[pg101]

The famous A/M on the air circulation.

I was reading and all discussions were when the AC is on.

What is the state when the AC is off? I see no indicator.. when i press the A/M it turns on but so does the AC...

In India there are months when you dont need AC, but given the pollution, i dont want air from outside to come in...

I feel that the circulation is on at this state (AC off) - air is being circulated from outside the car...

[MJE60]

Originally Posted by pg101

The famous A/M on the air circulation.

I was reading and all discussions were when the AC is on.

What is the state when the AC is off? I see no indicator.. when i press the A/M it turns on but so does the AC...

In India there are months when you dont need AC, but given the pollution, i dont want air from outside to come in...

I feel that the circulation is on at this state (AC off) - air is being circulated from outside the car...

Well, assuming you are worried about wasting energy or the cost of having the a/c running unnecessarily, the key issue here is not whether the a/c is on or off but whether the compressor is running. If the outside temperature is say 21 degrees Celsius (70F) and your a/c is set to say 23 then the compressor clutch will not be engaged. With temperature set to 21 the compressor will switch on and off intermittently. When you select air recirculation, the a/c comes on for a good reason (see below). Air will only recirculate if this is selected. I no longer have my X1 but have you tried turning “a/c auto” off and then choosing settings?

There are however several things you may wish to consider;
1. It is recommended to leave the a/c running if not all the time then regularly, this ensure that the system remains lubricated and the seals do not dry out. The worst thing you can do to a car a/c is leave it switched off for weeks at a time. You may save a small amount of fuel and therefore money by leaving the a/c off and then find you have to pay for an expensive repair.
2. The a/c not only reduces air temperature but it also reduces humidity (like water condensing on the outside of a cold glass of water). If you leave you car ventilation switched to internal circulation without a/c switched on then the internal humidity will rapidly rise. This will become uncomfortable and can allow mould and fungus to grow inside the ventilation ducts of the car. If you have a car a/c switched to recirculating then it is desirable to have it working and drying the air.
3. In the automatic position, the a/c will only switch to internal recirculating when pollution is detected. If you want it permanently on internal recirculating it needs to be switched to manual. The system will switch off air recirculation if outside air temperature is too low to minimise risk of excessive humidity (first sign is windscreen usually starts to get fogged up).

[oakey46]

I agree with MJE60's points and for info, I leave my a/c turned on all the time.
A/C systems nowadays are far more economical than in the past and have a negligible effect on fuel consumption. The prospect of having to have the system seals replaced doesn't bear thinking about!
The downside with A/C on a current European car, such as the X1 is that they have to use, courtesy of the EU Commission and its 'quest' for lower polluting cars, a more costly refrigerant. It seems not all non-franchise service centres are able to fit. My local chap told me only yesterday that he only services the older refrigerant systems because for him to use the latest stuff would cost around £5K in new equipment.
My X1 is booked in for its pre-MOT inspection (MOT Protect) in the not too distant future and the quote for the aircon service is around UK £137. The schedule is a service at 3 years and then every two years.

[pg101]

Gents,

It's not about saving money or energy.. though that's a good thing.

Sometimes you just don't need the AC.. so my question was only that if the AC is off what is the status of the circulation.. as none of the LEDs are on.

[MJE60]

Originally Posted by pg101

Gents,

It's not about saving money or energy.. though that's a good thing.

Sometimes you just don't need the AC.. so my question was only that if the AC is off what is the status of the circulation.. as none of the LEDs are on.

If the A/M LEDs are off then there is no cabin air recirculation.

[oakey46]

Originally Posted by pg101

Gents,

It's not about saving money or energy.. though that's a good thing.

Sometimes you just don't need the AC.. so my question was only that if the AC is off what is the status of the circulation.. as none of the LEDs are on.

Just to clarify, I leave my aircon on all the time, simply adjusting the temperature setting as I feel appropriate for the time of year.
Whilst accepting you can have very high temperatures and humidity levels in many areas of India (seeing the cricket from Chennai today where the outside temp was c31c and there was very high humidity), the system (at least here in the UK) has the facility to automatically enter recirculation mode, detecting pollutants in the outside air and automatically shutting off the supply of outside air and the interior is recirculated. The downside is that continuous recirculated-air mode deteriorates the air quality in the interior and condensation on the windows increases. So, I suppose, at the end of the day its a case of taking a balanced view on what suits you.
The auto aircon LED will remain lit throughout the process, because it is utilising the 'controlled' facility to auto cut-off the external air supply when necessary.
Apologies if that's a clumsy way of explaining it, as I see it, but hope its of help.

[pg101]

Thanks guys..

Makes sense..

Also, coming from the old habit of turning the AC off before turning the ignition off.. as the old myth - it improves the life of the AC/Car..

Is that required now.. or i can just leave the AC on without worrying about turning it On/Off on start and stop?

[ttimbo]

No need to switch off modern a/c systems — they're smart and decouple when required. And, as others have said, best to leave it on all the time. That stops any bacteria build up due to humidity in the air channels

[Fredro]

I’ve been leaving the AC on at all times, even in the winter. When I try to leave the recirculation on M, it eventually switches to A. This normal?

Or is it best to leave recirculating “off”.

[Paco II]

I am curious, did you read something to indicate that there is a connection between AC and the recirc mode? With other cars, it has nothing to do with AC, just whether or not outside air is allowed in or not. The BMW manual seems to also indicate it is simply about letting outside air in or not, unrelated to the state of the AC. It is interesting to know that recirc mode will be auto switched off based on outside temps. I've learned another new thing!

"LEDs off: outside air flows in continuously.
▷ Left LED on, automatic recirculated-air con‐ trol: a sensor detects pollutants in the outside air and shuts off automatically.
▷ Right LED on, recirculated-air mode: the sup‐ ply of outside air into the vehicle is permanently blocked.
Recirculated-air mode switches off automatically at low external temperatures after a certain amount of time in order to avoid window fogging.
If the windows are fogged over, switch off the re‐ circulated-air mode and press the AUTO button to utilize the condensation sensor. Make sure that air can flow to the windshield."

Originally Posted by pg101

The famous A/M on the air circulation.

I was reading and all discussions were when the AC is on.

What is the state when the AC is off? I see no indicator.. when i press the A/M it turns on but so does the AC...

In India there are months when you dont need AC, but given the pollution, i dont want air from outside to come in...

I feel that the circulation is on at this state (AC off) - air is being circulated from outside the car...

[pg101]

Originally Posted by Paco II

I am curious, did you read something to indicate that there is a connection between AC and the recirc mode? With other cars, it has nothing to do with AC, just whether or not outside air is allowed in or not. The BMW manual seems to also indicate it is simply about letting outside air in or not, unrelated to the state of the AC. It is interesting to know that recirc mode will be auto switched off based on outside temps. I've learned another new thing!

"LEDs off: outside air flows in continuously.
▷ Left LED on, automatic recirculated-air con‐ trol: a sensor detects pollutants in the outside air and shuts off automatically.
▷ Right LED on, recirculated-air mode: the sup‐ ply of outside air into the vehicle is permanently blocked.
Recirculated-air mode switches off automatically at low external temperatures after a certain amount of time in order to avoid window fogging.
If the windows are fogged over, switch off the re‐ circulated-air mode and press the AUTO button to utilize the condensation sensor. Make sure that air can flow to the windshield."

That's a bummer - i was hoping that if the AC if off, there is no outside air circulation.. just like the old cars.. you could keep the circulation off at all times..