bmwe21.net forums

Good to see you all, I am very new here so I will try not to mess up.

I am Guillem Claret, from Barcelona, in Catalunya, Spain. This is my first time in the forum.

First thing I checked the search button for "air conditioning" and "air conditioning repair" but I don't seem to find what I am looking for. Also I checked the DIY and FAQ pages but the only thing I seem to find is that most of you guys just remove the air conditioning and go with it because it saves a considerable amount of weight.
I have two bmw e21 323i. I will upload pictures when I have them in flickr.
One, the black one, will serve as a donor car and the other, the red one, is the real project. I've already transplanted the assisted steering from the black to the red and I was planning on doing the same with the A/C, however this might be a total different cost.
I live in Barcelona Spain, and here, summer is pretty hot; A/C is really helpful for at least 4-5 months.

My questions are:
- If the air conditioning works, which it doesn't seem to, does it really cool the car or since it is pretty old it did not work as a modern standard A/C?
- is it possible to transplant it from one car to the other? Do I have to change the whole dash to do so?
- is it more logic to just buy a brand new aftermarket part and hook it somewhere in the car?
- Has anyone used one of those? do they look bulky and too new or does anyone know about some made which are actually worth it for a classic car? If so, which are the prices?

I hope I'm posting the right way according to the forum rules.

Hi Guillem, welcome here, nice to meet someone from one of the most worderful cities this planet has to offer!

As for E21's with A/C, yup these are pretty common in the warmer countries perhaps, but for most here airconditioning is an option seldomly seen, and with the systems getting old now keeping them in working condition will be costly. So not a real hot topic hre on the forum perhaps, but on the other hand we all love to keep our cars in perfect conditon and if we can help someone out we will sure do our best!

To transfer the entire A/C from your donor car, all parts need to be swapped which includes the entire heater assembly which does require removing the dash. The same dash can be reused and needs to be combined with an AC center console (with the radio built in vertically). I would definitely decide to do this operation and keep the car original. Because of all the parts you need, any aftermarket system will requires just as much work. The E21's AC is simple, but it sure does work, just don't expect it to perform miracles if for example you have a black car

I'd sure transfer the entire system and have a specialist check & service the system. Lots of work but let me assure you, the full restores we need to go through here because of the humid climate are more work...

And of course we'd love to see some photos of your car as well!

I have an AC unit in the E21 and indeed it works very good. (Italian car).

The outlet temperature of the air is approx. 1,5 °c. The downside is that you loose a lot of engine-power with the compressor.
When my engine is idling (320/6) the rpm's are coming down 200 when the AC-compressor is started.

The biggest problem is that the coolant filling is difficult to buy nowadays.

That's correct, the older A/C systems like on the E21, E28 and E30 were used with the extremely harmful R12 gas which has been prohibited years ago. I believe a good replacement gas is R437a these days, but it is more expensive. But better expensive than not available at all!

Welcome!! It sounds like a nice car, I would like to see some pics, please.

Oh, and It will be nice if you organise a meet and drive over there in Barcelona! Another 2 years and my 323i will be up for it!!

Now that sounds like a great plan! I have some connections to the Spanish M Club and E30 M3 community as well. Let's build some nice event haha!

First of all thanks for the quick and useful reply. Secondly, you are more than invited to come down and visit!! There's plenty of classic cars and food to enjoy down here!

Regarding the car project The problem is that I am a doctor and I have to be at the hospital most of the time trying to learn surgery, not mechanics, so I hired a mechanic to do the project... and that means a hell of a lot of money... And transplanting the whole A/C... sight, nevertheless once it's working is so useful down here...

Anyway here are some pictures of where the cars are now... I'll update as soon as I can telling you which upgrades I have thought for the car.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/48798207@ ... 3590861001

Let me know what you think! thanks again!