.

Ian.

[A1BMW325iSport]

p.s. Jonb has an air con setup he is removing for me at the moment

It's about flippin time you found a complete kit. You've been looking for ages.

I hope it all goes in okay

Ian.

cheers mate, how did you get on with the wiring, the aircon heater loom just plugs into the same connector on the main loom? also where does the engine bay wiring loom connect to?

[beardymat]

thought it would be something like that



thats one seeeeeeexxxxxyyyyyy sport youve got there btw

[A1BMW325iSport]

the radiator i have with my system has a sender in the top of the offside, a plug from the a/c loom plugs into it,dont know what its for but suspect it may be linked to the fan.

That's the switch that controls the fan.

It's a dual temperature switch that switches the low speed fan at 91 degrees, and the high speed at 99 degrees.

Ian.

100% correct, you can just see it on the top left of rad in 3rd photo i posted up

[beardymat]

[/quote]

cheers mate, how did you get on with the wiring, the aircon heater loom just plugs into the same connector on the main loom? also where does the engine bay wiring loom connect to?[/quote]

the heater box does plug into the standard loom and the engine bay loom connects in the fusebox,one multiplug and a couple into the fuse holders and a couple into the relay holders

[ian332isport]

cheers mate, how did you get on with the wiring, the aircon heater loom just plugs into the same connector on the main loom? also where does the engine bay wiring loom connect to?

All the wiring under the dash is already there. All you need to do, is unplug the standard heater multiplug, and connect the A/C heater plug to it. Nice 'n' easy

The problem with the engine bay loom, is that it doesn't plug in as such. It all runs into the fusebox, and connects directly to the fuses and relays. If you are removing the system yourself, you can carefully remove the connectors from the fusebox, and retain the crimps. It would then be a simple case of pushing these into the correct holes in your fusebox. Even if you do it yourself, you will still have some wires that will have been cut, but as long as you have enough length to play with, it should be okay.

If it's being removed by someone else (not sure how JonB will do it ), then you may just get a load of cut wires.

If you look inside your fusebox, you should find a small white/clear plastic connector with 5 wires in it. This is where a non factory fit A/C system would plug into. These 5 wires run through into the car to the heater multiplug. You will need to cut this plug off, and splice some of the A/C engine bay wires into them.

Cheers,

Ian.

[A1BMW325iSport]

ok Thanks Ian, i`m sure it will become clearer when i come to fit it, i may be back to pick your brains again if you don`t mind.

[beardymat]

all my wiring is as per factory,the five wire multiplug was on both the doner vehicle and my own car and i removed all the rest from the relevant fuse and relay slots without damage to the crimps(took a little patience though) didnt have to splice any of them!

[ian332isport]

i may be back to pick your brains again if you don`t mind.

Feel free mate