Man, it's hot

[530iBall]

I have a '95 530i with stock R-134a AC. This is my 4th Summer and when I went to crank up the AC for relief, I was rewarded with a blast of warm air. The compressor runs which I imagined meant that I had some refridgerent otherwise the cut-off switch would have disabled the clutch so I bought a recharge kit hoping for a quick fix. Step one was to measure the pressure on the low side which indicated 80 psi which, according to the guide on the kit means, game over - go to a mechanic. Searching past articles on the board it seems that AC repair is mondo expensive. Does anyone have any suggestions?

[ThoreauHD]

Buy the part yourself with a BMW CCA discount and then bend over and kiss your .. . Ehh, well, then you get to pay for labor. Tearing apart your entire dashboard/firewall. It's exciting. The mechanic will love it.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

when you tested the low side?

Did you also check the high side?

[530iBall]

when you tested the low side?

Did you also check the high side?
I had purchased a kit which only had a low side attachment. But yes, I followed the directions: The A/C was on, the fan was on full, I checked the pressure after running with the gauge connected after 3 minutes or so.

[Blitzkrieg Bob]

have someone test the high side, then you can tell which is failing.

Expansion valve or compressor