E28 - No recirc button?

General conversations about BMW E28s and the people who own them.
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e12euro
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E28 - No recirc button?

Post by e12euro »

Did the e28 ever get a recirc button? On my car and e23s with manual a/c there was just one button to activate the a/c, and you would hear the fresh air vent doors close as it automatically put you on recirc mode. That's probably why on those e23s it said a/c under the button and Int. Air above. Either way you were on recirc when the a/c went on. I think that's why magazine testers thought the e28 had better a/c than early models, they didn't realize they were automatically on recirc mode when they turned the air on, lol. All the years earlier these lazy dumb asses were driving around with the fresh air vents open while the a/c was on.:laugh:

Of course on the e30 and the climate control e23s there was a separate recirc button, but I can't recall if later e28s got this? :?
Blue Shadow
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Re: E28 - No recirc button?

Post by Blue Shadow »

yes as you say but not a button. Recirc keeps outside air out and that is the center slider of the system, outside air. Slide to off (left) and you got recirc.

If they drove around with the slider to the right they would say the ac sucks more than it already does.

but E23 was just a complicated mess of automation. Much prefer the semi-auto of the E28.
Mike W.
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Re: E28 - No recirc button?

Post by Mike W. »

No separate button. "Proper" operation of it is with all 3 sliders to the left, which shuts off all outside air, which is then effectively a recirc mode, but no button for it.
e12euro
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Re: E28 - No recirc button?

Post by e12euro »

Thanks, I was looking through the old reports and was wondering how many had the fresh air supply on. ;)

Some random facts I came across. The e9 a/c system was rated at 4,500 kilocalories per hour, the e24 6 series was 6,200 kilocalories. The article said the e24 a/c was partly developed in Texas and Arizona. It was also said a/c development was done in Texas for the e28 5 series. All Road & track stuff from the model launches.

1977 Car and Driver report on the MB 450SLC, Jag XJS and BMW 630CSi, said the 6 series had the best a/c. 1979 Feb 528i report Road & Track said HVAC all worked well. South African report on a 1980 528i said a/c had just enough capacity to cope with a South African summer.

I remember the e28 a/c, as a near new car on R12, was very good in 90-100F. Only negative thing was the drain on engine power with the a/c compressor on. Same thing with an early e30 I tried. They all seemed to work well when young cars.

Concerning parts listing evap core for e3, e9 and e21 seems the same. On e12s Real OEM says same evap core part number for all e12s.
Last edited by e12euro on Feb 13, 2021 12:33 PM, edited 1 time in total.
e12euro
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Re: E28 - No recirc button?

Post by e12euro »

Whoops, double post! ;)
Mike W.
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Re: E28 - No recirc button?

Post by Mike W. »

That E9 rating is in line with something I saw for an E3 long ago, ~17,000 BTU. Whatever it was, it was woefully inadequate. However my experience is similar to yours in E's 12 and 28, the E12, with R12, would keep us cool in front at least, in the desert on the highway at 110F temps. Get in town and in traffic and it couldn't keep up, although it would continue to blow cool air. My E28, an 85 with the smaller, but all aluminum condenser, was a step better, and would blow cold air in traffic in 105-110F temps, but not enough capacity to keep you cool. I saw 118F in Bullhead City AZ one time and there were a few stoplights, but mostly 45MPH and it did fairly well. Not like on the highway, but not bad.

On late E28s, a fresh air door was electrically operated and closed with the A/C on, apparently just because people didn't know to shut off fresh air.
e12euro
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Re: E28 - No recirc button?

Post by e12euro »

Mike W. wrote: Feb 13, 2021 4:19 PMOn late E28s, a fresh air door was electrically operated and closed with the A/C on, apparently just because people didn't know to shut off fresh air.
Yes, that's what my 1984 528e had. I could hear the fresh air door closing everytime I hit the snowflake button, so suspected it was putting me on recirc automatically. Seemed like they were doing that trick on the e23s too. I guess it was convenient on the e28s because I always had all my vents wide open, and that would have helped keep the interior marginally cooler when it was parked.

In Road & Track's e3/e9 owner survey 31% put a/c as the number one problem area. A/C wasn't even mentioned as a problem in the 530i survey, even though there were over twice as many cars in the 530i survey with a/c. So things were getting better.

I spent some time in Dubai in the early '80s (oil industry), summer was regularly in the 110-120F range. That place had all kinds of cars, late 2nd gen Trans Ams, original Honda Civics, and RX7s. I saw some e21s and e23s, but can't recall any 5 series. Strange because they were certainly in the Middle East. I found a new 1982 Volvo 264GLE good, but the leather interior got really hot if you left the car parked. The cloth 264s in the fleet were better.

I noticed a Road & Track March 1982 report on a gray market 745i. Base price 48k, sold new by Uniquely European Motorcars of Dallas Texas. It said the proprietor was a guy called Bill Leeper, and the car was federalized by ACI (Automobile Compliance Inc.) of Harbor City, California. The 745i had the usual Euro spec cord cloth interior of the era. I have seen the same on e12s.

Below is an aftermarket Comfy Kit. Some may recall the Texan company that did underdash a/c units in the 1960s. Looked a lot like what was fitted in Mercury Comets in 1962-64.

Comy Kit of Dallas, Texas
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