The Detailed E30 R-134a Conversion Thread/DIY

[dothadance]

good stuff man, so the Parts Required is the bare minimum of... parts required?

Great write up jt. U a pretty fart smeller

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what?

[mbonanni]

Can you tell visually if your system has been converted?

When Danny took a quick look under my hood, he told me that it was convert to r134a.

[glucklich21]

He saw R-134 fittings I'm sure. To see if it's a true conversion you need to look at the pressure switch and expansion valve. Both should have R-134a written on them.

[jrobie79]

Parts Required for Conversion:

R134a Expansion valve (can be used with R-12)- PN 12 68 300 384

seems like your part number is short one digit. any idea what it is

[glucklich21]

seems like your part number is short one digit. any idea what it is

That must be an AutohausAZ PN then. Try the BMW one: 64511466259

[CorvallisBMW]

Great write up. Should be stickied.

Agreed! Done.

[jrobie79]

That must be an AutohausAZ PN then. Try the BMW one: 64511466259

thank you sir! :up::up:

[glucklich21]

Agreed! Done.

Sweet!

thank you sir! :up::up:

No problem.

[MaksV]

If you are a boss and have a M50 this is what you are looking @

Orings, dryer, new condenser to drier line, expansion valve, oil, ect = $130
New Compressor = $225
Condenser = $97
Custom Lines = $200
Evac and Fill + moving red fill to safe location = $177.47

Total = $830

Mine got down to about 38* just idleing. Will get a thermometer and measure how low it can go at speed.

Current issues:

Lack of o2 sensor is fucking with idle causign car to stall sometimes.
Nissin Parallel FLow doesnt bolt up quite right so it flexes causing the fan to hit sometimes. One well placed screw will take care of this - using the stock fan

[glucklich21]

Keep track of your temps for a week so we have some more data. :)

[glucklich21]

Updated the document hosting.

[Vtec?lol]

I'm doing this once I pick up the hard top.

[assblaster]

Any luck on that r-13 compressor? The old r12 I have still spins but throwing out coolant so im stuck on replacing it. Great write up btw its 94 out today and this is just the thread I needed to see.

[glucklich21]

No waiting on Maks to give me some data. 4 bangers can get new compressors for under $200, M20s not so easily. As we've found looking for one for a buddy your only real option is a rebuilt one and that doesn't really solve the design problem. Give me some more time and I'll see what I can find.

[Threehz]

Perfect write-up and just in time as everyone has been saying. We hit 110 degrees today and my pregnant girlfriend has not been enjoying the AC-less bimmer lately!

Just to note to the people asking why do this conversion. I quoted a few local shops for recharging my AC system with R-12, the cost ranged from 180$ to 270$ not including extra fees for disposal and all that nonsense. All the required parts for this sans the 8oz can of oil costs 187$ (sourced through AutoHausAZ), and you know that you can easily recharge the system yourself in the future for a minimal cost, as well as have it serviced at a shop for a fraction of the cost of an R-12 system.

Ordered all the parts today, aside from a new electric fan and evaporator.

Do you have any idea what the CFM of a stock aux fan on a '91 318is is?

If all goes well, I'll hopefully have the conversion done by the end of next week and I will give some temperature reports and such.

Thanks for the write-up!