[phiber]

I might have written about the problems I'm having with heating in my i30 during winter. The engine takes a lot longer to warm up than when it was 2 years old. I remember there was a noticable time difference between year 3 and 4 in how long it takes for the engine to warm up and to start heating.
I've heard from a BMW servicing technician that is might be due to a thermostat on the air conditioning heat exchanger (dryer). After googling I found a couple of photos for NRF 35963 which is the OEM ref number part.
Attached is the photo of the heat exchanger and what looks like the thermostat.

Is he right? Where is this heat exchanger actually located?

Imgur: The magic of the Internet

[tw2005]

How does that make sense? Are you running the A/C when you want heat? Even so the thermostat for an A/C system is going to be inside the car, or at least that's what I think.

Where your arrow is is where the AC lines connect

A sticky coolant thermostat however would make sense and cause this if stuck open or not functioning correctly. Stuck closed and the motor would be overheating.

1.6HP, what's that? High Power 1.6 CRDi?

[sundiz]

Known issue with german cars. Older mercs suffer from this also. Those cars have two thermostats and the smaller fails causing the engine not to heat up. But as this is not german car, I would start with the "normal" thermostat and see if it would fix the issue.

[nzenigma]

Attached is the photo of the heat exchanger and what looks like the thermostat.

Is he right? Where is this heat exchanger actually located?

First you need to open i30 bonnet, then exercise  neck muscles ( made useless by constant love affair with your screen).

You will find this component (called a condensor) in front of the radiator. It , its self, is totally inert.  but it does function as a heat exchanger as does the one behind your home refrigerator.

[phiber]

First of all, thank you all for joining this thread and helping out!

How does that make sense? Are you running the A/C when you want heat?

It's always ON, summer or winter. The dryer doesn't work (and the windows get foggy) if the A/C is off.

Even so the thermostat for an A/C system is going to be inside the car, or at least that's what I think.

Based on the overall tonality of your reply one might think you're an expert and have the schematics of the entire car in your head.
Nevertheless, If you do have a link to the schematics please share.

Where your arrow is is where the AC lines connect

And as you can see there's something that looks like a separate piece on top..[/quote]

A sticky coolant thermostat however would make sense and cause this if stuck open or not functioning correctly. Stuck closed and the motor would be overheating.

1.6HP, what's that? High Power 1.6 CRDi?

Nope, a petrol. ~130 HP, it was sold for a limited time just before the European factory in CZ started producing it. Mine was built in Korea AFAIK.
A friend of mine who bought a 2009 CRDi version with accessories just before the satnav says my i30 has probably the best suspension and better feel of the interior than any i30 version he had driven. I've driven a few younger models and I agree even though I can't be super objective as he can.[/quote]

You will find this component (called a condensor) in front of the radiator.

OK will check now. It's raining outside, good thing I built the carport when I bought the car (shamefull boast)

Known issue with german cars. Older mercs suffer from this also.

Yup the BMW tehnician said the dryer will be inside the cabin underneath the console. Please don't tell me I'm gonna have to take the console out! (there's a factory error with the console - a bump which looks like the console wasn't glued properly and which was never taken care of by the dealership)

[tw2005]

Quote from: tw2005
Where your arrow is is where the AC lines connect
And as you can see there's something that looks like a separate piece on top..[/quote]

That'd be a blanking plate to kept debris out until it's fitted to the car I would think.

so what exactly do you need then? I'm assuming Dryer = heater and you run the A/c to dehumidify the air since the heater does not work.

so we need heat and the car is slow to warm up.

I can only think faulty thermostat for the slow warm up, as for the heater core it has flow all the time but there's a flap in the  HVAC unit that is operated by a stepper motor . That directs the air flow through the core when you want heat. If that's stuck or failed then it could be stuck in the cool position so there's a few things to check. Heater core also could be blocked but there's definitely no thermostat or anything on that condenser that will have any bearing on the lack of heat inside.





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Not real sure about this item

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Exploded view of the AC lines , you can see what goes to that point you highlight, 2 hoses

[phiber]

Wow!!!!!!!
Thank you soooo much. This will help debug this problem. I'll study this a bit later today and reply then.

[nzenigma]

 "I'm assuming Dryer = heater and you run the A/c to dehumidify the air since the heater does not work.

so we need heat and the car is slow to warm up."

phiber is quite right, in the winter , A/c  clears misted windows almost immediately. works with heater on too.

[nzenigma]

But you two seem to be going off on a tangent.

The problem is "The engine takes a lot longer to warm up than when it was 2 years old."

The most obvious unit to check is the engine's thermostat. Pull it out, I bet its stuck in the open position.

[tw2005]

But you two seem to be going off on a tangent.

The problem is "The engine takes a lot longer to warm up than when it was 2 years old."

The most obvious unit to check is the engine's thermostat. Pull it out, I bet its stuck in the open position.

you must be speed reading again 

[nzenigma]

But you two seem to be going off on a tangent.

The problem is "The engine takes a lot longer to warm up than when it was 2 years old."

The most obvious unit to check is the engine's thermostat. Pull it out, I bet its stuck in the open position.

you must be speed reading again 

Yes mate I was speed reading all the irrelevant   stuff about A/C. and Heater cores.

It will just confuse the OP. A/c operation has no bearing on i30 engine temperature.

This will help debug this problem. I'll study this a bit later today and reply then.

[sundiz]

Known issue with german cars. Older mercs suffer from this also.

Yup the BMW tehnician said the dryer will be inside the cabin underneath the console. Please don't tell me I'm gonna have to take the console out! (there's a factory error with the console - a bump which looks like the console wasn't glued properly and which was never taken care of by the dealership)

It is a coolant thermostat. As mentionet previously: Forget the AC. You had issue with colder engine. First thing would be to change the coolant thermostat. I do not know about BMWs but every other car I have seen the thermostat(s) are under the bonnet.