Preconditioning seems to overheat the cabin

[RJSATLBA]

I normally drive in EcoPro with climate set to 21C and a/c off. Now that the weather is cooler I've been preconditioning but the cabin always seems to be way above 21C when I go to the car and cools down once I start up. Do others find the same (which would be a waste of power) or is it likely that I have a fault.

 

[elptex]

I have found the same, yes. I set it at 22C and it is definitely toastier than that. What I have been doing is setting off on my journey with the climate control turned off until it reaches the point that it has cooled down, then turn the climate control on.

I'm not sure why it is pre-conditioning beyond the set temperature. I'd like to think the BMW engineers have a good reason for it, though that reason eludes me.

 

[Firebird23]

Hi,

I agree. Preconditioning is heating/cooling to a higher level then desired.
I like it. Why? I save even more energy for driving instead of sustaining correct temperature.

And its pretty cool to jump into a really cold car at a really hot summerday.

Best Regards,
Dirk

 

[BrianStanier]

I'm not sure why it is pre-conditioning beyond the set temperature. I'd like to think the BMW engineers have a good reason for it, though that reason eludes me.

Possible because they need the higher temperature to precondition the battery. It's annoying. 18C would be fine for us.

 

[jadnashuanh]

A higher temp would help defrost the windows and get the car seats fully warmed up rather than just the air temp. I wonder if it acts differently if you're connected to the EVSE or not when you precondition?

 

[Bunter]

Mine does this too although I think it may only have been doing this since my recent software update. If the car is ignoring the AC set point it must look at outside temperature or else things are going to get unpleasant in the summer.

Bill

 

[RJSATLBA]

A higher temp would help defrost the windows and get the car seats fully warmed up rather than just the air temp. I wonder if it acts differently if you're connected to the EVSE or not when you precondition?

That had crossed my mind too, I'll put a thermometer in the car and compare with and without being on the EVSE.

 

[Eperigny]

The preconditioning is overcooling / overheating the cabin so you don't have to cool/heat so much in the beginning of your journey. It is not defective, it is by design and I think it is a great feature as long as you are plugged in!

 

[jadnashuanh]

Ever come home to a house that has been on setback for days or so and then sit on a sofa or lay on the bed? THe whole house is cold-soaked (or heat soaked) even if the air temp comes up relatively quickly. To warm or cool them quicker, you need to raise or lower the temperature further so it happens quicker.

 

[pastyboy]

Ever come home to a house that has been on setback for days or so and then sit on a sofa or lay on the bed? THe whole house is cold-soaked (or heat soaked) even if the air temp comes up relatively quickly. To warm or cool them quicker, you need to raise or lower the temperature further so it happens quicker.

We have found the same, but on a couple of occasions, when we have not pre-conditioned, the screen has had a lot of condensation water on the inside which had to be wiped off. By overheating, we stand a chance of that being removed before we get in. Does make you wonder what will happen next summer though, when we want to cool it to 16 degrees. If it is heating to higher than 18 degrees now how will it know to cool to 16 degrees in the summer ?

 

[FrancisJeffries]

This is slightly off-topic, but it was VERY cold the other morning and all the windows were heavily frosted up.
I was not plugged into the EVSE and I set the preconditioning on and waited.
After about ten minutes the ice on the screen had melted. After half an hour (from starting) I noticed that the pre-conditiong was now off, yet all the windows were DRY!!! :lol:
It cost me 8 miles of estimated range (without charging, remember). So it looks as if the heating load is around 4kW, because it had used around 2kWh in half an hour,
Love it!

 

[jadnashuanh]

I put a volt/amp meter on the feed to my EVSE, and noted that it was drawing 12A when I asked it to precondition (the car had already been charged to 100%), so that works out to 243v*12A=2916W. Now, I didn't monitor it over time, and it could easily have gone up or down from there, but is a data point.

 

[SanSerif]

When I was running the original early s/w, the preconditioning seemed to do bugger all. A slight warming, at best.

Now it heatsoaks the cabin and melts ice. Fantastic.

But you do need to remember to turn it off if you're parked off-grid - unless you're happy to have a good few miles of range burned away in the car park!

 

[BrevetO5]

Thanks for the heads up; I thought it would only precondition if it was on an EVSE. Seems like this makes it more of a convenience than range-enhancing feature. Guess I had better go back into the iRemote and change my times...

 

[jadnashuanh]

It definitely will precondition any time you ask it to. Depending on your commute, you may not worry about the loss in range.

A side note...Saabs have been sold with seat heaters for decades, and at least in some models, automatically come on if the temp is low, mostly because their research has shown that the driver is more alert if he isn't shivering! If you have a BEV, the heat pump is fairly efficient, but the seat heaters are purely resistive heating elements. A heat pump can give you upwards or 2-4 watts of heat for every watt input...your seat heater is a 1:1, so it may not be more efficient to use it verses the cabin heater...just depends. And, the cabin heater will keep the windows clear, although that portion will turn on if the sensors detect them fogging up (at least the windshield, but it's important to keep the rest of them clear, too, at least IMHO).

 

[user 1096]

I find the pre-cond. cabin heat excessive too, at least on cold mornings. The other day, though set for a departure time, I was surprised by very modest warmth in the cabin and realized that moderating over-night external temperatures obviously dialed the heat back.

I've had heated seats and steering wheels in my previous 5-series for ages, but given a choice, I would rather have the steering wheel heated than the seats--much more tactile and penetrating than the seat through a heavy coat.