E46 + Aircond Problem + Naidu + Post-mortem

[Whalesith]

My ride is an 2001 E46. I got it about 3 years ago 2nd hand. Since i got the car, the air cond has never been that cold. I parked at covered parking at work and at home and i seldom drive in the hot afternoon sun during weekdays. During those instances when i need to drive in the hot sun or parked my car under the hot sun, it just takes the aircond slightly longer to cool the interior down, and so it was good enough for me. i know the air cond could be better but at that point it was good enough.Up until couple of weeks ago. The fizzing sound (i.e the sound of the valve releasing the gas) seems to be louder and more frequent. It was as if the air cond was gasping for air all the time. And it wasnt even cold. The vent to the right of the steering and the left middle vent were completely hopeless. These 2 vents were blowing out warm air. The remaining vents were blowing out slightly cooler air. But it was still bad. Every drive was like a moving sauna. I would be drenched in sweat every time by the time i reached my destination. I was intending to shed some weight but that was a cruel way.Before this problem, i am aware that Naidu is the foremost and leading specialist in BMW airconds, at least in PJ area la. i have been told, in 2 different occasions, by 2 different mechanics, to go to Naidu if i ever encounter any air cond issues. "Got air-cond problem ah, go see Naidu lah", everyone told me.Anyway, i googled my problem and there were some forummers who had the same problem. Air cond not cold, some vents blowing hot air, some vents blowing cold air. After some research i realised i have 2 options:1. Go see Naidu, of which there is a 99% chance he would tell me my cooling coil is leaking. How do i know this? Well, there were forummers who went to Naidu with this exact same problem and they were all told to change the cooling coil. And it did solved their problem, as far as i know. This is the expensive option, where it will cost probably RM1.5k and a day's work.2. Alternatively, i can try to bypass, or take out my heater valve. This 'solution' was prescribed by some, when the vents are blowing out cold and hot air at the same time. This is obviously a much cheaper option (probably less than RM100), but no much evidence if this will work in the long term. Of course many people will say, no harm trying.In the end, reluctantly (cos i absolutely hate the idea of my entire dashboard being taken out) i went to see Naidu, and true enough he said my cooling coil is leaking. Must change to new cooling coil (Behr), expansion valve etc etc, a day's time, damage RM1.5K. Ok i have to bite the bullet, a moving sauna is no longer an option. Left the car there 1st thing in the morning, collected the car in the evening. Post-mortem:1. The air out of all the vents now is definitely much much colder.2. The intensity of the air coming out now seems much stronger. Before this, i can turn up the fan to the max level, the fan sounds very loud, but the actual air coming out is not really that much stronger. Now if i turn the fan up to max, the air is actually strong and cold.3. Warranty for 6 months.Complaints:1. Naidu only accepts cash.2. I see some grease smudges on my titanium trims here and there. No big issue, can be wiped off easily.3. I see some grease smudges on the 2 pillars (which houses your airbag curtain) right next to the windscreen. This is not good. Not too sure if these will come off easily.4. My steering alignment seems to be more out than before. 5. So far no crackling or loose part sounds coming from the dashboard. Actually this is my biggest worry that in the course of taking out or fixing the dashboard back, some plastic part breaks or etc etc. And you are left with that mysterious noise coming from there somewhere and you couldn't pinpoint exactly. TOUCHWOOD, so far i have yet to discover any of these noise.So conclusion at the end of Day 2 after collecting car is:1. Did Naidu fix my problem? Yes he did, now at least. 2. Is his price reasonable? I dunno I didnt check with other mechanic.3. Did the repair leave you with any other unrelated permanent damage to you car? Err, so far not really. I hope it stays this way. So thats my post. If there are any updates or further problems, i will definitely post it here.

 

[climenta]

My experience with Naidu:

My car air-cond was blowing hot air & I found out that the high pressure hose from the compressor was damaged / torn, not sure why. Servicing was completed, I won't say he's cheap but this particular diagnosis was correct & the problem solved. However, my car has an pre-existing problem where the air cond does not turn on until the car is properly warmed up or at least kept started for some minutes. To troubleshoot this, Naidu suggested to remove the dashboard to check, charges still unknown.

Conclusion: I'm still driving around with the air-cond producing cold air in delayed action (sometimes up to 10-15 minutes, knn!!), just don't like the idea of him removing the dashboard.

I've heard of many of his customers complaining when it comes to removing the dashboard, hope your's turns out ok man. Good luck

 

[shaifulo]

that exactly my thought on him...his staff will leave your car a mess, no appreciation of people's treasured belonging....I very pantang on this one, hence I stopped sending after a few trips there for my e30

 

[Whalesith]

Yes, i definitely agree with both of you about removing the dashboard.

I mean i was really trying avoid any kind of repair which requires the removal of the dashboard. So for the longest time, altho i knew that there is something wrong with my aircond, i just refuse to repair it because it was still bearable. My logic is taking the dashboard out is a huge undertaking, and somewhere somehow there will be a plastic clip here and there broken or something not aligned properly, or something not put in properly etc etc and these problems will be buried in there forever.

But i really have no choice, driving was unbearable anymore. I have to fix it and i choose the supposedly most competent dude to do it, and keep my finger crossed and prayed really hard.

The other interesting thing is, over all these years since i got the car, i have been 'conditioned' to the sound/noise made by my aircond, so i dun really realise how noisy it was. Now that Naidu changed the cooling coil, now only i realised that the aircond can be soo quiet.

well i have been driving ard since the repair without any music/radio on, so i can listen for any funny noise which may come fr the dashboard. so far so good..nothing. hope it stays this way!

 

[zeedo]

The cost seems reasonable, I did mine early this year changing the cooling coil, dryer and expansion valve with my mechanic. No prob with the aircon but have the same black smudges at the curtain airbag too....

 

[Whalesith]

hi guys, after 4 days of observation and driving in silence (with my radio/music completely off), i hate to inform that there is indeed some new sound in my car after Naidu changed the cooling coil.

1. What kind of sound is it? The sound is not your usual loose rattling noise but rather the tight buzzing sound. It last for split second only, not even 1 sec most of the time.
2. Where is the sound coming from? The sound is coming from 2 distinct areas. Sometimes it comes out from the dashboard area (and no I don't know if its center, left or right side), sometimes it comes out from the area around the handbrake.
3. When does the buzz sound happens? Well it usually happens when the car is moving in a grainy road or patchy areas, basically areas where there is a lot vibrations going on.

So there you have it buzzing sounds sigh. I really don't know what to do, because i don't know where the sound is coming from, i don't know how to simulate or imitate the conditions to make the sound and therefore i don't even know how to tell Naidu about this 'problem'.

Fair enough even if Naidu agrees (which i suspect he will) to look into it and offer FOC to take out the dashboard again to check, i don't think i would allow him to because the chances of something else going more wrong with another round of dashboard removal is even higher.

So i suspect i will probably drive normally (ie with radio/music on) and just learn to live with the buzzing sound sigh. What to do, unless any brother here got better suggestion.

Such is the risk which i knew before hand, and its just too bad....

 

[king82]

thanks for sharing. Sorry to hear that there's other buzzing sound coming out...

frankly, naidu is quite knowledgeable in what he does...but if he adds a bit more attention (to details), then i think he would be fine...

like you said, it's a risk to remove the dashboard again...so, perhaps you could have it checked the next time if you HAVE TO get the dashboard removed (hope not)...cheers

 

[Whalesith]

yes, a lot of times the owner/sifu is good and the other 2nd-liners are not very careful.

You see, most of the time beemer owners LOVE their car and because of this they are quite a hard-to-please bunch cos they are very particular about cleanliness and those little little sounds here and there. They like everything clean and perfect and back to its original state. They like their cars to handled with precision and love and attention to details.

So all these mechanics serving the bmw market must know that not matter how good their diagnostic skills and pricing are, if they're just gonna wham-bam-thank-you-maam the execution part, most customers will not be repeated. There is really no point going somewhere to fix a big problem, and coming out with 4 new small problems or the whole car sounding like a tin-can orchestra.

Sorry, this is just my 2 cents worth.

 

[king82]

yup...i get what you mean... it's the extra personal touch/ service...I'm lucky that there are no issues after sending my car there twice for minor repairs...cheers

 

[Daiichi]

Is there an alternative air cond expert that does a good job besides Naidu?
I was at Naidu's recently and saw an E90 having its dashboard taken out. Parts and pieces are everywhere, steering wheel column removed, parts at back seats, floor mats, boot area..all over....and all the bolts and nuts mixed up at the driver's footwell. How on earth will they remember which bolts fits where is mind boggling. Not a pretty sight you wanna let you treasured baby to be in.

 

[Whalesith]

Yep it is a very 'painful' sight to see ur dashboard taken out in pieces all over the floor. And you would be thinking that to put ALL those parts back, without breaking or missing out anything must be close to a miracle.

With hindsight, coupled with my new buzzing sound problem, i should have taken a day's leave and stayed with my car to watch them do the whole thing step by step. Then at least i would maybe have a good guestimate of what could potentially be causing the sounds right now.

Actually after i collected my car, i found 2 small black pieces of broken plastic on my passenger side mat. its plastic (not rubber) and mebbe abit smaller that a 1 cent coin, and its circular, pretty much like an plastic "O" ring broken into half.

I get nightmares when i see things like that. Cos it will mean that something is likely to be broken while taking out the dashboard. It may be 1 or 2 clips out of mebbe 30 which holds something together, doesn't matter. The fact that it was there in the 1st places means it has a function. It is little little things like these which could cause funny sound here and there....

 

[king82]

Hm...if I go to an unfamiliar mechanic, I will wait while the car is being repaired (i've waited half day before)...unless I'm really confident with the mechanic (like my dad's mechanic in Ipoh)...we'll just leave the car at his place and be rest-assured that the car has been repaired properly...

 

[Whalesith]

Guys apart from the new buzzing sound after Naidu, I found a new problem this morning!!!!

THERE IS A HAIRLINE CRACK ABOUT 1 INCH ON THE TRANSPARENT PLASTIC COVERING MY INSTRUMENT CLUSTER!

Yes, I just saw it this morning, 8 days after collecting the car from Naidu. At first i thought it was a feather or hair stuck to it, but when i touch it, its not, its a crack about 1 inch around the 60km/hr spot. I was just sooo shocked.

Well I didn't crack it, so it must hv been cracked during the installation of the dashboard. Very very sad indeed. Called Auto Bavaria and various BMW stockist, they all don't sell just the transparent cover. It comes with the whole instrument cluster and it will cost RM4k++!!!!

Then i called Naidu, he obviously said he dun think its his fault, cos they were very careful and they check everything before handing over the car, and asked me to let him check again etc etc. I was thinking was is the point of me going there again, its not like he can do anything.

Oh man.......guys please make sure you are there to supervise if you ever ever want someone to take our your dashboard.

I am very very disappointed to be honest. Yes the aircond prob is solved, but i am left with new buzzing and rattling sounds and cracked transparent instrument cluster cover.

Any forummers here know any chopshop within klang valley where i may be able to find my transparent cover?

 

[Daiichi]

Try one of the chopshop located on the intersection of Sg. Buloh road and Jln Welfare where the road is between the Shell and Caltex station. Turn in that road and the chopshop is on the left side about 400m inwards. I saw a half cut (front portion and back portion) in good condition, an E46 brought in from Singapore. You cannot miss it cos they carry alot of continental cars. The name is Hakitrade. Good luck and keep us posted on your search.

 

[Whalesith]

thanks Daiichi, will definitely check the place out. Sigh headache, headache....

 

[tkk]

Hi,

By the way, where is Naidu located in PJ? my aircon also take time to cold...

Thanks,

 

[king82]

bro, just behind the kwsp building, there's a shell petrol station...naidu's is located slightly uphill area...

 

[infinityKL]

Hm...if I go to an unfamiliar mechanic, I will wait while the car is being repaired (i've waited half day before)...unless I'm really confident with the mechanic (like my dad's mechanic in Ipoh)...we'll just leave the car at his place and be rest-assured that the car has been repaired properly...

me too, till today driving a not so cold ac fr the same reason, dashboard ...changed compressor once,about 2 years ago.... but still not very cold like the stock compressor..even after 12 years, theres no funny rattle or sounds from my e36 dashboard and no vibration even at speeds over 200kmh... very scared of removing fr day 1.. but sometimes the sauna situation is really frustrating..

hi king, which mech in ipoh you mention about? tq tq

hapy new yr 2010

 

[tkk]

bro, just behind the kwsp building, there's a shell petrol station...naidu's is located slightly uphill area...

Hi King82,

Thanks for the info... i will go check out tomorrow...

 

[king82]

hi sachseelan...happy new year to you too...

the mechanic is Ah Choy, at Esso station (town area, near st. michael's church). We usually send our pajero, my dad's old volvo and his previous vans...he's very experienced, but I am not too sure about BMWs as he does not have diagnostic tools...

my sister used to send to new age auto. I took it there once to change headlights + service etc...but i find the workmanship a bit not-so-good. the mechanic there removed the nose to get the old low beam headlights out, then fit in the new ones, and put back the nose...but i think the nose is misplaced as there's a gap between the bonnet and the top of the nose...so i've decided not to go there anymore...