No cold air apart from on low - with this tropical heatwave we're having in the uk that must be hard
Anyway - sounds like a strange one - I could understand if no cold air whatsoever - but still getting cold air on low seems strange.
If all functions as normal on low setting - might be worth checking the refrigerant pressure/quantities as if this is low it could be causing this problem - and would get progressively worse - as presumably there is a slow leak somewhere in the system. Not an easy task to do without spending some cash however - Kwik Fit recharge and lower your vent temp by 10% or money back (£44.95)- use same equipment as the dealer. Or Halfords - for the re-charge DIY gizmo with a pressure gauge - (£39.99 + FOC air con cleaner 'bomb'). This would be my first port of call.
Although you could always do a temperature test with a thermometer in the vent. Run the car, put air con on low and full fan - run for a few mins to let cool down. Stick a thermometer into one dash vent and shut the other three. Leave for a few minutes and check thermometer. If all is well with refrigerant should read somewhere between 6 and 10 degrees C. If not I would suggest leaving for a while longer and checking again if reading significantly higher than this - but still cool - suspect refrigerant levels. If reading nearer external temperature suspect more major fault.
Possibly next place to visit might be the interior temperature sensor (that is what is behind the circular grille on the climate control panel) at a guess if this is wonky then will be feeding wrong info to the climate control system with regards temperature in the cabin - so if you set to 20 and a wonky temperature sensor reads this as 14 it will heat up the air and spit it out. On low you are overiding the sensor which may explain why it works. - Hmm just convinced myself that this is more likely. Probably a trip to your dealer to get that checked out though. Good news is that I think this is a replaceable part and not part of the overall panel. Have alook on
RealOEM.com Online BMW Parts Catalog (online parts catalogue).There are also a couple of temp sensors in the heater housing which may cause similar problems (again replaceable). Only way for sure is the dealer running a diagnostic check and finding the fault codes.
Just some ideas - and I'm no expert - although have just retrofitted the climate to my previously non-aircon car - so have a good idea of how the mini system goes together/operates.
Hope this helps.
Oh yeah and when you find the solution - make sure you let us all know.
