A
Anonymous
Guest
I have my #5 stainless steel woven wire mesh (74% open area) and look forward to reading your installation instructions.
Posted in Mods and Acc.
"AC Condenser Protection - A How To"
I have my #5 stainless steel woven wire mesh (74% open area) and look forward to reading your installation instructions.
kallisti5 said:DO NOT USE PAG-ANYTHING!
BMW was as confusing as possible around the AC oil. It seems like they couldn't make up their minds
on which oil to use since all the documentation is conflicting. (Hell, even the can of BMW AC oil is conflicting.
However, additional research shows PAG-ANYTHING will damage the electric compressor and your car. Even though the SP-A2 is
labeled for R1234yf (and even says *DO NOT USE ON R134a systems* on the can, it is compatible with R134a and R1234yf per this:
https://www.behrhellaservice.com/behr-hella-service/assets/media/Compressor_Oils_EN.pdf
My 2015 has a BMW part number for the AC oil, which matches the can of Sanden SP-A2. My car is also R134a. I feel like BMW were going to have all BMW i3's use R1234yf, but changed their mind to R134a at the last minute for the 2014, 2015 years. The SP-A2 can saying "do not use on R134a" is really saying "don't use it on traditional mechanical compressor vehicles (since it won't mix with PAG-ANYTHING).
To make matters even more confusing, the BMW AC sticker says "PAG 2339920" which when you look up 2339920 you find a the SP-A2 (which i'm pretty sure is a POE oil, not PAG)
The electric compressors require an AC lube with a high "dielectric strength" since it co-exists with the motor windings for the AC compressor. Using something conductive like PAG-ANYTHING will result in arcing within the compressor and damage your compressor/battery.
tldr: use SP-A2 if your car says "PAG 2339920" and DON'T use any PAG.
Sanden has made a version that they call SP-A2 and they use it in both their mechanical and electrical compressors – that very interesting indeed due to
the fact that most of the other OEM producers use POE oil with a very high di-electrical strength in order to avoid any possible conflicts between the motor
windings and the lubricant. It might be that Sanden have added some features that improves the di-electrical strength so it reaches the same level as the
POE has...it will require a separate analysis and test to find out the di-electricak strength of the SP-A2.
symonray said:I had similar damage to my 2016 i3 Rex caused by road debris, and the AC repair was covered under my auto comprehensive/collision policy.
My AC damage was caused by faulty design. The compressor self destructed and spewed metal filings throughout the system. My quote to repair was $22292.65. I decided not to repair it. Traded it in for salvage and got $8477, for a vehicle with a pre-AC failure fair market value of $15940. To soften my loss, as a goodwill gesture, BMW sent me a check for $2000, so I am "only" out $5942 (and no i3).i3Houston said:symonray said:I had similar damage to my 2016 i3 Rex caused by road debris, and the AC repair was covered under my auto comprehensive/collision policy.
totally forgot about that! what was the estimate cost of repair.
i3Alan said:My AC damage was caused by faulty design. The compressor self destructed and spewed metal filings throughout the system. My quote to repair was $22292.65. I decided not to repair it. Traded it in for salvage and got $8477, for a vehicle with a pre-AC failure fair market value of $15940. To soften my loss, as a goodwill gesture, BMW sent me a check for $2000, so I am "only" out $5942 (and no i3).
Ouch... this is why i traded my 2015 in, no way was I going to trust it outside of warranty, and anyone that does is playing russian (german?) roulette.
Enter your email address to join: