A/C on in cold weather

[Su33]

I have a 2008 M45x, and whenever I hit "Auto" on climate control, the A/C indicator ALWAYS comes on. Even when it is cold outside (like ~35F). I have to manually hit A/C to turn it off. Why is A/C coming on when it is cold? Is this by design for some reason or do I have a problem? Thanks.

[qship96]

Smart owners read their owners manual so they understand how to operate what they purchased. Are you smart?

[Sazar]

Oooh a loaded question. I love those

ID 10 t error perhaps :o

j/k

OP, please read the manual. It's there for a reason amigo

[SammyTheBull]

Wow! a member looking for a little help, and all he can walk away with is sarcasm.

Take a bow, people.

if your going to take the time to reply, why not help the man out?

[striz923]

The reason is that when your heat is on it can cause condensation on your windshield obstructing vision. It turns on the A/C in order to remove the moisture from the air. All cars do this now when you turn on your heat on the "defrost" position so they don't blind you while driving down the road.

[Su33]

Jeez people, calm down (thanks Sammy). I did read the manual, 4-33 to 4-35 and misinterpreted what it was saying. This forum is meant to help people, I did do my due diligence, just a simple misunderstanding. To take the time to create a post and blast someone is asinine, get a life.

Striz, I know what you are talking about with the defrost. It appears that the car does it regardless of whether you have defrost on, but for the same reason of controlling moisture. Thanks.

_________________________________________AND to save all you a-holes some time from replying:

"You're just an idiot then and need to learn how to read."
Modified by Su33 at 12:41 PM 12/8/2008

[marlin29311]

Generally speaking the auto tries to make the climate as comfortable as possible, so if it is sensing moisture in the air, it will do so. The defroster always uses it, so as to not spray the fogged up windows with more moist air. It's just the nature of a car's HVAC.

[palincal]

This is a standard behavior in most cars with automatic climate control. The A/C comes on by default. You have to turn it off manually each time you hit the auto button. Good thing is it remembers your settings from the previous start. Even if the A/C is on doesn't mean it is unnecessarily taking extra gas. The A/C will cycle at a lower rate if cooling is not required.

Also, recirculate mode automatically turns on A/C. I don't think there is a way to have A/C off in recirculate mode.