BMWho?

Even though I've read through the manual, I'm still confused about how the blue/red temperature dial just below the center vent interacts with the climate control feature.

I get the idea behind climate control pretty well, so what's the purpose of the blue/red temperature dial? From fiddling with it, it seems to regulate the flow of hot vs. cold air...but then again, that's what climate control is supposed to, er, "control."

thoughts?

ttuling

The center vent can blow air from before and/or after the heater cores. It's ducted to get air from both the left and right heater cores.

I haven't noticed the thumbwheel making much difference in summer, but when the heater's running you can get cooler air from the center vent than is going to your feet, which is always taken from after the heater core.

Although in my 2001 at least, it won't let cool air out the center vent in winter until it thinks the cabin is thoroughly warmed up, which is wrong and irritating -- I have the thumbwheel all the way over to cold yet some arrogant engineer thinks he knows better and that I really want hot air out of the vent. Probably he was promoted to the engine coolant thermostat location team in time to work on the 5V engine.

Tom