Which versions of the AC compressor have people had failures with?

[ronbot]

Hoo boy, I didn’t want this to be my first post to the forum, but I just got news (after the car sat at the dealer for a month waiting for compressor parts from Germany) that they found a bunch of metal in the A/C system of my 2015 i3 BEV. The dealer says it’s not worth repairing.
What are my options here? I had two local bmw shops send me to the dealer because they said it was too proprietary for them to work on beyond charging the freon.
I’m in Charleston, SC, so it’s too hot to go without AC and I’m not sure what the danger to the battery is.
Here’s what the dealer said they drained from the compressor

What was your conclusion?

 

[ronbot]

"Worth" is the operative word here. Dealer repair cost exceeds the market value of the car, economically turning the i3 into a rolling scrapyard. Repairing the car is cheaper than a new car, but that same expense could be considered a discount on the purchase of a replacement EV with 4x the range. A like-new cooling system in a nine-year-old car could simply be teeing up for the next car-totalling disaster, e.g. motor mount failure (a real doozy).

A "totalled" car can be liberating from the usual (and expensive) mindset of repairing a car 'back to factory' - how about "just keep this thing rolling" instead? Kinda like how some teenagers treat their first car.

He didn't suggest a dealer repair, but an indie... independent repair shop. That's a very valid suggestion he made... a new compressor is around $1300 online from a BMW parts dealer. Flush though will only be as good as the shop understands the electric valves in the system, which need to be operated by BMW service software. Pick an independent BMW shop they'll know how to do such, and then can flush both subsystems... add a return line filter, and hopefully make a successful repair.

 

[Archmeister]

See below

 

[Archmeister]

He didn't suggest a dealer repair, but an indie... independent repair shop. That's a very valid suggestion he made... a new compressor is around $1300 online from a BMW parts dealer. Flush though will only be as good as the shop understands the electric valves in the system, which need to be operated by BMW service software. Pick an independent BMW shop they'll know how to do such, and then can flush both subsystems... add a return line filter, and hopefully make a successful repair.

Here's a link on my experience a couple of years ago. Hope it's helpful.
https://www.mybmwi3.com/threads/i3-hvac-compressor-woes.18220/post-77347

 

[HolyRex]

Hi I have a 15 Rex .. took to dealer as no A/C and light for A/C on button not illuminating. $1800 later told compressor had internal failure and luckily no metal in lines, 6k repair cost. I bought compressor on eBay and changed 12v battery thru local mechanic- no A/C still and light not illuminating .. now trying refrigerant valve replacement- this is a frustrating car! Any ideas or help out there? I’m in south Florida.

 

[i3m3fan]

I believe the i3's AC compressor is manufactured by Mahle Behr GmbH & Co. KG, Stuttgart, Germany.

Bravo MAHLE Sales Division for direct (mis)information outreach! Bravo. For everyone else, Mahle is not, in fact, the Original Equipment Manufacturer of Compressors for the i3, i3s or i8 variants. It is however, making knock-offs of the Hanon and HVCC branded compressors which are the main OEM compressors for the these BMWi vehicles.

 

[Arm]

As crappy as it is, I have to agree. Speculation as to how or why aside, it's a design flaw that does not result in danger to the driver or anyone else. It would be nice if BMW would stand behind it's customers and do the repairs for a reasonable cost. Even better if they issued a recall for whatever models/years this affects and fixed them so this wouldn't happen in the future. However, they are under no obligation to do so and I'm not surprised at all by their $2k offer.

What I am surprised about is the fact that you (i3Alan) are still here. If it were me I'd almost certainly have given BMW the proverbial finger, never bought another BMW, and left all BMW forums, facebook groups, etc.

I do wonder about one thing. Who did the AC recharge? It's suspicious to me that this catastrophic failure happened only 2 weeks after you had the AC recharged.

Actually AC failure can lead to fire in this case. If the battery cooling and heating is done by the AC system operating correctly, and you happen to have this car in a hot garage (which is the case for many in hot climates) and the system can't cool the battery properly, it's a major risk.

This is...IMO...a massive design failure that BMW should own properly. Instead, they quietly released new versions of the compressors without any acknowledgment to customers because A) they knew it was a failure, B) they didn't want to own any liability, and C) will screw the customer tens of thousands of dollars to repair their failures while offering the customer nothing in return.

AC systems have been around for decades now in cars. To design something this poor is absolutely inexcusable IMO.

 

[alohart]

If the battery cooling and heating is done by the AC system operating correctly, and you happen to have this car in a hot garage (which is the case for many in hot climates) and the system can't cool the battery properly, it's a major risk.

The battery pack is heated only by electric resistant heating elements, not by the A/C system. However, it is cooled by the A/C system.

When an i3 is off and parked in a hot garage, the battery pack won't be cooled if it gets too hot unless battery pack preconditioning is active or charging is actively occurring. Just leaving an EVSE plugged in won't ensure that a hot battery pack would be cooled.

There have been several reports by i3 owners who parked their i3's in hot weather that propulsive power was reduced when they started their i3's just as can happen when the battery pack is too cold. If battery pack cooling occurred automatically, propulsive power wouldn't be reduced.

The battery pack's high density means that its temperature doesn't change very fast. If I parked my i3 in a hot garage, I would activate battery pack conditioning with an EVSE plugged in, maybe with a departure time in the middle of the night so that cooling would start before the battery pack's temperature increased too much but not so early that it might heat up again after the departure time but before I actually departed. Apparently, battery pack preconditioning could run for up to 3 hours if the ambient temperature is high.

I don't know what the solution would be if one must park outside over hot pavement for 8 hours while at work without the ability to plug in an EVSE. Maybe allowing an i3 to run during one's lunch break would be enough to keep the battery pack's temperature from getting too hot.

 

[Arm]

The battery pack is heated only by electric resistant heating elements, not by the A/C system. However, it is cooled by the A/C system.

When an i3 is off and parked in a hot garage, the battery pack won't be cooled if it gets too hot unless battery pack preconditioning is active or charging is actively occurring. Just leaving an EVSE plugged in won't ensure that a hot battery pack would be cooled.

There have been several reports by i3 owners who parked their i3's in hot weather that propulsive power was reduced when they started their i3's just as can happen when the battery pack is too cold. If battery pack cooling occurred automatically, propulsive power wouldn't be reduced.

The battery pack's high density means that its temperature doesn't change very fast. If I parked my i3 in a hot garage, I would activate battery pack conditioning with an EVSE plugged in, maybe with a departure time in the middle of the night so that cooling would start before the battery pack's temperature increased too much but not so early that it might heat up again after the departure time but before I actually departed. Apparently, battery pack preconditioning could run for up to 3 hours if the ambient temperature is high.

I don't know what the solution would be if one must park outside over hot pavement for 8 hours while at work without the ability to plug in an EVSE. Maybe allowing an i3 to run during one's lunch break would be enough to keep the battery pack's temperature from getting too hot.

The question is if there is a failure of the AC system and various parts are cooled by it, then that is a problem. It comes back to the issue of poor overall design or poor oversight of crappy components in the loop. It does add safety risks that shouldn't be there.

 

[Dutchi3]

I used to live in the Netherlands, with moderate climate so the A/C did not had to work that often. With sensible driving, the battery does not warm up that quickly because of the very low internal resistance. Nevertheless it is a good idea to let the compressor run for a while to keep the internals/seals lubricated, like with any A/C.

Now that I moved to a hotter climate, I do need the A/C more often. In 2022 I had a severe problem with one of the bms modules within the batterypack. BMW repaired it, the car was one month out of warranty so they gave some goodwill discount. The avantage of the repair was that they drained/refilled the A/C after eight years so -fingers crossed- I hope I will not experience this catastrophic failure very soon, now that I have the aircon running more often then before, also for cooling the battery. 2014 BEV with heatpump.

When my car is parked in a hot place and air temperatures between 86-104°F/30-40°C, I use preconditioning 20 mins before leaving to pre-cool the interior and batterypack, doing so I do not experience power reduction (never had anyway, except for very cold winter). Above 95°F/35°C the heatpump stays on sometimes, while driving even without using interior A/C. Depends of how cool it was in the night before.

 

[Samuel420]

As crappy as it is, I have to agree. Speculation as to how or why aside, it's a design flaw that does not result in danger to the driver or anyone else. It would be nice if BMW would stand behind it's customers and do the repairs for a reasonable cost. Even better if they issued a recall for whatever models/years this affects and fixed them so this wouldn't happen in the future. However, they are under no obligation to do so and I'm not surprised at all by their $2k offer.

What I am surprised about is the fact that you (i3Alan) are still here. If it were me I'd almost certainly have given BMW the proverbial finger, never bought another BMW, and left all BMW forums, facebook groups, etc.

I do wonder about one thing. Who did the AC recharge? It's suspicious to me that this catastrophic failure happened only 2 weeks after you had the AC recharged.

Actually, an AC failure can pose a serious fire risk in this situation. If the AC system, which is responsible for cooling and heating the battery, malfunctions and you have the car in a hot garage—common in many hot climates—the battery may not be properly cooled, creating a significant risk.

In my opinion, this represents a major design flaw that BMW should address openly. Instead, they discreetly released new compressor versions without acknowledging the issue to customers. This approach seems to be driven by A) their awareness of the fault, B) a desire to avoid liability, and C) a strategy to offload repair costs onto customers while offering no compensation. Given that AC systems have been standard in cars for decades, such a poor design is simply unacceptable.

 

[robthebold]

Actually, an AC failure can pose a serious fire risk in this situation. If the AC system, which is responsible for cooling and heating the battery, malfunctions and you have the car in a hot garage—common in many hot climates—the battery may not be properly cooled, creating a significant risk.

In my opinion, this represents a major design flaw that BMW should address openly. Instead, they discreetly released new compressor versions without acknowledging the issue to customers. This approach seems to be driven by A) their awareness of the fault, B) a desire to avoid liability, and C) a strategy to offload repair costs onto customers while offering no compensation. Given that AC systems have been standard in cars for decades, such a poor design is simply unacceptable.

When my compressor failed due to squirrels eating the wiring, the charging rate was throttled back to almost nothing and the cooling fan cranked way up to try to help-- which should have been my first clue that something was wrong -- and when driving the power was limited down below turtle to snail mode and sometimes to nothing.

 

[i3m3fan]

Actually, an AC failure can pose a serious fire risk in this situation. If the AC system, which is responsible for cooling and heating the battery, malfunctions and you have the car in a hot garage—common in many hot climates—the battery may not be properly cooled, creating a significant risk.

In my opinion, this represents a major design flaw that BMW should address openly. Instead, they discreetly released new compressor versions without acknowledging the issue to customers. This approach seems to be driven by A) their awareness of the fault, B) a desire to avoid liability, and C) a strategy to offload repair costs onto customers while offering no compensation. Given that AC systems have been standard in cars for decades, such a poor design is simply unacceptable.

Please report this anonymously on the NHTSA website.

 

[i3m3fan]

The question is if there is a failure of the AC system and various parts are cooled by it, then that is a problem. It comes back to the issue of poor overall design or poor oversight of crappy components in the loop. It does add safety risks that shouldn't be there.

Ditto please anon report on. NHTSA website. You'll be doing the whole i3 community a favour

 

[alohart]

Actually, an AC failure can pose a serious fire risk in this situation. If the AC system, which is responsible for cooling and heating the battery, malfunctions and you have the car in a hot garage—common in many hot climates—the battery may not be properly cooled, creating a significant risk.

When an i3 is parked, off, not actively charging, and not preconditioning, there is no battery pack cooling, so those who park their i3's in hot garages should do something to cool their battery packs like preconditioning during the night. However, heat from the battery pack would be transferred into the air in the garage which could get even hotter without proper ventilation. Those in hot climates who haven't preconditioned have reported reduced power after starting their i3's due to their battery packs being too hot until the A/C compressor begins running to cool their packs. I'm not aware of any i3 battery pack fires (some i3 REx fires almost certainly caused by a gasoline or oil leak), so parking an i3 in a hot garage hasn't been dangerous but it could increase the battery cell degradation rate.

 

[robthebold]

When an i3 is parked, off, not actively charging, and not preconditioning, there is no battery pack cooling, so those who park their i3's in hot garages should do something to cool their battery packs like preconditioning during the night. However, heat from the battery pack would be transferred into the air in the garage which could get even hotter without proper ventilation. Those in hot climates who haven't preconditioned have reported reduced power after starting their i3's due to their battery packs being too hot until the A/C compressor begins running to cool their packs. I'm not aware of any i3 battery pack fires (some i3 REx fires almost certainly caused by a gasoline or oil leak), so parking an i3 in a hot garage hasn't been dangerous but it could increase the battery cell degradation rate.

How hot is too hot? I haven't seen the "power bars" drop for heat before, but definitely for cold.

 

[Dutchi3]

How hot is too hot? I haven't seen the "power bars" drop for heat before, but definitely for cold.

I do not have a OBD device or Bimmerlink or other software, but it would be interesting to log the battery temperature in hot weather at highway speeds, to see at what temperature the battery is kept over a distance. Start the trip with warmed up battery without preconditioning and monitor.
Maybe a more simple way would be to monitor the temperature within the "hidden menu" if that works while driving.

 

[JoeCool88]

To monitor the actual HV battery temperature you could use the electrified app, together with an OBD dongle like e. g. a vLinker from Vgate. My observation is that the battery has some 2 to 4° C above the ambient air temperature during moderate driving. According to the nice, related essay in
https://www.laserax.com/blog/ev-battery-cooling
HV batteries are designed to withstand temperatures up to 50°C / 140°F, but above 70°C / 158°F things might get ugly. So it would be worth to check the AC before a longer ride at temperatures well above 30°C, which you will do most probably anyway.

 

[Dutchi3]

To monitor the actual HV battery temperature you could use the electrified app, together with an OBD dongle like e. g. a vLinker from Vgate. My observation is that the battery has some 2 to 4° C above the ambient air temperature during moderate driving. According to the nice, related essay in
https://www.laserax.com/blog/ev-battery-cooling
HV batteries are designed to withstand temperatures up to 50°C / 140°F, but above 70°C / 158°F things might get ugly. So it would be worth to check the AC before a longer ride at temperatures well above 30°C, which you will do most probably anyway.

Thanks for sharing your experience. During july and august, afternoon airtemperatures may rise to 40-42 degrees Celcius at some days, in those periods I do precondition the car before departure or restrict travelling at all, better to have a siesta. The rest of the year we have moderate temps, no frost periods. Perfect for range (from my slowly aging pack) :---)

PS the max A/C setting blows very cold air so no problems there.

 

[RavynC]

My husband just got a 2015 i3, would it be worth replacing the compressor before there are issues as an in-case or would an extended warranty possibly be better?

edit to add: We live in Arizona, car has under 40k miles on it