64 50 010 Drawing off, evacuating and filling heating and air conditioning system (R134a)
Refrigerant circuit is under high pressure!
- If the protective caps on the filling valves are difficult to open, there is a danger of injury from leaking valve inserts.
Repair work may only be carried out on a depressurized refrigerant circuit!
- Before conducting repairs, check the actual pressure drop on the pressure gauge of the A/C service station
Avoid contact with refrigerant and refrigerant oil.
- Follow safety instructions for handling R134a refrigerant . See 64 50... NOTE FOR HANDLING R134A REFRIGERANT or 64 50... SAFETY INFORMATIONS FOR HANDLING TETRAFLUORETHANE REFRIGERANT R134A .
- Follow safety information for HANDLING REFRIGERANT OIL .
Only BMW-approved R134a refrigerant may be used. (refer to sourcing reference: HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING - OPERATING FLUIDS )
Restart engine only when air conditioning has been correctly filled.
Vehicle-specific notes:
Only E60/E61M5:
To access refrigerant line connections, the right intake silencer housing must be removed.
Only F01/F02/F03/F04/F06/F12/F13 (N63) from 07/2012:
To access refrigerant line connections, the right intake port must be removed.
Only F02/F03/F04 and all Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles:
To guarantee a complete draining of refrigerant from the automatic rear passenger compartment air conditioning or the hybrid battery cooling system,
Run the following test module:
- Car body service
- Heating and air conditioning functions
- Drain/fill up refrigerant circuit
F23/F33 only:
To access refrigerant line connections, the left front end strut must be removed.
Only M3 F8x:
In order to access the connections of the refrigerant lines, undo charge air cooler and place to one side.
Only F20, F21, F22, F23, F30, F31 with B38 engine:
To access refrigerant line connections, the electronics box must be removed.
This refrigerant low pressure connection (2) is not to be used in the inspection!
Use exclusively refrigerant connections (1) for drawing off, evacuating and filling!
Carefully move the climate service station!
Comply with the operating instructions and service interval for the A/C service station!
Make sure that the hoses of the A/C service station are drained after the drawing off or filling procedure!
The climate service station contains highly sensitive components, such as scales. These components will be damaged due to improper handling, such as fast driving over a bump. This will result in a significant reduction of the measuring accuracy when drawing off and filling.
Filling a raised vehicle will result in insufficient filling levels.
If the system fails the test, draw off, evacuate and fill the air conditioning in accordance with the operating instructions of the relevant service station.
Instructions for drawing off air conditioning:
To help separation of refrigerant and refrigerant oil, run engine at low speed (800-1200 RPM) and with air conditioning turned on for a few minutes.
The limits the entrainment of refrigerant oil while it is drawn off.
Drawn-off refrigerant oil must be changed and reintroduced via the A/C service station.
During drawing off, set the blower of the heating and air-conditioning unit to the middle blower speed. This ensures that drawing off is more effective since the pressure on the low pressure side increases.
Recycling:
Dispose of drawn-off refrigerant oil as hazardous waste.
Observe country-specific waste disposal regulations.
Instructions for evacuating off air conditioning:
Before each filling, evacuate the refrigerant system.
Observe an evacuation time of at least 30 minutes .
The evacuation procedure removes all traces of ambient air, water vapor and any other gases present from the heating and air conditioning system. This enables subsequent system filling with refrigerant.
If the vacuum does not remain stable when the system is off, run the procedure for leaks in the refrigerant circuit.
During evacuation, set the blower of the heating and air-conditioning unit to the middle blower speed. This ensures that evacuation is more effective since the pressure on the low pressure side increases.
Notes for filling heating and air conditioning system:
Before filling with refrigerant, replace the refrigerant oil entrained during drawing off.
Also top up any lost fluid as indicated in the table:
Loss of R134a refrigerant
Table 1 indicates the permitted loss of refrigerant after a specific period of time. There is no leak. refrigerant oil may not be topped up.
Table 2 indicates the amount of refrigerant oil must be topped up with an unapproved loss of refrigerant due to a leak after a specific period of time.
Different cases:
- Loss of refrigerant per Table 1 is not exceeded
- Top up lost R134a refrigerant
- It is not permitted to top up the refrigerant oil
- Loss of refrigerant per Table 1 is exceeded
- Top up lost R134a refrigerant
- refrigerant oil must be topped up additionally per Table 2
| Number of years since last filling | 0 - 1 | 1 - 2 | 2 - 3 | 3 - 4 | 4 - 5 |
| Permissible loss [g] --> Do not top up refrigerant oil | ≤ 30 | ≤ 60 | ≤ 90 | ≤ 120 | ≤ 150 |
| Number of years since last filling | R134a loss of coolant [g] | Top up quantity refrigerant oil |
|---|---|---|
| 0 - 1 | < 120 | 0 |
| 120 - 150 | 10 | |
| > 150 | 20 | |
| 1 - 2 | < 180 | 0 |
| 180 - 210 | 10 | |
| > 210 | 20 | |
| 2 - 3 | < 240 | 0 |
| 240 - 270 | 10 | |
| > 270 | 20 | |
| 3 - 4 | < 300 | 0 |
| 300 - 330 | 10 | |
| > 330 | 20 | |
| 4 - 5 | < 360 | 10 |
| > 360 | 20 |
For these vehicles, an additional 30 g must be added to the drawn off/determined amount of refrigerant oil!
Follow NOTES FOR OPENING AND REPLACING PARTS in refrigerant circuit.
Depending on the type of component replaced on the heating and air conditioning system, it may be necessary to the top up the refrigerant oil, even if no measurable losses have occurred during drawing off. Follow the notes provided by the air conditioning manufacturer, taking account of the tolerances (and inaccuracies) indicated in the operating instructions of the relevant service station.
Information on the required refrigerant capacity of the air conditioning is found on the type plate (1).
If necessary, refer to the Technical Data for CAPACITY .
Installation note:
Reseal refrigerant filler necks on vehicle with sealing caps.