BMW X7 Climate Control Failure, Sensors or Something Else?

Hey there! I have some experience working on cars, and this sounds familiar. I had a similar issue with my 2019 BMW X5 last winter. The climate control went haywire, and initially, I thought it was something major. Took it to my regular workshop, and turns out it was just a loose connection in the wiring harness that connects to the climate control module. The technician found that one of the plugs wasn't properly seated, causing intermittent failures. The fix was pretty straightforward, they had to reconnect and secure the wiring properly. Cost me 95 Euro for the diagnostic and repair work. Before jumping to conclusions about the solar sensor, could you share: Are you getting any specific error messages? Does this happen all the time or intermittently? Have you noticed any other electrical issues? This could help narrow down if you're dealing with the same problem I had. These BMWs can be tricky with electrical gremlins!

Thanks for sharing your experience! I'm at 136672 KM and just had my service last month. Actually, I am getting an intermittent "Climate Control System Malfunction" message on the iDrive screen. It's pretty unusual, sometimes works fine for days, then acts up for hours. No other electrical issues that I've noticed so far. I really hope it's just a loose connection like in your case. That would definitely be better than replacing the solar sensor or the entire control module. I'll get it checked out by my mechanic this week. Good to know it might not be as complicated as I initially thought!

Hey again! Thanks for the additional info about your X7. After you mentioned the intermittent "Climate Control System Malfunction" message, I'm even more convinced it's similar to what I experienced with my X5. You know what's interesting, my issue also started showing up out of nowhere just like yours, and I was at around 130,000 KM when it happened. The timing after your recent service makes me wonder if maybe something got knocked loose during the maintenance work. That's exactly what happened in my case, turned out the technician accidentally didn't fully secure a connector while doing something else. Just a heads up, when my mechanic fixed the loose connection, they also cleaned the connectors with electrical contact cleaner because there was a bit of oxidation building up. Might be worth asking your mechanic to check that too. The whole job was really simple, took them less than an hour. The intermittent nature of the problem is actually a good sign, usually means it's connection-related rather than a failed sensor or module. Much easier on the wallet! Let us know what your mechanic finds. I'm curious to see if it's the same issue.

Thanks so much for the detailed follow-up! That's really reassuring to hear, especially about the similarity with the mileage and symptoms. You're probably right about something getting disturbed during the service, I didn't even think about that connection. I've just called my mechanic and managed to get an appointment for tomorrow morning. I mentioned what you said about the loose connections and contact cleaning, and he agreed it's worth checking first before jumping to more expensive repairs. It's such a relief to know this might be a simple fix! Really appreciate you taking the time to share your experience, it's helped calm my nerves about potentially needing major repairs. I'll definitely update the thread once I get it sorted. Thanks again for all the helpful advice!