Page 1 of 1

Air Conditioning Evaporator tube

Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 3:32 am
by bmw665
I'm curious to know if anyone has experienced the following. I started to notice on hot days when having the Air conditioning on and the top down, water would start to form in the passenger floor boards. after several attempts to unclog the evaporator drain tube, I ended up located the water dripping from the evaporator box. the drain hose was not connected but the tricky and costly issue is getting it connected again. I was able to see the tube and evaporator by removing the radio. I've seen the condensation drip some into the tube and some not. this is what's causing the water on the passenger floorboards. Anyone else experience the same issue? BTW, its in the shop now looking at a dash removal to get to evaporator box. Wow

Air Conditioning Evaporator tube

Posted: Tue Sep 03, 2019 6:42 pm
by Chippie
Not had any issues myself, I recently checked that it was dripping from under the car (which it was) as I was getting a bit of a sour smell on a couple of days which I thought could be a blocked or mouldy condenser, ended up using a can of antibacterial shoe spray with the air on on recirculation which seems to have sorted it for know

Air Conditioning Evaporator tube

Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 3:54 pm
by Z4Rick
I continue to have this identical issue on my '12 35i. I have had 2 dealers tell me that the dash/console removal to get to the drain would cost between $500 and $700 shop labor....

I pull the carpet up, sit a powerful fan on the passenger side seat, and let it blow for 24 hours in the garage with the top down. Dries out the floor like a charm. 2 minute setup and close up, I save $600, only do it 2-3 times a summer, AND I found my wife's earring!

Air Conditioning Evaporator tube

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 1:37 am
by bmw665
I pulled the radio and was able to see the evaporator box that has the tube that is supposed to be connected to it but its not. the tube is maybe 1" round so not a little tube. From the dealers perspective , its not common to see this but BMW did design and replace the part from the original. I guess i'm not the lucky one. At this point its $1,700 to $2,000 to replace the $10.00 part

Air Conditioning Evaporator tube

Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 5:07 am
by bmw665
final reply to close the loop. the job is done. found that the part that takes the condensation down a tube and out by the side of transmission was the culprit as predicted. evaporator sits on the rubber tube and from the factory it was not installed corrected. also BMW has changed the part making it about an 1" longer so it seals better at the evaporator box. My mechanic was great. He had to drop the transmission a bit to get to it along with taking most of the dash out. Wow, what a job but its done.

Air Conditioning Evaporator tube

Posted: Fri Sep 20, 2019 12:40 pm
by Chippie
Glad you got it sorted, it’s one of those little time consuming jobs we can all do without

Air Conditioning Evaporator tube

Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2022 7:08 pm
by Z4Jeff
Any chance you know the part numbers for this replacement? I'm having the same thing happening in my '16 35IS. On hot days after about 25 minutes or so running the air conditioning I start to notice the passenger floorboard getting wet. I plan on pulling the radio soon and see if I can confirm the drip is occuring at the same location mentioned earlier in this thread and then decide how I want to proceed.