Air con barely works - ideas?

[pingu]

My air con barely works - it cools the air but not by as much as it did a year or two ago. I presume that the refrigerant is low, and that the refrigerant has gradually leaked out during the last 14 years.

If I get my Indy to recharge the refrigerant, will the refrigerant probably leak straight out again (in which case I guess some sort of seal needs fixing) or will the refrigerant probably take another 14 years to leak out (which is fine - far longer than I expect to keep the car) ?

[Sidney Rough-Diamond]

See thread from a few days back http://www.bimmer.info/forum/showthread.php?t=34411

[Miro]

another possibility while your at it is the ac air-cabin filter located on left of passenger side foot well.

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=802205

[EricB]

I +1 the change cabin filter idea.

I have no idea how old the filter was on my car that I just bought used, but wow..
It looked like it had a layer of roofing tar on it.

The fan was blowing like crazy, I could hear it.. but the air just sorta trickled out of the vents.

300% better after the filter swap.

It was, however, a project that took me 2 hours.
Next time, it'll take me about 30 mins.