96ti, 66K mi, possibly for sale [or free advice]

[drhughes]

Silver, 5 speed, 66K miles, sunroof, cloth interior, tinted windows, alloy wheels, traction control, keyless entry, alarm. Has recent tires, belts, front brakes. Looks good to casual observer, but has some blistered paint & minor hail damage. Also, a significant dent on the passenger side rear pillar -- windstorm blew over our portable basketball goal onto the car. Suspect this would be a challenge to fix?

Reason for selling: a/c went out, and my mechanic says the evaporator is bad. This guy has a great rep, and I trust him [his shop only works on German cars] He'd fix it for $2000, though I'm sure BMW could do it quicker for a bunch more . My wife doesn't really like this car, and is against sinking the money into it. I'm still divided. . . . My mechanic says it will blow outside air temp air without the fix, but where I am [Little Rock, AR], it's way too hot for that in the summer. You folk in northern climes would probably do fine. I'm not in a hurry to sell, and would have to wait until it cools down if one of us is driving it -- it's 95 here now! I'll aim to get some more pix up next week, and am definitely open to free advice about the evaporator [or anything else] in the interim.

My email is drhughes@hotmail.com if you want more details.

[nyle]

hmm. it still can get pretty hot here. probably not as consistently as down your way though. but regardless, i've never had a cold a/c. it def isn't worth the 2k for it IMO. if you do decide to get rid of it, i'm sure you could get something decent for it because of the low mileage.

[thesk8nmidget]

you have a beautiful car! and i wants!!!!

any more pictures of it?

[RoyG]

An evaporator coil is around $200 here.

http://catalog.worldpac.com/ibusines...2FC+Evaporator

If you're handy you replace it. Not much harder than a radiator remove and replace. Make sure it's empty of coolant, possibly take it to a shop to pull it down. You replace and take it back tot the same place to purge and recharge.

Always replace the drier and same place has one for under $60
http://catalog.worldpac.com/ibusines...Receiver+Drier

I'd say you could do it for under $600 with some time and effort.

That might make it more palatable.

RoyG
KC

Good luck on which ever route you go.

[96cali]

While your guy may have a great rep I don't think there is a lot of finesse to this fix and $2000 seems way expensive. I think you need to find a cheaper alternative. Go on Bimmerforums.com or contact your local BMWCCA chapter- someone may help you out for a case of beer, you never know. I would have you check out bimrs.org for independent mechs in your area but... Arkansas doesn't have any.

Keep in mind it's the same fitment as a 318 sedan or coupe (verify on www.realoem.com). It should be plentiful. Pelican parts is always a good starting point for parts and they're very knowledgable. They may even have a how to on their website.

And how did you get a sport bumper with active wheels and cloth seats?

Good luck!

[tiFreak]

Originally Posted by 96cali

And how did you get a sport bumper with active wheels and cloth seats?

it was prolly added on after

[RoyG]

Found this evaporator coil on Ebay. New +free shipping for $116 so saved you $90 over my first post.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-A...QQcmdZViewItem

The time and labor on this job is both long and at probably $100 hourly rate or more expensive at any shop. Granted the purging and install of freon isn't for the typical DIYer but most of the grunt work is easily in the hands of someone handy with common tools.

Hope this helps. Good luck
RoyG
KC

[thesk8nmidget]

Originally Posted by tiFreak

it was prolly added on after

yep his car isnt a sport. just has an m tech bumper.

if it was a sport than it would have m tech moldings on the side as well

[drrty byl]

+1 on the DIY.

$125 (evaporator) + $30 (drier canister) + $15 (new coolant) + 2HRS < $2k

[Imola.ZHP]

E-Mail sent...

[drhughes]

Thanks for everyone's input. Perhaps this is a fix I can handle myself? My mechanic said the BMW part was $800, but we all know how they inflate stuff, and that it would take one of his guys a full day to do [he only has 3 people total working for him]. We have an extra car -- so this isn't pressing -- and with 105 degrees forecast tomorrow [yikes!], I've got a solid month to ponder my options.

I'll attach some more pix, in case this is your dream car and you make me an offer I can't refuse

[drhughes]

OK, so I can get the part pretty cheaply [thanks for the leads on this!]. I've not found a step-by-step on this repair, or even anything close. Don't I have to remove the entire dashboard to get to the evaporator? Is there a good manual that might cover this sort of thing??? I don't mind some work, but I don't want it to last forever OR to get in over my head . . .