[335twins]

I had my ac evaporator replaced around 30k miles and now at 50k miles i am being told i need to replace it again, wth BMW . Anyone had this happen to them? This job is VERY expensive as it takes hours to get to this part.. we are talking about $2k+ job...

This is on my 2012 X3 35i.

[Barbera335]

Originally Posted by 335twins

I had my ac evaporator replaced around 30k miles and now at 50k miles i am being told i need to replace it again, wth BMW . Anyone had this happen to them? This job is VERY expensive as it takes hours to get to this part.. we are talking about $2k+ job...

This is on my 2012 X3 35i.

I had to replace the evaporator once on my 2011. This was a year ago and it has been fine ever since, knock on wood.

[335twins]

Originally Posted by Barbera335

I had to replace the evaporator once on my 2011. This was a year ago and it has been fine ever since, knock on wood.

did you replace it yourself or was it under warranty? When i heard how much this cost i almost skipped a heartbeat...

[rodneychan]

Originally Posted by 335twins

I had my ac evaporator replaced around 30k miles and now at 50k miles i am being told i need to replace it again, wth BMW . Anyone had this happen to them? This job is VERY expensive as it takes hours to get to this part.. we are talking about $2k+ job...

This is on my 2012 X3 35i.

What did you notice when it is fail?

[Barbera335]

Originally Posted by 335twins

did you replace it yourself or was it under warranty? When i heard how much this cost i almost skipped a heartbeat...

I had it done under warranty, thankfully. I do know the entire dash and inner structure have to come out as well as the complete heater box. This is why the labor is so expensive. I would shop around though and compare prices.

[Barbera335]

Originally Posted by rodneychan

What did you notice when it is fail?

On mine, there was a chemical smell coming from the vents whenever the A/C was on. New evaporator and the smell was gone. What I was smelling was R134a from the leak in the evaporator.

[Tjalle]

Typically the life of an evaporator is at least 10 years- I have worked with climate systems for a car manufacturer.

Since first on warranty - job done by dealer? - I would claim this would also be on warranty - it is very unusual in so short a time.

[335twins]

Originally Posted by Tjalle

Typically the life of an evaporator is at least 10 years- I have worked with climate systems for a car manufacturer.

Since first on warranty - job done by dealer? - I would claim this would also be on warranty - it is very unusual in so short a time.

I agree, i pushed them to replace it under warranty and they gave me a deal on it but i still had to pay for it. If this unit fails again i will push them to fix it for free, its ridiculous to replace this twice within 50k miles.

[335twins]

Originally Posted by rodneychan

What did you notice when it is fail?

first time i noticed i had about 30k miles on the car, the ac wasn't blowing cold air and they diagnosed it to be the AC evaporator. The second time, around 50k miles when i turned on the AC i would see these white particles (like snow) on top of my front dashboard and when i took it in for the dealer to take a look, they said the AC evaporator is on the way out.

[Tjalle]

Again - this is unusual -bad batch of evaporators from supplier?

It is more common - working under high pressure - for condensers to leak - after 10 years or so.

Moving out of AZ? - lower temperatures= less pressure

[335twins]

Originally Posted by Tjalle

Again - this is unusual -bad batch of evaporators from supplier?

It is more common - working under high pressure - for condensers to leak - after 10 years or so.

Moving out of AZ? - lower temperatures= less pressure

That's what the dealer said but i heard from a friend of mine who owns a 335 that went thru 3 AC evaporators (all under warranty) within 60k miles, plus i had mine replaced on my 335 as well around 30k miles...

I moved to AZ because of the warm climate, i hate the cold... plus cold climate=snow=salt on the road=rust ....

[Tjalle]

Then you should avoid Detroit - rumor is that it sits on a saltmine - and it shows.

Souhtern Sweden is salt country - but North is so cold, that they can`t use it - use studded tires and learn how to drive on ice/snow. And no - no polarbears in the streets.