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08-20-2019, 09:23 AM | #1 |
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Gallery first:
View post on imgur.com After waiting a freakin' month for the evaporator, it's sealed, vacuumed, tested, cold, reassembled, test driven, and back to freakin' normal at last. Shockingly, no reoccurring ECU codes (after I cleared them), no lost sockets, and only a small handful of spare bolts. A few snags on reassembly but hopefully she's together for the long haul. This was the most insane repair I've attempted; way harder than clutches, coil overs, rollbars, and convertible roofs. Honestly I'd rather pull an engine than a dashboard any day. I knew NOTHING about AC going into this and holy crap have I learned a lot. I've been joking all along that the difficulty was about 12/10 but honestly none of it was that HARD, it was just a LOT to do. I can probably get this interior out in a couple of hours now that I know where (almost) all of the bolts go. Hopefully I got it right and don't need to pull the dash ever again. My biggest concern is whether or not I got the HVAC drain hole lined up. It got the carpet damp during testing but I wiggled it and it clicked into place. Hopefully that's done. AC blows cold, car drives fine, and I think it's time for a well earned beer. Estimated Repair Cost from BMW: $3,000 Total Cost of This Repair: $150 Fin. |
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08-20-2019, 10:49 AM | #2 |
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I fear the day I need to attempt this. The only benefit I see is that I plan to use felt tape on every single contact surface to eliminate all squeaks and rattles in the future.
Oddly enough, I don't use my AC much now--in Texas! They keep it so damn cold in my office that I enjoy thawing out on my drive home and it's not too hot to drive with the windows down on the way to work. I only use it for trips longer than 20 minutes. I lived in South Florida for many years, however, and I can attest that it's an absolute necessity. |
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08-20-2019, 11:22 AM | #3 | |
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08-20-2019, 12:07 PM | #5 |
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Gonna do a writeup?
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08-20-2019, 12:58 PM | #7 |
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Kudos on taking this on yourself. I have neither the skill or bravery to do this, so I gave it to my mechanic to take on back in May. He used 2 full rolls of felt isolater tape when putting it all back together so it's now quieter than before lol. The bill was a LOT, but it was expected and he was reasonable with this estimates on labour (charged me 12 hours of labour, and used a BMW part which was like 4 times the cost of yours - his words were "I'm not ripping it up to go back in there because of a cheaper part" lol)
All in all it means I have to keep the car another couple of years - not too bad as I still enjoy it.... |
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08-20-2019, 01:00 PM | #8 | |
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That said, I can do it in half the time next time. |
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08-20-2019, 02:41 PM | #9 | |
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08-20-2019, 07:21 PM | #10 | ||
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'13 IS with a few upgrades.
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08-20-2019, 08:00 PM | #11 | |||
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08-21-2019, 04:20 PM | #12 |
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