[BayMoWe335]

Is it just me or do our heaters suck? I had a bad thermostat replaced about a year ago after complaining my heater didn't warm well enough in below freezing temperatures.

Now, I feel that way again. We've had some temps in the mid twenties and it almost feels like the air coming out of the vents is "cool warm" especially the passenger side vents to the right of the driver side. The other two vents seem to blow pretty hot air. Is it possible my heater is "half" working?

I have it on 84, AC button off, dials on Red, and the recirculate on. I've tried turning it off and to automatic...all 3 pretty much the same result. Even after the car gets plenty warm, it seems to struggle and I have to keep it on full blast to feel warm.

Meanwhile, my 2005 Buick is so hot it almost burns your hand when you put it near the vent.

[dcat151]

I can't say I have the same issue. Granted, temperatures here are only in the 30s in the morning when I'm driving to work, but my car seems to get warm enough for me and I set the temperature only to 75 and have my vent control in the middle of the red and blue.

[Braumin]

Hmm well mine is OK. I actually find it warms up pretty quickly too.

I just set mine on Auto.

One thing I did notice last night was that my heater was absolutely terrible because my battery was low (my clock reset, etc). I had almost no heat, and not much for airflow either until the battery charged up after about an hour of driving.

I'm not saying you are doing anything wrong, just wanted to give you a comparison that I think my heater is pretty good.

My only tips:
1. Don't put the heater on recirculate - that will cause your windows to fog up.
2. Close your sunroof shade - that glass isn't much for insulation but the shade helps a lot.

Your dealer should be able to do a heater test and they will have the details as to what the temps should be from the vents.

One other thing - if you put your heater on defrost does it seem warm then?

[Dark_Knight_335]

No they don't suck. They blow!
Sorry couldn't resist.

[SilverII]

nope.. mine works great!

[Grendeltouring]

The one in my '11 E91 328 works much better than the one in my '10 E90 335 did. My Saab Aero wagon blows quite a bit warmer air than either.

[cmyk]

Mine heats up pretty quickly, too. Faster than my other cars for sure. The actual air coming out of the vents is not "burn your hands" hot, but I have mine set on Auto (usually turns AC on when I do this) and it heats up to a toasty 78 degrees pretty quickly. I usually find it becoming comfortable by the time I reach the end of my block, which is pretty damn fast. I always have my heated seats on, too, though, so that probably adds to the effect.

[MonsterM]

Originally Posted by BayMoWe335

Is it just me or do our heaters suck? I had a bad thermostat replaced about a year ago after complaining my heater didn't warm well enough in below freezing temperatures.

Now, I feel that way again. We've had some temps in the mid twenties and it almost feels like the air coming out of the vents is "cool warm" especially the passenger side vents to the right of the driver side. The other two vents seem to blow pretty hot air. Is it possible my heater is "half" working?

I have it on 84, AC button off, dials on Red, and the recirculate on. I've tried turning it off and to automatic...all 3 pretty much the same result. Even after the car gets plenty warm, it seems to struggle and I have to keep it on full blast to feel warm.

Meanwhile, my 2005 Buick is so hot it almost burns your hand when you put it near the vent.

I don't know if it matters but I have a 328 and I have the same issue as you.

[teamben158]

I have mine set to 68, only blowing towards the windshield and my feet (I hate air blowing at me) and the heated seats on and my car warms up way faster than any other car I've ever owned.

[phipark]

fine here too. I put mine on 68 and it'll still be too warm. I'll have to put it take on 62 by the end of a 20 min drive.

[Delta0311]

I crank it up when i first get in the car to about 70. After a like 10min i drop it down to like 65 because it gets too freaking hot. So I must say no the heater in my car works great.

[Vegetable]

No complaints here.. The AC on the other hand.....

[E92 M Sport]

No way. It heats up the fastest of any of the cars I've owned.

[VMRWheels]

I wonder what the E93 guys have to say? Would their heater be warmer than a normal e90/e92 since it's a convertible?

I know my S2000's heater is unbelievably hot. If you were to put your hand in front of the heater at full blast, it'll be uncomfortably warm.

[GoRomeo]

Recently my car gave me some SES light errors and one supposed to be a bad thermostat code but my heater works like a charm It takes literaly 3 min for my heater to blow hot air in the mornings. Does not make any sense if thermostat is bad. or I should say stucked open.

Well here in San Diego temps are about 45F (coldest of the year) but warmer than where you are. This helps too..

[mp3_e46]

I've owned twenty seven vehicles so far. The 328i heater blows pretty warm but takes a while to warm up compared to smaller cars

Speed to warm-up has been related to engine size in my experience. In the UK I had a 1.1L Citroen Saxo that blow hot in almost no time at all. Obviously an engine about three times the size with more oil/coolant takes longer to warm up.

My MX-5 has one of the best heaters in terms of heat output but the vehicle is designed for top down driving and many of us do so even in winter

BMW AC output is poop compared to Hondas etc but you likely know that already

If no one mentioned BMWs are designed to blow colder at face level to keep the driver wake/alert. Turn the dial in the center vent to red for more heat - I tend to leave it on max red in winter.

[deadmn1337]

My car had a problem awhile ago where it would get cold or hot, it just stayed about the same either way i put the temp gauge. I recharged my A/C system and haven't had any problems with it either way now. Might be worth the effort to recharge it.

[luv135i]

No complaints in either of my cars. Maybe your core needs flushing

[WilliamS]

335 here and its hot pretty quick. The heated seats and steering wheel distract from the cold, but after about 5 mins of driving i have to dial the heat down or turn it off.

[BluesDriver]

Since we do have dual climate controls, my guess is that the air mix door for the passenger side is not working correctly. This will be a dumb question but you do have both temp dials set to 84, correct?

[Das_Stig]

mine is pretty fast and nice and toasty.

[philthy84]

Zero problems with mine but our coldest temps have been low 30's here in Portland so far this year. I usually turn my heater up to 70-75 in the morning and its usually pretty warmed up by the time it takes me to drive to the freeway on ramp, which is usually about 10mins. After about 5mins of freeway driving it gets to hot for me and I lower the temp knob back down between 65-68 which is comfortable for me the rest of the way on my drive to work.