Today on what just broke on my car:

"Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire" (arch-duke-maxyenko) 01/03/2014 at 16:45 • Filed to: HALP!!!!, E36 Issues

0

21

The cold/hot wheel of my center A/C vent.

I was turning it from hot to cold and something snapped. My best guess is the connecting rod/clip/whatever, because the wheel turns with no resistance and does nothing.

Can I just replace the wheel, or is the whole vent need to be replaced?

Edit: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Manuél Ferrari > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 01/03/2014 at 16:48

0

Why do bimmers even have that wheel?

I always wondered.

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > Manuél Ferrari 01/03/2014 at 16:49

4

Because Over Complicate and Add Heaviness

EL_ULY > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 01/03/2014 at 16:49

0

there is a way to replace it, i did it on my old e34 at least :]

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > EL_ULY 01/03/2014 at 16:49

0

How?

EL_ULY > EL_ULY 01/03/2014 at 16:50

0

ooops

EL_ULY > Manuél Ferrari 01/03/2014 at 16:50

0

temp control coming out of vents. The temp knobs are for climate control

Manuél Ferrari > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 01/03/2014 at 16:52

1

Lol.

It's funny because most cars don't have it. When I got my M3 I had not had a bimmer for 7 years. I forgot about the little wheel.

I didn't notice that the wheel was set to hot when I bought the car. No matter how low I set the A/C temperature the car would never get as cold as I expected it to.

Luckily I realized what was wrong before I took the car in for service. I would have felt like a moron.

EL_ULY > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 01/03/2014 at 16:52

1

I think I used a little 90 degree pick to release the 3 or 4 tabs and installed a new one from a junk yard car vent I found.

EL_ULY > Manuél Ferrari 01/03/2014 at 16:53

2

lol that's ok dude, that thing is odd but we need it :]

Roberto G. > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 01/03/2014 at 16:58

0

Just disassemble it, and carefully look at its conditions. You should be able to see what went wrong, and then repair it. Maybe.

ddavidn > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 01/03/2014 at 16:58

1

I don't know. I've never touched that vent.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Manuél Ferrari 01/03/2014 at 17:09

0

When did they get rid of them?

Or it is that both of my BMWs are special (read: Not assembled in Germany), and miss out on things like that?

Manuél Ferrari > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 01/03/2014 at 17:10

1

Your bimmers don't have them? Which models do you have?

Mine is a 2011 and I still have the little blue/red wheel. It's a funny little thing!

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Manuél Ferrari 01/03/2014 at 17:12

1

E85 Z4 Roadster and an R55 Mini.

The Mini is brand new (I will type up an Oppo review eventually...) and the Z4 is a 2007 model. Built in South Carolina.

Manuél Ferrari > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 01/03/2014 at 17:17

1

Oh yeah I remember your post about the new Mini now.

You're lucky you don't have the little wheel. It's kind of silly. Obviously it's not necessary since your car has A/C and heat and you don't have the wheel!

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Manuél Ferrari 01/03/2014 at 17:20

1

It has an upper center dash vent, in addition to the defroster, but that's about the extent of the silliness in the HVAC department.

Granted I didn't get the auto temp control either, but I find such things not exactly necessary. Down South, it's either cold, and the heat is on full blast, or hot outside, and the A/C is on full blast.

Manuél Ferrari > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 01/03/2014 at 17:23

1

I have auto temp control and never use it.

I'd rather control how hard the air is blowing and where it's going. Usually the auto temp control doesn't blow the air on your feet. Which is annoying because when it's hot your feet get hot too and could use some air!

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Manuél Ferrari 01/03/2014 at 17:25

1

Point of awesome on the Mini:

See that pictogram all the way clockwise on the air distribution dial? You get foot, defrost, and a little bit out the dash vents when on heat, and dash, defrost, and a bit of foot on A/C.

It's exactly what you describe.

Manuél Ferrari > KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs 01/03/2014 at 17:30

0

Nice. That's exactly how I like it.

I can do that too, but only if I don't use the auto control. I can select the temp but not tell the car to hit that temp automatically by setting how hard to blow the air.

How do you like the Mini so far?

heliochrome85 > Roberto G. 01/03/2014 at 20:08

1

I can't imagine that replacement parts are that expensive on the E36s. Black should be readily available.

153624 - Straight Six > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 01/04/2014 at 00:40

1

Hah, mine broke awhile back. Not sure how I removed it (hammer?) but I stuck a slightly less broken junkyard one in.