Firstfives.org

If you have access to R12, stay stock. If you want to use R134a, get a parallel flow condenser, they aren't expensive and the Vintage Air unit mounts easily. A new slimline fan to go with the new condenser would be good too.

At worst I'd run it with the vent open as I've done often over the years with the blower motor itself off, without any thought of A/C. On the subject of it, I wouldn't worry about not using it for a while, the swashplate compressors are pretty robust and IMO the weak link of the A/C is more the con...

According to the 1976 owner's handbook you are supposed to use the fresh air fan when the heater is in use. I assume this is so air can blow over the heater core and stop it getting too hot. As I said before, the heater on my 1976 e12 with factory a/c, still works when the a/c is on, if I want it to...

I have even seen M30s continue with a slightly stretched chain.

Good question. There do seem to be an excessive amount of part numbers on these cube relays and seemingly multiple supercession lineages. I've got these two relays in use in my fuse boxes on multiple vehicles: Bosch (black plastic case): 0 332 019 451 Bosch (orange plastic case): 0 332 019 456 Thes...

Yeah that does seem strange they would both be working at the same time. Make you wonder, is it suppose to do that? I guess it's because it's such an early car. It does cancel the heater/fresh air fan when you turn the a/c on, so I suppose it's working correctly. I haven't modified anything in this...

Let the AC and Heater battle it out. :lol: Ha, ha, it did for about 5-10 minutes :!: :lol: Seriously though it created stratified heating, warm at lower levels and cool above. I can't believe I am still getting surprised by these cars, lol. I still don't think I completely understand the car's heat...

Playing around on my 1976 car, I found the heater remained on when I turned the a/c on. It switched from the fresh air fan (firewall) to the console a/c fan, but the heater was still working. This surprised me because I thought turning the a/c on would cancel the heater completely. This is an e12 wi...

After a little delay, I took the measurements and gathered some pictures of the evaporator box I have on the shelf. It was sourced as an E12 part, but clearly came off a 11/79 633csi. It looks like the E12 evaporator and blower box does seem to check out as shared with at least some of the E24 line...

BTW, I would be happy to sell my E28 evap box, and I think it does perform better, but I also think the biggest problem is the condenser, especially, repeat, especially if you're not running R12. The other refrigerants need a substantial condenser upgrade just to get back to OE capability, let alon...

It's so neat you have US/Euro 1977 examples of the same car :!: 8) Are they both the same color by any chance :?: BMW's aim was that the 530i and Euro 528 had identical acceleration and top speed. Maybe they did, but perhaps they didn't deliver the performance in the same way :?: Not the same color...

Those things do serve a purpose. They're supposed to be tight, I have no idea whey they're two and not one thick one, but they limit engine movement on hard braking. Now you may be rolling your eyes, but on my long gone Bavaria with the same motor mounts but no bracket, it had gotten to the point w...

OK, I got out there to measure it today. I no longer have an E12 evap box on the shelf so all I can do is give the E28 numbers. Box. 10 3/8 wide at the top. 9 1/2 wide at the blower cages. As to the evaporator itself, 8" wide, the finned portion, not the tubes, about 7.5 high, difficult to mea...

Awesome work. Good to see some of these parts I used for my R134a conversion in 2006 (condenser, SPAL fan) are still available. I think I'm going to need to do the same from scratch on my Euro restoration car. The no A/C setup is pretty brutal in Texas. It's so neat you have US/Euro 1977 examples o...

The only downside is having to change the fittings on the hard lines, which probably means replacing them outright. Not the end of the world and worth doing if the E28 evap core is your only option. In terms of the evap core all e12s used the same unit from 1974 to 1981. The only change in the car ...