bmw 523i se air conditioning
 

hi, ive come to turn my air conditioning on in my 1996 p reg bmw 523i and the revs drop as though its on but i cant feel any cold air or hear any fan under the bonnet is there something that has to be done or bled etc. any help would be great thanks

it you feel such a great loss of power, that tells you two things. You KNOW your ac compressor is working, however it may be overcharged... meaning the pressure of the R134a is too high

Also the electric fan doesn't kick in until it's at operating temp. I'd have the system evacuated & recharge & go from there.

hi is it possible to do this yourself or does it have to be done at bmw themself? if so how easy is it to do and whas involved thanks

The evacuate should be done by an AC specialist (not neccesarily BMW) and if you were to invest into a set of pressure guages you could do this yourself. I have my own guages and have done it before and it's not difficult at all. But it is critical to get the system clean and decontaminated of moisture etc and the pressure settings are critical for peak operation. Plus there is a lubricating oil that must be added to the system anytime the system has been breached.
It boils down to investing $$$ into equipment vs just having a specialist do it occassionally.