First day using the heater, but heater only blowing warm/cold air on max

Hi all,

As the title suggests, today is probably the first day of the year that the heater of my 330Ci has been used. Before I bought it, it had been garage-kept as winter started. My heater, however, did not blow any hot air for a while. It got a bit warm in the center two vents but the drivers side vent remained cold. I also turned it off for about five minutes, and turned it back on to the same results.

I also noticed that upon acceleration on the highway, the center vent air flow went a bit cold as well.

Here is some further information,
-The car has about 96,000 miles on it, I have put on about 4000 since I bought it in June.
-I had the AC gas recharged in June.
-Recently, whenever I would turn on and off the a/c maybe a few weeks ago, I noticed a slight crackling noice, like paper unfolding near the front where the windshield is around. I don't suppose that is too much.
-When I turned on the heater, I had it at max 91 degrees, gradually increasing fan speed. Is it bad that I immediately went to 91?
-On the highway, when I noticed the center vents go cold, I was accelerating from about 40 to 55mph.

I can only assume the heater works well, since the car lived most of its life in Toronto. Any help and/or input would be greatly appreciated!

I believe the e46 has a temperature knob like this one. Do you have it set to red ?

Attachment 35890

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Originally Posted by fredo

I believe the e46 has a temperature knob like this one. Do you have it set to red ?

Attachment 35890

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Okay yeah feeling like a total idiot now. Does it also affect the drivers' side temperature too?

mine looks like this... with the dial set to blue (cold)

What’s your engine temp running at??? It should be mid range. If it’s low you need a new thermostat. If it’s mid, it may be related to a heater control valve.

Also need to check coolant level (COLD) and if it shows low, fill it and maybe bleed it.

I can elaborate, if needed.


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Thank you everyone, but it turns out I didn't have the center temperature knob moved at all. I guess this is what happens when you've never had that in a car.

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Originally Posted by Dano516

Thank you everyone, but it turns out I didn't have the center temperature knob moved at all. I guess this is what happens when you've never had that in a car.

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All good - happens to everyone at some point. The Germans put that in so you can have warm air coming out of the floor to keep the cabin warm while cool air is blowing in your face to keep you alert. It's pretty nice.

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Originally Posted by Dano516

-When I turned on the heater, I had it at max 91 degrees, gradually increasing fan speed. Is it bad that I immediately went to 91?

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It shouldn't make a difference, when used like that. But you should set it to the temperature you want to get when using the auto setting. I keep mine at 60 for the winter.

There is no need to set it to 91. Set it to a temperature you would feel comfortable with (ex: 70) and it'll automatically blow whatever temperature air and at whatever fan speed it needs to in order to reach that temperature and keep it there.

Adjust whether you want it to blow hot or cold air with the slider instead. It's far easier than constantly adjusting the temperature.

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Originally Posted by holyc0w

It shouldn't make a difference, when used like that. But you should set it to the temperature you want to get when using the auto setting. I keep mine at 60 for the winter.

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Effing yeti over here gd

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