A/C Compressor Failure

[Dutchi3]

Not so green right?

I think it was a nice attempt, but the car is too complicated relying on parts that cost you a kidney to replace when it breaks down. BMW should allow third party suppliers to supply parts at reasonable price, I am shure the chinese could do that.

 

[deconzme]

my 2014 ac just died. no sound. $5,500 quoted from dealership. I am in south Florida. So 10 year old i3. with 40k miles. can i make this work? does someone have information that can help me?

 

[martinj]

if it was me, I’d be looking for a used compressor and I would ask one of several local engineers to fit it. It isn’t a massive job. in the UK a part like this is readily available for £300-£500. But that doesn’t help you much

 

[deconzme]

if it was me, I’d be looking for a used compressor and I would ask one of several local engineers to fit it. It isn’t a massive job. in the UK a part like this is readily available for £300-£500. But that doesn’t help you much

That is so funny. I was just looking at used compressors. I think you are exactly right. The dealer isn't the way to go at all.

 

[colin123]

used AC compressors are a massive gamble. With AC you have to make sure the entire system is flushed to remove any debris, any remaining debris will just destroy the next compressor!

 

[Gonville]

used AC compressors are a massive gamble. With AC you have to make sure the entire system is flushed to remove any debris, any remaining debris will just destroy the next compressor!

Also bits bridge the channels in the battery cooling circuit making hot spots?

 

[tongsli]

my 2014 ac just died. no sound. $5,500 quoted from dealership. I am in south Florida. So 10 year old i3. with 40k miles. can i make this work? does someone have information that can help me?

can you not afford the repair? IMO, consider yourself lucky it's not the 13K repair. If it were me, I'd spend the money to keep the vehicle but I have the money to fix it. Don't know what your situation might be. Good luck

I hope you get things sorted. Would hate to see you get rid of it.

 

[Simoni3]

repair at non bmw garage is likely to cost less than changing your car ?

 

[i3m3fan]

@deconzme I managed to fix my car. (i01 BEV 60ah with heat pump/winter pack)
What I did:
In order:
1) Compressor died a violent death with the heavy sound of metal on metal grinding for a few days before it went bang - literally! Resulted in recurring Drivetrain Error warnings on dash after Startup but driveable. Was no longer possible to DC Rapid charge the vehicle. (Car would forcibly interrupt the CCS handshaking during charging initialisation sequence. I think the car or the CCS protocol is designed to check if cooling of components/battery is possible before starting DC charging).

2) Fearing compressor shards of metal clogging the refrigerant lines and the system, I got it Evacuated, flushed, vacuumed and refilled with refrigerant (at an air con specialist for £50)

3) Refrained from using the car until I sourced a salvaged compressor from a bmw 2 series vehicle (225xe) with a 90 day warranty for £180. Any compressor from any BMW & mini plug in hybrid vehicle should also do the job as the voltage and the power/data plug pins are the same. But I went with the 225XE model's own compressor as it was cheap!

4) Part arrived and then drove (keeping AC off) to an independent garage that agreed to swap out the part for just £95 !

5) Immediately, the drivetrain error disappeared on Startup. BUT the air even on Max AC was ambient in temperature at best.
Drove to another independent (but Major chain) that had a summer free air con check service at the time. (KwikFit UK). They refilled with 970g of freon but couldn't get cold air. Didn't charge me anything.

6) Took it to another independent with ISTA+ equipment. For £70 they immediately diagnosed a broken Low AC pressure sensor (its possible a shard of metal from the broken compressor broke it but no damage was found to condenser). Almost zero oil was found. Cost £220 to Evacuate, flush, vacuum and refill AC and add correct amount of oil again.

Car now blowing freezing cold air again for several weeks!

TOTAL: £565

I took a video of the compressor replacement if it would help anyone?

 

[Dutchi3]

1) Compressor died a violent death with the heavy sound of metal on metal grinding for a few days before it went bang - literally!

I wonder why you did not stop using your car after hearing the above sound as it clearly indicates something is wrong? No pun intended. Good you got it fixed for relatively cheap!

 

[i3m3fan]

I wonder why you did not stop using your car after hearing the above sound as it clearly indicates something is wrong? No pun intended. Good you got it fixed for relatively cheap!

I'm the eternal optimist. It's my only ride and was driving OK after that and there was no sound at all after the final bang. No errors either until I turned on the AC (i normally use to keep it off). Then i learnt what actually happened. But glad it's all turned out OK now. Stayed away from dealerships for fear of the bill shock.

Of course, now knowing what I know, nobody should keep driving when the compressor fails like this.

 

[JoeCool88]

@deconzme I managed to fix my car. (i01 BEV 60ah with heat pump/winter pack)
What I did:
In order:
1) Compressor died a violent death with the heavy sound of metal on metal grinding for a few days before it went bang - literally! Resulted in recurring Drivetrain Error warnings on dash after Startup but driveable. Was no longer possible to DC Rapid charge the vehicle. (Car would forcibly interrupt the CCS handshaking during charging initialisation sequence. I think the car or the CCS protocol is designed to check if cooling of components/battery is possible before starting DC charging).

2) Fearing compressor shards of metal clogging the refrigerant lines and the system, I got it Evacuated, flushed, vacuumed and refilled with refrigerant (at an air con specialist for £50)

3) Refrained from using the car until I sourced a salvaged compressor from a bmw 2 series vehicle (225xe) with a 90 day warranty for £180. Any compressor from any BMW & mini plug in hybrid vehicle should also do the job as the voltage and the power/data plug pins are the same. But I went with the 225XE model's own compressor as it was cheap!

4) Part arrived and then drove (keeping AC off) to an independent garage that agreed to swap out the part for just £95 !

5) Immediately, the drivetrain error disappeared on Startup. BUT the air even on Max AC was ambient in temperature at best.
Drove to another independent (but Major chain) that had a summer free air con check service at the time. (KwikFit UK). They refilled with 970g of freon but couldn't get cold air. Didn't charge me anything.

6) Took it to another independent with ISTA+ equipment. For £70 they immediately diagnosed a broken Low AC pressure sensor (its possible a shard of metal from the broken compressor broke it but no damage was found to condenser). Almost zero oil was found. Cost £220 to Evacuate, flush, vacuum and refill AC and add correct amount of oil again.

Car now blowing freezing cold air again for several weeks!

TOTAL: £565

I took a video of the compressor replacement if it would help anyone?

Hi
yes I would be interested in having a look at the compressor replacement video. Thanks!