[Berzerker]

Originally Posted by TurtleBoy

The manual says exactly what I and others have been saying as far as I can tell.

Edit: Here is a thread from a few years ago discussing the Intensity setting and the upper vent temp. Both are a subject that seems to confuse folks for some reason. Many times it is overthinking it.

https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1729841

Like I said, the manual doesn't mention anything about it being a "minimum" speed setting, the way it's laid out, it implies that it's a general "range" like I drew out in my picture.

I think the point of contention is having the intensity setting in the first place, in every other car manufacturer system, if I set "auto" I can't adjust anything else except temperature. Why would I need to set an intensity if I just want it at a temperature? Let the fans do whatever they need to do and just get it to that temperature...

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by Berzerker

Like I said, the manual doesn't mention anything about it being a "minimum" speed setting, the way it's laid out, it implies that it's a general "range" like I drew out in my picture.

I think the point of contention is having the intensity setting in the first place, in every other car manufacturer system, if I set "auto" I can't adjust anything else except temperature. Why would I need to set an intensity if I just want it at a temperature? Let the fans do whatever they need to do and just get it to that temperature...

It is a comfort feature just like the upper vent temps. If a person doesn't want to fool around with them they don't have to. Just keep the vent temp in the middle and the intensity set to the lowest and it will operate just like any other Auto system.

[Berzerker]

Originally Posted by TurtleBoy

It is a comfort feature just like the upper vent temps. If a person doesn't want to fool around with them they don't have to. Just keep the vent temp in the middle and the intensity set to the lowest and it will operate just like any other Auto system.

That's fine, but it's far from an intuitive feature and takes a discussion like this to figure out how exactly it works; the manual isn't exactly very clear.

[Berzerker]

Originally Posted by TurtleBoy

The manual says exactly what I and others have been saying as far as I can tell.

Edit: Here is a thread from a few years ago discussing the Intensity setting and the upper vent temp. Both are a subject that seems to confuse folks for some reason. Many times it is overthinking it.

https://g05.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1729841

Coming back to this. It was quite hot today, getting in the car first thing, my AC intensity is set to 2 bars (2/5), the fans reach a speed I think they've stopped increasing at (using sound to measure). Then turning up the intensity, the fans get noticeably louder and blow noticeably harder. This doesn't match the intensity setting being a "minimum" as if what you described was true, changing the intensity wouldn't raise the speed as the fans are already blowing higher than the minimum for that setting (the fans can blow quite quietly/slow at 2/5 intensity, judging by when the car reached the temperature).

So, either I'm not understanding what is meant by the "minimum" in that sense, or the intensity setting does not operate as you described.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by Berzerker

Coming back to this. It was quite hot today, getting in the car first thing, my AC intensity is set to 2 bars (2/5), the fans reach a speed I think they've stopped increasing at (using sound to measure). Then turning up the intensity, the fans get noticeably louder and blow noticeably harder. This doesn't match the intensity setting being a "minimum" as if what you described was true, changing the intensity wouldn't raise the speed as the fans are already blowing higher than the minimum for that setting (the fans can blow quite quietly/slow at 2/5 intensity, judging by when the car reached the temperature).

So, either I'm not understanding what is meant by the "minimum" in that sense, or the intensity setting does not operate as you described.

Thanks for testing it out and getting back to us. It definitely sets a minimum, that is not in question. What is though is if it also effects the maximum as you are describing. No one else has posted that they encountered what you are however it could be a case of folks not fooling with the intensity when the fans are blowing.

As stated in many posts, the fans will blow very hard even when the intensity is at the lowest setting when it is needed to cool the vehicle. It could be that they would even blow harder if the intensity would be turned up, just like you are describing. I know I will try it out next summer and hopefully others do also.

[Berzerker]

Originally Posted by TurtleBoy

Thanks for testing it out and getting back to us. It definitely sets a minimum, that is not in question. What is though is if it also effects the maximum as you are describing. No one else has posted that they encountered what you are however it could be a case of folks not fooling with the intensity when the fans are blowing.

As stated in many posts, the fans will blow very hard even when the intensity is at the lowest setting when it is needed to cool the vehicle. It could be that they would even blow harder if the intensity would be turned up, just like you are describing. I know I will try it out next summer and hopefully others do also.

They will definitely blow hard even when intensity is set at 1/5, but I think the point of contention is, if the setting is a "minimum" then setting to anything higher than 1/5 shouldn't actually raise the speed since, if it's only a minimum, it will already be blowing at the maximum it should at any setting. But, raising the intensity, the speed/amount of air definitely increased, so something else is going on.

[TurtleBoy]

Originally Posted by Berzerker

They will definitely blow hard even when intensity is set at 1/5, but I think the point of contention is, if the setting is a "minimum" then setting to anything higher than 1/5 shouldn't actually raise the speed since, if it's only a minimum, it will already be blowing at the maximum it should at any setting. But, raising the intensity, the speed/amount of air definitely increased, so something else is going on.

I think you are misunderstanding the minimum. It is the lowest the fan will go, not the highest. As I said above, what you are describing is a range and very well could be how it is operating but a range has a minimum and maximum. No one else has reported experiencing what you are but it could just be the circumstances. We will see how things go next summer, our even winter, when more folks have a chance to test it.

[Bavar-ian]

BMWs are never knwn to have cold AC.
My previous 20 GLS450 has the best AC of contis; it even auto lowers from high setting when a call comes in and raises itself back once the call ends.

[mitch57]

Here's a picture of the Climate Control Settings on my 2020 X7. I'm currently on iDrive 7 version 03/2022.80 for reference purposes. Take note that these settings are individually customizable for the driver, passenger, and 2nd row seating.

[Guy Fleegman]

Originally Posted by mitch57

Here's a picture of the Climate Control Settings on my 2020 X7. I'm currently on iDrive 7 version 03/2022.80 for reference purposes. Take note that these settings are individually customizable for the driver, passenger, and 2nd row seating.

Yes, but the issue for many is that these settings have no effect when the AC is on "Auto" and the system needs to cool the car down rapidly. Also with "Max AC."

My wife has a habit of adjusting the temperature setting really low, thinking it will make the car cool down faster. We're never going to get it down to 63 degrees when it's 98 outside, so the fan just blasts away.

[FLYZ]

There are a few interesting things I have noticed about the AC in my G05. I live in Texas, so we get really hot summers.

When you first hop in, the air doesn't get super cold until the engine is fully warmed up (dial displays fully middle temp). If you activate Max A/C, even if just for a few seconds, this delay seems to be bypassed for the remainder of the trip, and the much colder air starts immediately - I am sure this is an engine or efficiency feature. Additionally, I agree that the ability to affect intensity even on auto seems strange. In all honesty, I have never had the ability to do that in a vehicle. In my prior cars - Lexuses, Jeeps, Nissans, Infiniti, etc. if you adjusted the fan speed, auto was disabled. I appreciate that the Bimmer gives you the option and I see how it "influences" the auto program. I think of the fan setting as a chance to tell the car the continuum in which you would like the fan to blow. When the car first starts, it will blow whatever it needs to cool, but once the temp is reached your fan setting dictates the amount of air it will blow to maintain that temp, is how I think of it.

I tend to keep my car with the temp synced at 68F, as well, unless I have other passengers on board. I noticed the first time I drove it that I had the four temp zones unlinked and they were all set at 75 or so, and so my section was blowing like the devil to cool me off, while everything else was relatively relaxed and the car stayed too warm. By keeping them synced most of the time, the car tends to get and stay at the temperature I desire much more quickly.

One thing I love about the climate control on the G05 is what I call the "true" dual zone design. I can't tell you how many cars I have had where the two zones at the front don't really differentiate the temperature at all. Driver and passenger set their temps and the system just kinda averaged them together and spit out the same air between them. Even on my lexus GXs, the rear compartment had its own climate control that worked independently, but the front kept the "averaging" strategy. On the G05, both front sections can have totally different fan speeds (hence the two fan switches) and if my spouse and I want different temps, the air that comes out is truly different. I will say that I believe the dual zones in the rear use the "averaging" design as they share one fan speed, but I never sit back there, so I truly appreciate having the first fully true dual zone climate control up front that I have ever had on a car. The last time I had a system like that was on the 7 series bimmers my parents always drove when I was growing up in the 90s. My sister drives a GLS and even it doesn't have two different fan speeds for the front. Additionally, my spouses X3 offers one fan speed setting for both front zones, as well. Perhaps that is a BMW specific feature for their higher end vehicles, but I love it.

[cellarrat]

I am more confused for having read all the explanations about how ppl are overthinking this than I was before. There are settings for temp and intensity on the dash, settings for temp and intensity in the iDrive menus, and an "auto" setting. The relationship among them is more complicated than a Thackery novel.

This seems to be an a/c-only problem though. The heat more or less seems to work like, you know, a normal automobile.

[FLYZ]

Originally Posted by mitch57

Here's a picture of the Climate Control Settings on my 2020 X7. I'm currently on iDrive 7 version 03/2022.80 for reference purposes. Take note that these settings are individually customizable for the driver, passenger, and 2nd row seating.

This is the same as using the hard switches below to make the adjustments. You will note that the changes you make to fan speed on the iDrive screen will simply update on the small climate control display below. This is not a further refinement of fan speed beyond using the switches in the front or back.

[Guy Fleegman]

Originally Posted by cellarrat

I am more confused for having read all the explanations about how ppl are overthinking this than I was before. There are settings for temp and intensity on the dash, settings for temp and intensity in the iDrive menus, and an "auto" setting. The relationship among them is more complicated than a Thackery novel.

This seems to be an a/c-only problem though. The heat more or less seems to work like, you know, a normal automobile.

Yeah, except the heat duct runs underneath the center console on the 45e. If the back has the heat turned up, that console can get really hot. It melted a chapstick I had in there before I realized it. The front section with the cup holders too, which probably didn't do my phone much good.

Turns out the rear heater was inadvertently turned on very high when I was putting something on the floor back there. We were cussing at the AC for not cooling the front, not knowing it was competing with the heat in the rear.

Now unless we have passengers in the rear, I disable the HVAC entirely back there.

[mitch57]

Originally Posted by FLYZ

This is the same as using the hard switches below to make the adjustments. You will note that the changes you make to fan speed on the iDrive screen will simply update on the small climate control display below. This is not a further refinement of fan speed beyond using the switches in the front or back.

Yes. I'm just pointing out the fact that the amount of air coming out of the vents is adjustable and fixed based on the settings you choose. The way it works in my car is the way a few others have explained it.

If I hop in my 100 degree car with the Climate Control set to Auto and the temp set to 70 the fan kicks on full blast after about 20 seconds or so. The fan remains on high but gradually decreases to the fan speed setting that I set in iDrive or on the buttons. In my case that's "Light".

The key here is that the fan speed I set to the "Light" setting remains at that setting for the remainder of the trip after the cabin has reached it's set temperature. My interpretation, like some others, is that BMW added the ability to manually adjust fan speed REGARDLESS if you have the Climate Control set to "Auto".

I think it's a pain in the ass. Older cars worked much better for me. The Auto setting was exactly that, "AUTO". The fan speed would increase and decrease based on what you set the temperature to.

My Toyota cars and trucks worked this way. When the Climate Control was set to Auto it would blast away but continue to reduce fan speed as the cabin reached it's set temp. You never had to manually adjust the fan speed. Just the temperature and it would take care of the fan speed automatically.

No, not BMW. They make us set a minimum fan speed/level that ALWAYS blows at the set fan speed/level as the MINIMUM fan speed setting. The fan speed will never go below that fan speed regardless of the set temp or cabin temp. They force us to set a minimum instead of letting the system adjust the fan speed based on the set temp and the cabin temp.

The "Level" setting has 5 settings., "Very light" up to "Very strong". BMW apparently saw no need to add an "AUTO" speed/level setting under the "Level" setting option.

Maybe the BMW engineers and programmers are placing bets on which one of them can create the most complicated, chaotic and confusing controls in all of their cars. Looks to me like BMW is well on it's way to breaking the bank on complicated controls and interfaces.

[FLYZ]

Well, as you said yourself (and I also said in my previous posts), when you hop in the car, the fan blows full tilt regardless of the fan setting, and then reduces to the minimum speed, as you have described it. In that case, it is using the fan as auto, but just giving you extra adjustability to add a floor on fan speed. If you are comfortable with it going all the way down, you could set it to "very light" and then, essentially, it is acting as our old Lexuses, Toyotas, etc. that we both mentioned.

[mitch57]

Originally Posted by FLYZ

Well, as you said yourself (and I also said in my previous posts), when you hop in the car, the fan blows full tilt regardless of the fan setting, and then reduces to the minimum speed, as you have described it. In that case, it is using the fan as auto, but just giving you extra adjustability to add a floor on fan speed. If you are comfortable with it going all the way down, you could set it to "very light" and then, essentially, it is acting as our old Lexuses, Toyotas, etc. that we both mentioned.

Yeah. I tried that but the "Very light" setting is to low in most situations and the "Light" setting is a bit to aggressive and blows to much hot/cold air. Plus, it requires almost a 5 degree shift in the set temp to get the cabin comfortable again. In other words, in my opinion, the BMW climate control system sucks and is far to complicated.