DIY: E82 Evaporator Replacement

[printerror]

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.

[Thunderguts]

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.

[printerror]

Originally Posted by Thunderguts

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.

It really wasn't that bad, but here in Florida AC is mandatory. Tell you what, saving three grand makes me very happy.

[deesea]

Sorry, how is this a DIY? There's one image, and no write up at all.

Thanks for sharing I guess?

[ShocknAwe]

Gonna do a writeup?

[printerror]

Dang it, sorry, Imgur gave me the wrong link. Refresh the new link and it should show 28 pics instead of one.

[asbrr]

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....

[printerror]

Originally Posted by asbrr

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....

To be fair, it was about six hours to get out, and six hours to reassemble and charge. I was in no hurry and had zero prior knowledge on what I was attempting. I've never touched AC before.

That said, I can do it in half the time next time.

[deesea]

Originally Posted by asbrr

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....

What was the damage in CAD? over $2,000? that's what I'm anticipating (including the new evap core).

[a4nut]

Originally Posted by deesea

What was the damage in CAD? over $2,000? that's what I'm anticipating (including the new evap core).

I just my E90 evaporator done last week at an Indy shop (former BMW tech in a rented garage), and he charged me 12 hrs labor and 300 for the part. 1600 USD in total. no way I'd ever even think about doing this myself. straight up nope.

[printerror]

Originally Posted by a4nut

I just my E90 evaporator done last week at an Indy shop (former BMW tech in a rented garage), and he charged me 12 hrs labor and 300 for the part. 1600 USD in total. no way I'd ever even think about doing this myself. straight up nope.

That's basically what I did. The E82 and E90 are mostly the same mechanically.

[asbrr]

Originally Posted by deesea

What was the damage in CAD? over $2,000? that's what I'm anticipating (including the new evap core).

Yep, about 2K + tax - don't forget our lovely HST

You can save on that with a non-BMW part of course.