1983 e-21 stuff

[johns440rr]

I Recently bought a 83 320i, always loved them ! It is missing the complete a/c system . Some previous owners thought it to be smart to rip it all out ? Need pics , leads on who carries a aftermarket system that will work .
It was bought in Ca. and is now a Az. car.
John

[m20enginebuilder]

Heres a great idea: go to a local salvage yard, and find an E21 what has been wrecked or whyever its there, rip the ENTIRE ac system out of it, and install it into your car. Itll probly be cheaper that way then aftermarket, and MAKE SURE to replace all those O-rings. They make retrofit kits for R-134A too, so when you replace the O rings replace them with ones that are compatible with R134A refrigerant. Id sell you mine out of my E30, but I havent done an AC deleat yet, and I need the electric cooling fan. Plus I also dunno if an E30 AC system would fit into an E21. But I will be doing an AC deleat in the future, coz all it is to me is deadweight that I dont want in my car. I already drained its refrigerant so i could pull the condenser to make it easier to access the front of the engine when I repaired it. Im seriously amazed with BMW ac systems, because unlike most American or even Japanese made vehicles, they DO NOT EVER leak their refrigerant. It still had all of its refrigerant in it.

[Lord Vader]

Be carefull when doing any work on the A/C system. Their under a lot of pressure and can be dangerous. The refrigerant inside is oxygen depleting so make sure you do it in a very well ventilated area.

[johns440rr]

Yeah , Thanks ! Good idea ! I have investigated those ideas already . Buying the whole
( dead ) car is way cheaper than the retro kit ! There's a few on ebay but they are on the other side of the planet, LOL ! Either that or just call a salvage yard,they only want to sell the system piece by piece. When asking for a "complete a/c system" for the 1983 320i e-21 model they say .... which part do you need ???? After asking more than once, i just hang up ! This has happened with every Junk ( salvage ) yard i've called , go figure .........

[m20enginebuilder]

You gotta go to the salvage yard and pull it yourself. Like I said, if an E30 one was compatible, and mine was completely removed, id sell you mine.

[johns440rr]

Thx !