Hello everyone
I have been struggling to find accurate information on how to remove the aircon condenser on the Z3 haven't seen many guides as aircon is not a very common option and people are not normally DIYing this I guess. (sorry no photos but I reckon once you have the info is pretty easy to do)
My plan was to do all the mechanical work myself then get it vacuumed and recharged professionally
A few facts I could get straight at least for my particular car, I guess most facelift if not all z3s will be the same but be aware your car might be different
- Your regular viscous fan, fan shroud and coolant radiator and radiator under tray wilk need to come off, you might be able to remove the condenser just by loosening those bits but it will be a bear of of a job.
- Once you have all those bits off (plenty of info here or other places online) then the aircon condenser comes off between the slam panel and the engine but crucially you need to to remove the 4 bolts that attach the aircon electric fan to the condenser from the other side between the bumper and the slam panel. It's tight access but you can remove them with a small ratchet and some patience.
- The aircon condenser has 6 bolts that need removing two at the top on the slam panel 4 that you need to remove from the front of the car that hold the electric fan shroud and the aircon condenser together. The electric fan does not need to come off just detach it from the condenser.
-Once you remove all the bolts disconnect the refrigerant lines from underneath they are on the driver side, that's why you removed the undertray, you want to do this last on removal and the first on reassembly to avoid contamination or the lines by debris , clean the pipe ends change the o rings and put them back on the new condenser.
The rest is reverse of removal
I have been struggling to find accurate information on how to remove the aircon condenser on the Z3 haven't seen many guides as aircon is not a very common option and people are not normally DIYing this I guess. (sorry no photos but I reckon once you have the info is pretty easy to do)
My plan was to do all the mechanical work myself then get it vacuumed and recharged professionally
A few facts I could get straight at least for my particular car, I guess most facelift if not all z3s will be the same but be aware your car might be different
- Your regular viscous fan, fan shroud and coolant radiator and radiator under tray wilk need to come off, you might be able to remove the condenser just by loosening those bits but it will be a bear of of a job.
- Once you have all those bits off (plenty of info here or other places online) then the aircon condenser comes off between the slam panel and the engine but crucially you need to to remove the 4 bolts that attach the aircon electric fan to the condenser from the other side between the bumper and the slam panel. It's tight access but you can remove them with a small ratchet and some patience.
- The aircon condenser has 6 bolts that need removing two at the top on the slam panel 4 that you need to remove from the front of the car that hold the electric fan shroud and the aircon condenser together. The electric fan does not need to come off just detach it from the condenser.
-Once you remove all the bolts disconnect the refrigerant lines from underneath they are on the driver side, that's why you removed the undertray, you want to do this last on removal and the first on reassembly to avoid contamination or the lines by debris , clean the pipe ends change the o rings and put them back on the new condenser.
The rest is reverse of removal
