Notes for repair work on air conditioning

Special tools required:

00 9 030
32 1 270

WARNING: Work on the refrigerant circuit may only be performed by persons who have the certificate of competence for preventive maintenance and repair of air conditioning systems. This must be available by 2010-07-04 at the latest (applies only to EU countries, observe country-specific regulations in non-EU countries).
Refrigerant circuit is under high!

If the protective caps on the filling valves are difficult to open, there is a injury hazard 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.

Observe Safety Instructions for handling refrigerant
Observe Safety Instructions for handling refrigerant oil

Attention!

Risk of damage!

Only the country-specific refrigerant and refrigerant oil approved by BMW can be used. For additional information see the "Fluid Capacities" tab for the selected vehicle.

Restart engine only when air conditioning has been correctly filled.

Each time air connectors are opened continually new O-Rings are applicable BMW parts catalogue).
They must not be coated.

Use special tool 00 9 030 to mount sealing rings without damaging them.
Open the referigerant circuit for as short of a period as possible.
Close all components and lines in the refrigerant circuit and return parts immediately following the removals at openings with special tool 32 1 270 to prevent penetration of moisture or foreign objects.
If the refrigerant circuit was sealed at openings with special tool 32 1 270 but remains open for longer than 48 hours, then the air conditioning condenser with desiccant insert for the air conditioning system must be replaced.

Air conditioning condenser with desiccant insert must not be changed at regular inspection intervals in a working, tight air conditioning system.

However, an air conditioning condenser with desiccant insert must be changed in case of:

the refrigerant being dirty by shavings (e.g. when the air conditioning compressor is clamped).
With depressurised and/or completely drained refrigerant circuit.

Vehicle-specific notes:

Only G12 and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle:

To ensure that the refrigerant is almost completely drained from the rear passenger compartment air conditioning or the battery cooling system:

Run the following test module:

Car body service
Heating and air conditioning functions
Drain/fill up refrigerant circuit

Only G12, N74 US version:

An adapter is necessary to fill the air conditioning.

In case of the handling the A/C service station observe the following without fail:

Attention!

Risk of damage!

Carefully shift 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 suction or filling procedure!

The A/C 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 suction and filling.

Attention!

During the entire filling procedure the vehicle must stand on the floor.

Filling a raised vehicle will result in minimum filling levels.

NOTE: In the event of complaints, perform A/C PERFORMANCE TEST !
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 suction air conditioning:

To promote the separation of refrigerant and refrigerant oil, run the engine at low engine speed (800-1200 RPM) and the air conditioning system switched on for a few minutes.

This limits the amount of refrigerant oil that is carried away during vacuuming.

Vacuumed refrigerant oil must be replaced and resupplied via the A/C service station.

Courtesy of BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, INC.

During suction, set the blower of the heating and air-conditioning unit to the middle blower speed. This makes the vacuuming more effective because the pressure on the low pressure side increases.

Recycling:

Dispose of drawn-off refrigerant oil as hazardous waste.

Observe country-specific waste disposal regulations.

Note in case of contaminated refrigerant R1234yf:

If the A/C service station identifies contaminated refrigerant in the refrigerant circuit of the vehicle before the vacuum process for the refrigerant R1234yf, a SEPARATE PROCEDUREmust be observed for vacuuming and disposing of this refrigerant.

Instructions for evacuating off air conditioning:

Before each filling, evacuate the refrigerant circuit.

For work that lasts up to 24 hours, a suction time of at least 30 mins must be maintained.

For work that lasts longer than 24 hours, a suction time of at least 60 minutes must be maintained.

The suction process procedure removes all traces of ambient air, water vapor and any other gases present from the heating and air conditioning system. This enables the process of subsequent filling with refrigerant.

Courtesy of BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, INC.

If the vacuum does not remain stable when the system is off, run the procedure for leaks in the refrigerant circuit.

During suction process, set the blower of the heating and air-conditioning unit to the middle blower speed. This makes the evacuating process more effective because 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 plus losses is to be filled up during suction.

Fill up the amount of refrigerant as per nameplate.

Courtesy of BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, INC.

Remove the capacity and type of the refrigerant from the nameplate.

Refrigerant capacities

Courtesy of BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, INC.