New Owner Heating Not Working

[UpNorth]

Hello all

I’ve just got my BMW i3s. It has 48,000 miles.

The heating was working when I test drove the car and when I collected it. But now on day 2 I can’t get it to work.

The dealer said he wasn’t sure if the heating was working but it was definitely working when I looked at the car. I thought maybe he had it on Eco Pro plus which reduces the heating.

I think it has a heat pump because it has an option to activate the Auxiliary climate control.

Anyway I just can’t make heat come out. Am I pressing the wrong buttons?

Many thanks

Chris

 

[Mondomensch]

Here's the BMW video of you haven't seen it:

BMW i3 climate controls

Turning on the front defroster should make a noticable warm airflow up the windshield quite quickly.

 

[UpNorth]

Here's the BMW video of you haven't seen it:

BMW i3 climate controls

Turning on the front defroster should make a noticable warm airflow up the windshield quite quickly.

Thanks that is helpfully clear. Unfortunately adjusting the settings doesn’t produce any warm air from the vents today.

Shame really. It was blowing nice and hot yesterday.

Chris

 

[mojo]

Have you tried tapping the "preheat" option within the myBMW app (the fan symbol) while the car is parked up, to see if you get any heat using that option?

Unfortunately the heating elements in the cab heater have a reputation for going intermittent before failing altogether. It may help to have the car's diagnostic codes read, because if the heating elements are failing, you will get specific fault codes to that effect.

 

[UpNorth]

Have you tried tapping the "preheat" option within the myBMW app (the fan symbol) while the car is parked up, to see if you get any heat using that option?

Unfortunately the heating elements in the cab heater have a reputation for going intermittent before failing altogether. It may help to have the car's diagnostic codes read, because if the heating elements are failing, you will get specific fault codes to that effect.

Thanks that’s a helpful suggestion. Unfortunately preheating from the app produces no heat. It’s absolutely stone cold no matter what I try.

I’ve booked the car in for diagnostics at my local approved BMW garage. They tell me they are confident in being able to diagnose the issue. And are approved to service the i3.

Does anyone know how much it costs to replace the heating element?

Thanks

Chris

 

[mojo]

It won't be cheap, unfortunately. In the UK, the retail price of the part alone is over £700. If you take a look at Wisely you should find their standard price list, which includes that specific repair. Obviously, a BMW main dealer will be significantly more expensive when labour charges are added.

Make sure that whoever investigates it for pays close attention to the diagnostic codes - there is at least one other fault (in the cable that connects from the heater to other modules in the car) that stops the heater from working, and allegedly the thermostat on the heater modules may be prone to failure too. Frustratingly (and some would say typically, for BMW) you cannot buy a replacement thermostat as a separate part.

 

[UpNorth]

It won't be cheap, unfortunately. In the UK, the retail price of the part alone is over £700. If you take a look at Wisely you should find their standard price list, which includes that specific repair. Obviously, a BMW main dealer will be significantly more expensive when labour charges are added.

Make sure that whoever investigates it for pays close attention to the diagnostic codes - there is at least one other fault (in the cable that connects from the heater to other modules in the car) that stops the heater from working, and allegedly the thermostat on the heater modules may be prone to failure too. Frustratingly (and some would say typically, for BMW) you cannot buy a replacement thermostat as a separate part.

Thanks for that advice. Very helpful.

Wisely Automotive quote £896 to replace the auxiliary heater. Is that what the heater is called? I thought that was what the heat pump is called.

Wisely Automotive Repair Pricelist

Wisely have a wait of 3 months for repairs in Leeds. Hopefully my local garage will not charge me too much more than that.

 

[alohart]

I think it has a heat pump because it has an option to activate the Auxiliary climate control.

Enter the VIN of your i3 at M Decoder and look for option 4T9 Heat Pump.

The heat pump provides cabin heat above -10 ºC/14 ºF. At lower temperatures, the auxiliary flow heater (electric resistance elements) provides cabin heat. The cabin heat coolant pump is part of the auxiliary flow heater. If this pump isn't working, heat transferred by the heat pump can't be circulated through the cabin heater heat exchanger, so no heat. I would think that if this pump is working but the electric resistance elements of the auxiliary flow heater aren't working, the heat pump should still provide cabin heat. However, maybe not.

 

[mojo]

I would think that if this pump is working but the electric resistance elements of the auxiliary flow heater aren't working, the heat pump should still provide cabin heat. However, maybe not.

This is quite a hard one to pin down from BMW's documentation, and understanding may not be helped by the process of translating from German.

The heat pump is in series with the electrical heater, and its effect is that, under the right conditions, it pre-heats the coolant, thus reducing the additional heat that the electrical heater needs to add to get the coolant up to a usable temperature. But I don't *think* (from reading the BMW US documentation) the heat pump on its own can raise coolant temperature enough to produce useful heat from the passenger compartment heat exchanger (except perhaps under exceptional conditions).

In fairness, the writers of the BMW US documentation acknowledge that it's a hard feature to describe in detail, by including the words (in bold):

The heat pump is not an individual component, but a complex adaptation of a refrigerant circuit with an equally complex control structure.