BMW 1 Series Climate Control Failure, Sensor Issues?

Hi there! I have some experience working on BMWs and had a similar issue with my 2013 BMW 3 Series diesel (also worked on a few 5 Series). The symptoms you're describing sound exactly like what I dealt with. In my case, it turned out to be a faulty wiring connection to the climate control module. The workshop found that the plug connector had developed a poor contact over time. They had to remove the center console to access it, clean the connections, and secure the plug properly. Total cost was around 95 Euro for the repair. Before you take it in though, could you share if you notice any other electrical issues? Also, what kind of error messages are you seeing specifically on the display? This would help determine if it's the same problem I had. Let me know those details, and I might be able to point you in the right direction!

Thanks for the detailed response! My car has 175218 KM and just had its service last month actually. No other electrical issues that I've noticed, everything else works fine. The error message just shows "AC Malfunction" on the display, and sometimes it flickers before showing the message. The temperature controls are completely unresponsive when I try to adjust them. I'll definitely have the workshop check the wiring connections you mentioned. Really hoping it's just a connection issue like yours and not something more serious with the module itself. Was the repair pretty quick in your case?

Hey again! Thanks for those extra details. Yeah, that flickering display and "AC Malfunction" message sounds really familiar, exactly what my 3 Series was doing before I got it fixed. And interesting that yours has similar mileage, mine was at about 165,000 KM when this happened. The repair on mine was actually pretty quick once they identified the issue, took about 2 hours total. The most time-consuming part was accessing the wiring behind the center console. The fact that you're not having any other electrical issues is actually good news, makes it more likely to be just the connection problem rather than a full module failure. One thing I noticed before taking mine in, sometimes if I pushed slightly on the center console trim near the climate controls, the display would temporarily work normally. If you notice anything like that, it's another sign pointing to the loose connection issue. Just keep in mind that while my repair was straightforward, these BMWs can sometimes surprise you. But given how similar your symptoms are to what I experienced, I'd put money on it being the same wiring issue. Hope this helps give you some direction! Let me know how it goes after you get it checked out, always good to know how these things turn out.

Thanks so much for all that information! That's really interesting about pushing on the center console, I just tried it and noticed the display actually did flicker differently when I pressed near the controls! I feel much more confident now about what might be wrong. I've scheduled an appointment with my workshop for next week. They quoted me about 2-3 hours of labor time, which matches what you mentioned. It's such a relief to hear this might just be a wiring issue rather than having to replace the entire module. Really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience in such detail. Will definitely update the thread once I get it fixed, might help someone else with the same problem down the line!