Hello, all!
OK - here's the deal with my '95 525i...
Summer has arrived here in the greater Chicagoland area, and that means it's time for A/C.
I tried it a few weeks ago, and both the vent AC button/option ("snowflake") and Recirculate options worked just fine. Blew cold air almost instantaneously...
NOW, after trying it today, only the recirculate button works (it engages the compressor and blows cold air)...
The vent AC button (i.e. "snowflake") does NOTHING - it does not illuminate it's tantalizing green LED, nor does it activate the AC compressor.
Any ideas? Are these switches prone to failure? I ask because the other two options on the switch work (defrost and recirculate, especially since recirculate kicks on the AC)...
OR, and this is crazy... could it be related to my outside/external temperature sensor? I could swear the sensor was working fine earlier today (reading the correct temp), but then I read a post elsewhere suggesting that if that sensor is fouled (or missing), it will not engage max AC... THEN I remembered that I just had the car detailed two days ago (my line of thinking was that some polishing compound may have made its way onto the sensor).
Naturally I went out to examine my sensor (about 20 minutes ago) - it WAS connected, but some of the paint was chipped off the tip. All I did was clean/degrease it with some windex... now my onboard computer is telling me it's -33 outside (which it is not).
Here's the weird part... recirculate button STILL works and activates AC/engages compressor.
WTF ???
Does this make sense to any of you? Perhaps people who have had similar issues with their e34 or BMW techs... please weigh in.
I know that I could just settle for recirculated AC ("MAX" AC), but that's not really supposed to be a good thing to do for extended periods of time. And hell - I own a BMW, so I like everything working the way it should be!
Thanks!
