[gds52]

Hi Recently ive noticed whole dash area getting hot from below when driving with the top down.
weather knob set to blue.
thermostat temp to minimum.
AC off.
when i run blower it blows hot air (not all the time but after driving for 30-40 mins).
could it be bad thermostat or some kind of Residual heat malfunction?
I'm going to dealership in a day or tow, just wanted to check if someone has any insight in this.

[Blubaron79]

Originally Posted by gds52

Hi Recently ive noticed whole dash area getting hot from below when driving with the top down.
weather knob set to blue.
thermostat temp to minimum.
AC off.
when i run blower it blows hot air (not all the time but after driving for 30-40 mins).
could it be bad thermostat or some kind of Residual heat malfunction?
I'm going to dealership in a day or tow, just wanted to check if someone has any insight in this.

This is normal. It is the heat from the engine that warms up the vents. Every 3er is like this.

[mike3000fl]

yup pretty much normal. when the ac button is off, the coldest the air can get regardless of how low you set it is going to be the ambient temperature. it can't make it cooler than that without the ac.

problem is the ambient air comes in from underneath the hood area (think about where the microfilter is), that air is warm from the engine.

[gds52]

Originally Posted by mike3000fl

yup pretty much normal. when the ac button is off, the coldest the air can get regardless of how low you set it is going to be the ambient temperature. it can't make it cooler than that without the ac.

problem is the ambient air comes in from underneath the hood area (think about where the microfilter is), that air is warm from the engine.

Thanks for the details...
but my concern is that even if the blower is off, the whole under dash area becomes hot....with top down it throws out heat....ive never felt like this before in any other car. after driving for an hour or so when i park my car, it becomes very obvious that its extra heat.

[Begintraining]

The engine heat bro

[mike3000fl]

Originally Posted by Begintraining

The engine heat bro

He doesn't like it when we tell him that.

[Wires]

The obvious solution is to leave the AC on. Why turn it off? You have automatic climate control. Set the temp you'd like, and leave it.....

[tIANCi]

This happened to be a couple of days back, I was confused at first then realized the AC was off and it's the engine heat. Duh ...

[gds52]

Originally Posted by mike3000fl

He doesn't like it when we tell him that.

haha...its not like that. i agree with your point.

but, simply running the blower with fresh air should not bring in engine heat. ive never seen this in any other car that i owned.
and i used to run this blower only when the weather is good and get fresh air while driving on highway, never felt this heat before.

what im talking about is the whole dash area becomes extremely hot and i can literally feel the heat coming out from under the dash and in this case the blower is swithced off.

i gave my car to dealership today to check it, although SA said the same thing about engine heat, but im not convinced.

I had a Ford, the blower started throwing hot air just like this, and it was a faulty thermostate coil which regulates the heat from the hot coolant liquid.
and after my followup i came to know that those particular Ford models had that known issue.

now in my BMW, blower or no blower, its all hot, and its not consistent. At times there is no such heat and this is not normal.

Sorry if im being stubborn...but something is wrong and if you guys experience this and consider it normal, im smelling an isssue with some BMW part here.

[mike3000fl]

i was playing with ya.

you know your car and are best able to determine is something is wrong. so i trust that you have an issue worth looking into.

your only recourse now is to try and find a similar model and see if it does the same thing. run a comparison, which I suppose is the point of the thread. i hope you find out what the problem is.

[sammybimmer]

I agree with you, same problem with my 07 328xit. It blows out hot air in summer time, even at night when outside temperature is only about 60's. My 03 X5 works as expected, the air temperate is inline with outside temp.

Originally Posted by gds52

haha...its not like that. i agree with your point.

but, simply running the blower with fresh air should not bring in engine heat. ive never seen this in any other car that i owned.
and i used to run this blower only when the weather is good and get fresh air while driving on highway, never felt this heat before.

what im talking about is the whole dash area becomes extremely hot and i can literally feel the heat coming out from under the dash and in this case the blower is swithced off.

i gave my car to dealership today to check it, although SA said the same thing about engine heat, but im not convinced.

I had a Ford, the blower started throwing hot air just like this, and it was a faulty thermostate coil which regulates the heat from the hot coolant liquid.
and after my followup i came to know that those particular Ford models had that known issue.

now in my BMW, blower or no blower, its all hot, and its not consistent. At times there is no such heat and this is not normal.

Sorry if im being stubborn...but something is wrong and if you guys experience this and consider it normal, im smelling an isssue with some BMW part here.

[gds52]

Originally Posted by mike3000fl

i was playing with ya.

you know your car and are best able to determine is something is wrong. so i trust that you have an issue worth looking into.

your only recourse now is to try and find a similar model and see if it does the same thing. run a comparison, which I suppose is the point of the thread. i hope you find out what the problem is.

You r right man.
I got a loaner, 2011 335i, and after continuous driving of 30 min I noticed heat under the dash area and then switched on the blower, it was pretty much hot.
Now I'm completely baffled, what the hell is this??? Is it a design flaw or is there a reason. Why I'm forced to use AC?
Let's see what dealer says... Otherwise I ll peruse this further.

[xe90x]

When I drive other cars and drive spirited, I turn the heater on so the engine temperature can go down. I'm guessing the hot air from the engine has to go somewhere, seeing how our 3 series is pretty much sealed from everywhere lol

[gds52]

Originally Posted by sammybimmer

I agree with you, same problem with my 07 328xit. It blows out hot air in summer time, even at night when outside temperature is only about 60's. My 03 X5 works as expected, the air temperate is inline with outside temp.

so im not alone :-)
my main problem is with top down....i cannot switch on AC and it becomes hot around my feet. anyway, will follow up with BMW.

[gds52]

Originally Posted by toocool4yooh

When I drive other cars and drive spirited, I turn the heater on so the engine temperature can go down. I'm guessing the hot air from the engine has to go somewhere, seeing how our 3 series is pretty much sealed from everywhere lol

lol...
engines are designed to keep themselves cool !
i wouldnt want that heat in my cabin.

the strange thing is, its not consistent, i mean its not hot always !

[mike3000fl]

Originally Posted by gds52

so im not alone :-)
my main problem is with top down....i cannot switch on AC and it becomes hot around my feet. anyway, will follow up with BMW.

I dont have a convertible but was curious... are you saying that the convertibles won't let you turn on the AC button while the top is down? That's crazy. I drive with my windows down a lot but with FL heat I still blast AC at my face.

[VMRWheels]

I don't think that much heat in the cabin is normal. I know that when I leave my thermostat on red, it'll continue to heat but without a fan. Having it be considerably hot doesn't sound normal.

[DASHOCKER]

these cars run hot.. normal

[xe90x]

Originally Posted by gds52

lol...
engines are designed to keep themselves cool !
i wouldnt want that heat in my cabin.

the strange thing is, its not consistent, i mean its not hot always !

Lol I get what you mean haha I don't know man.. I mean the heat in my cabin is always consistent, I just roll the windows all the way down to solve the issue lol

[Boston335i]

2008 E93: Same issue. I drive with the AC on when I have the top down on really hot days. It sucks from a MPG stand point, but in new england, it's really only a few times a year that normal top down driving isn't cool enough. Have you tried over-riding the auto-vent settings?

[Dark_Knight_335]

And here I thought I was imagining things...

[joemag94]

Originally Posted by gds52

so im not alone :-)
my main problem is with top down....i cannot switch on AC and it becomes hot around my feet. anyway, will follow up with BMW.

A/C should work in the e93 with the top down. If you can not turn it on, then it seems that is the problem.