Climate Control Question

[Ryan5034]

Stupid question of the day. When you press the air direction buttons you have the option of changing the temperature from hot to cold. What does this do?

Why would I use that versus the regular climate temperature knob? I don't understand it seems redundant.

Thanks!

[Ghanziang]

I believe it controls the air that comes out of the top vents independently. The idea is that you have warm air on your feet to keep you cozy, and cool air in your face to keep you awake. I always have mine set at the coldest. We have wild temperature swings in Colorado, so you can have heat on in the morning and A/C in the afternoon, then heat on again on the way home.

G.

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by Ryan5034

Stupid question(s) of the day.
1. When you press the air direction buttons you have the option of changing the temperature from hot to cold. What does this do?

2. Why would I use that versus the regular climate temperature knob?

I don't understand it seems redundant.

Thanks!

I would refer you to go back to the owners manual and reread the section that covers the climae control panel and air distribution (manual selection vs automatic selection).

If I'm understanding the questions you asked...these are the thoughts that come to mind if your NOT asking about the stratified air distribution (which is what Ghanziang was commenting on in the post above and is different than my comments below):

1. When you press the air direction buttons to send air to either the windshield, face vent, or floor vents (or any of the other possible selections)...1st, you've removed the IHKA from AUTOMATIC air distribution and air temperature...to MANUAL air distribution selection and air temperature. This allows you to make a manual selection of how hot or cold you want the air to blow from the vents plus select which vents you want that air to blow from. Why you would do this is to mitigate some odd or unusual conditions brought about by ambient temp, humidity, precipitation, etc. that the AUTO setting isn't performing to your satisfaction.

2. Why you would do this is as mentioned above...something about the AUTO setting is not getting the job done as you would like. For example...when ambient temps drops between 35° F - 65° F but the air is heavy with humidity and or falling precipitation (snow/sleet/rain/etc)...it can cause excessive condensate to form on the windows...especially if it's been raining and you have a car load of passengers that also have damp clothing on from being drenched in the rain. You can pump the air to the windows, turn on the AC (snowflake button) to dehumidify the air, as well as turn the temperature up to heat the air. You could also use the RAPID DEFROST/DE-ICE pre-programmed button, too...but that puts the blower on high speed and the air temp at 90°F...and this may be too much air at high temps for too long. Being able to manually adjust the air direction, air speed, and air temp may be required to get you and your carload of passengers to your destination safely and more comfortably.

3. No, there's nothing really redundant about it other than it takes control of the system away from the car with its "set" parameters...and gives you direct control of how you specifically want the air temp, air direction, and air velocity. Most people would complain incessantly if they couldn't have ANY control at all when rare climatic circumstances arise. I'm glad that BMW designed some manual override to the IHKA (auto climate control) system.

[omgboost]

I'm the winter, I'll press the button and turn it to heat. Otherwise I have cold air coming out. Then press auto.

Likewise, in the summer, I'll turn it to cold, so I don't have hot air coming out.

[Qsilver7]

Interesting...because as soon as you open a door handle or use the remote...this turns on the little sampling fan inside the IHKA control panel which starts to draw air across a thermistor. This tells the IHKA what temp the cabin air is...and sets up the HVAC system to get the temperature of the cabin to what has been selected (when you leave the system in AUTO mode).

I'm sure if the e38/e39/e53/e46 generation (and even older models like the e32/e34/e31/etc) had a cold start arrest feature..that the newer generation BMWs also have something similar if not exactly the same. The system shouldn't blow "cold" air on the passengers in the winter...the HVAC system should have parameters set to not do this. The system will close the vents that would blow cold air (in the winter) on passengers until the engine has warmed up enough for the system to blow warm air.

See the info below...again, I'm sure newer gen BMWs do the same thing:

[omgboost]

I don't know. I always leave mine in Auto. 68 degrees in the summer is different than 68 degrees in the winter. I definitely feel the difference if I leave the climate in "heat" in the summer. I'll get ice cold AC when I press the button and turn the knob to the blue but like warm air when I leave it in red, while still using AUTO. So that's what I've been doing every time the weather changes.

[Ryan5034]

Thanks for the comments. Just doesn't seem to be the most easiest system to use.

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by Ryan5034

Thanks for the comments. Just doesn't seem to be the most easiest system to use.

It is probably over engineered...but it is also simple if you take the "set it & forget it" approach.

It is an "auto" climate control system and for the most part...if you set a temperature that is comfortable for you (let's say 70° F)...if you select the AUTO button (make sure that you haven't deselected auto fan speed)...the IHKA control panel will do whatever it needs to do to keep the cabin at the temperature you have set. How difficult is that, right?

Then for those times that there are special conditions like extreme heat, or extreme condensation...there are the pre-programmed buttons MAX & RAPID DEFROST/DE-ICE...that will turn the air on high, close the fresh air flaps & recirculate...or send heated air at the highest velocity to the windows...all at the touch of one button. How difficult is that, right?

And then to get out of the pre-programmed setttings...all it takes is one press of a button and the system will go back to your "set-it-&-forget-it" setting. Again, how difficult is that?

It can become difficult for those that feel that have to constantly tinker with the system...which can makes things worse by over or under compensating...then having to go to the other extreme to correct what they did...which keeps a constant pressing and changing of the IHKA buttons.

I rarely touch the buttons on my IHKA control panels. The temp buttons get touched like twice a year to change from 70° F in the summer to 72°F in the winter...then back again in the spring when ambient temps rise. The AC button probably gets touched the most and that is if the windows need to be defrosted in spring/winter/fall and the AC button isn't on because it isn't needed 90% of the time. But the rapid defrost button can usually handle that need most of the time.

And just an FYI...I have heated seats and steering wheel...so those features kick in to help while the HVAC system is getting up to operating temp & speed. In the summer, I utilize the convenient open feature and parked time ventilation features if needed. So if you have those options...take advantage of them and try leaving the IHKA in auto mode and let it do its thing.