Have you checked the coolant level?
The wheel only slightly effects the temp from the dash vents, not the floor vents.

 

Can you be more specific what you mean by no heat? It could be that the HVAC is behaving normally.

I feel a quite warm draft in the footwell for the first while after starting a trip, which then disappears. But the cabin is up to temperature and I'm not cold in spite of the lack of a noticeably warm draft. The automatic feature in the HVAC control has reduced the heated air temperature from hot to just warm (i.e. throttled back the heater core) and reduced HVAC blower speed. But the reduced heat output is sufficient to maintain cabin temp at the set point.

You can gauge the heater core temperature by rotating the red/blue dial to 3 red dots. That causes the center dash & door vents to receive 100% of its air from the heater core, with no mixing with recirc or outside air. Turning to 3 blue dots sends 100% recirc or outside air, nothing coming off the heater core. And this dial does not affect air temperature sent to the footwell or windshield.

With the HVAC set to 70F, after my HVAC has gone to maintain mode I get warm, but not hot, air out of the center dash vents on 3 red dots. Changing the set point to maximum does deliver very hot air to the dash vents.

The auxillary coolant pump is described in BMW tech docs as being necessary only when the engine is idling at low RPM. Do you notice a difference when driving with RPM at 2,000 or higher versus idling at a stop light?

BTW, it would still be worthwhile checking coolant level as JimLev suggests.

 

Gentlemen, thank you for your replies.
I didn't think to check the coolant level, the engine temperature gauge maintains in the middle. That is a good tip, I will do that later, right now it's raining badly here.
I test drove the car on the freeway yesterday by setting the temperature to 80 degrees, and ambient temperature was 60 degrees, I rolled down all windows, and I still get cold air from the vents,
not hot, not warm, but cold air. I hope is just low on coolant. Thanks again.

 

Just ran outside to the car, all washed up clean by the rain. The coolant level seems to be full, floating thing to the top.

 

What would happen if you set the auto HVAC system to regular settings instead of jacking everything up higher. Try setting the stratified air dial located in the dash's center vent in the center...and setting the IHKA control panel at a normal 68-72 degrees F...and selecting AUTO air distribution & fan speed (auto must appear in the fan speed display)...then keep the windows rolled up so that the thermistor (sensor) in the IHKA can regulate the system as designed without having to compensate for other changes or elements.

Also...make sure you don't have a hot drink in the cup holder just below the vent were the thermistor resides inside the IHKA (it's the one on the left side of the control panel).

I forgot to check your model year...but if you have the stratified air dial on the vent at the rear of the center console...then make sure it's not set into the blue, too...dial it back to the center or 1-2 dots into the red.

We know that that hot air can come from the floor vents in the summer if the stratified air dial is turned all the way into the blue...and if the dash vents are directed where extreme cold air flows down the front of the dash...and the cold air gets drawn into the IHKA...this can falsely tell the IHKA that the cabin temp is cold...thus hot air is directed out of the floor vents to compensate.

Perhaps the opposite can occur in certain situations if extreme warmed air is being drawn into the IHKA...and falsely causing the IHKA to think the cabin is warmer than the temp setting.

BTW...the cabin temp doesn't get warmer any faster by setting the temp on 90° F...all you end up doing is shooting past a comfortable setting...then you have to readjust the temp lower or open a window...when the auto system will automatically get the cabin to a comfortable temp just using the auto settings (when the system is working correctly).

If the above fails...have you unlocked your cluster? If yes, then run TEST 7 and keep an eye on your coolant temperature ( it will be in Celsius). Perhaps you have a failing thermostat in the cooling system that is not regulating properly and is opening up and not letting coolant temps rise high enough. I forget off hand what the m62 normally runs at...but this topic is discussed enough that it's been posted Manytimes before...or perhaps someone who knows will chime in with the info.

 

Good point on test 7. The gauge goes to 12 o'clock when the coolant temp hits about 75 deg C, and won't go any higher unless the engine is overheating.

 

bleed the air out of the system if you havent already... IF you did that and it still acting the same... it quite possibly the FSU FInal stage unit..

 

His original report did not mention that the blower stopped. If it does, I agree on the FSU. However, the FSU has nothing to do with the temperature of the outlet air.

 

Blower has no issue, otherwise, I'd replace the FSU first,. Engine temperature reads 110C deg, looks normal to me.

 

My car has these symptoms.

Was it ever working properly?

I experience the same loss of normal heating flow at about 25 minutes. I can feel it cross over to cool.

MY 2000 528i had been in a front end collision and the ambient temperature sensor had been removed. For me its worse, the shop must have trimmed the sensor wire at the harness. I cannot find the entry point. My display is usually -40 (missing) or sometimes +144 (short). I figure that until I find this missing input, I cannot solve this issue. In the mean time, I bring gloves and a blanket for the long rides. Also pushing the defrost override will always blow hot air for me. The car CAN heat. It doesn't want to.

Is your ambient temp display working?

 

Was it ever working properly?

I experience the same loss of normal heating flow at about 25 minutes. I can feel it cross over to cool.

MY 2000 528i had been in a front end collision and the ambient temperature sensor had been removed. For me its worse, the shop must have trimmed the sensor wire at the harness. I cannot find the entry point. My display is usually -40 (missing) or sometimes +144 (short). I figure that until I find this missing input, I cannot solve this issue. In the mean time, I bring gloves and a blanket for the long rides. Also pushing the defrost override will always blow hot air for me. The car CAN heat. It doesn't want to.

Is your ambient temp display working?

I wouldnt worry about the temp sensor. My inner wheel liner blew out and I unhooked the temp sensor (-40 on dash) and my heater works just fine until I get around to replacing my bumper and wheel liners.

 

i am having a similar issue. it is a little similar to the problem i was having when coolant was low (replaced my radiator [again] and the problem with no heat was fixed). but i generally get heat (too much heat at times and too little at other times.) in winter conditions. its a bit frustrating because i had always appreciated how good the e39 was at maintaining a comfortable cabin temp. no problem with fan so its not the FSR I gather, but correct me if i am wrong. I suppose a could bleed the coolant but would rather not if there was an easier fix.

thank you for any input.

190,000 miles on my 528iT. just checked the blue book on it as i am entering into divorce proceedings and documenting assets...and was surprised to find a value of $1500 and change. Wife's flex is holding at $26000... advantage me.

 

The outside air temp sensor will inhibit the A/C operation, and will fry the outside mirrors.

Possible that the sampling fan inside the IHKA panel is not working or is dirty.

 

i'll check that

good responses, thank you. On to the sampling fan to rule out clogging. thanks a million