I'm a set-it-and-forget-it guy. I leave the automatic climate control system at somewhere between 69 and 72 degrees on any car I drive and leave it. Cranking it to 85 degrees doesn't make an 18 degree morning tolerable any quicker than setting it at 72.
Which is why, years ago when I first encountered BMW's manual intensity settings for its automatic climate control system, I thought it was a gimmick. Just another layer of complexity in the brands increasingly complicated control systems.
Briefly the system works like this: You set your temperature as normal. Successive pokes at the AUTO button will change the intensity of the climate control operation, including the fan. So you want some hot air blowing on you? Crank it to Intensive. Want to hear a quiet piece of music without cranking the audio system to compete with fan noise, punch up Soft. You can also adjust it through iDrive, of course. But that's a minimum four-step process.
Look, sometimes you want 72 and sometimes you want 72, if you know what I mean. Could I just manually adjust the fan and get much of the same benefit. Yes, but why should I. I drive a $70,000 BMW.
Dan Pund, Senior Editor, Detroit at 26,310 miles
mikeolan says:
06:52 AM, 02/23/09
The system in your long term Altima is exactly how it should be done. No manufacturer I've encountered has a better system, and everything else is overkill.
billt9 says:
06:54 AM, 02/23/09
"Cranking it to 85 degrees doesn't make an 18 degree morning tolerable any quicker than setting it at 72."
? From my experience turning the temp up to extreme makes the system heat the car up faster and it'll put the fan up higher.
It's like BMW's soft/medium/intensive. Except you do it by changing your set temp.
But afterwards once you get close to what you want you have to turn the temp back to normal.
BMW's system is better since you can set the Target and the Delta, and leave it. Whereas other systems the delta is dependent on the target.
clarkma5 says:
07:42 AM, 02/23/09
That's a nice idea, but I still find that the simplest systems are the best...I will always prefer a manual setup, as I don't think "I want it 72", I think "I want it warm" or "I want it cold".
milt721 says:
08:18 AM, 02/23/09
Billt9-
I'm not sure what vehicles you have experience with, but on every automatic HVAC system I've used, you just set the temp and forget it. When the car is cold, little to no air comes out, as the car warms up, the fan speed increases. When the desired temp is achieved, the fan settles down. Open a window and the fan speed increases. (On a Toyota Highlander, the seat heater temp also is linked to the auto HVAC system - open a window and your buns get warmer...)
firstwagon says:
09:10 AM, 02/23/09
"On a Toyota Highlander, the seat heater temp also is linked to the auto HVAC system - open a window and your buns get warmer..."
Why do all these gadgets keep making me think of the movie Wall-E?
Soon you won't need to think at all or do anything. It will all be taken care of for you.
chavis10 says:
09:32 AM, 02/23/09
Where is the "OFF" button? $70k for an automobile that does not let you turn off the HVAC without continuously pressing the low fan speed button? I'll pass.
frazier500 says:
09:41 AM, 02/23/09
Haha. If that's enough to make you pass on a vehicle then I find you hilarious.
It is a bit weird, but its just BMW tradition.
majin_ssj_eric says:
10:04 AM, 02/23/09
Now if they would just get rid of that ridiculous orange display that they've been using since the 325e I'd feel like I really was driving in a $70k car....
roadburner says:
10:05 AM, 02/23/09
"Haha. If that's enough to make you pass on a vehicle then I find you hilarious."
Agreed.
bimmerjay says:
10:09 AM, 02/23/09
"Haha. If that's enough to make you pass on a vehicle then I find you hilarious."
+1 (rolls eyes)
There is no off button because the system should never be turned off, unless you have the windows open. It's for safety reasons, the same reason why it will not allow for recirc mode to be used for too long (although the light will remain lit, the system will cycle itself). With climate off and windows closed the air quality inside the vehicle will continue to deteriorate. If there is an exhaust leak it could become downright dangerous. There should ALWAYS be air flowing into the cabin.
Hopefully BMW has realized the error of their ways, so on future vehicles, I'd expect an off button to appear as long as a window is open.
desmolicious says:
01:34 PM, 02/23/09
"Where is the "OFF" button? $70k for an automobile that does not let you turn off the HVAC without continuously pressing the low fan speed button? I'll pass."
And he was this(holding thumb and forefinger really close together)close to cutting a check!...
roadburner says:
07:14 AM, 02/24/09
"And he was this(holding thumb and forefinger really close together)close to cutting a check!..."
LOL!
allthingshonda says:
07:30 PM, 02/24/09
There is no Off button? The only other car I have encountered like this is my aunt's 1989 SAAB. You never realized it didn't have an off button until the AC compressor broke and you couldn't turn off the hot air blowing through the vents. And it is important to always have air flowing through the vehicle but in every car I've had with manual or auto climate systems even when the system is off air still flows through select vents I think it is called flow through ventilation.
bimmerjay says:
09:22 PM, 02/24/09
You can shut the system completely off by pressing the fan button past the minimum fan speed setting. Most of the time it's 2 or 3 presses. It just doesn't have a dedicated Off button to discourage actually shutting it off.
chavis10 says:
07:12 PM, 02/25/09
Sounds like a bunch of excuses if you ask me. Yet another ergonomic flaw.
You won't ever see me cut a check for any BMW, so not to worry. Overpriced
chavis10 says:
07:15 PM, 02/25/09
Bimmerjay- every modern car I have been driven from the S class down to a rental Mazda3 lets in fresh air (based on the temperature set) even with the HVAC in off position.
roadburner says:
06:00 AM, 02/26/09
"You won't ever see me cut a check for any BMW, so not to worry. Overpriced"
We BMW owners appreciate that more than you will ever know.
lwwp says:
04:45 PM, 07/ 6/09
Fan Noise from center vent of '08 X5 4.8i
A week ago, when I started my car, the fan of my '08 X5 4.8i suddenly started blowing air out of the center vents much louder than it used to. Even when I reduce the fan speed to the lowest setting of one notch, the noise is still loud enough to challenge conversation. The sound increases even more as the fan speed is cranked up. The lowest setting used to be quiet, just a low hum.
I'm not sure if this problem is related to another problem that BMW was in the process of fixing for me. The air cond was not blowing cold enough, only about half the coolness level of the old '05 X5 3.0i that I traded in. They diagnosed the problem as a leak in the vent. Ordered a special foam strip, installed it and resolved the coolness problem.
But the fan noise started just the day before I brought the vehicle back in to install the foam strip.
Has anyone else experienced this noise issue?
LWWP