Title edit - N280, not N360

A/C in this car is the gift that keeps on giving.

I was blessed with the leaky evaporator lottery which AoA repaired under the extended warranty in 2024. Fast-forward to 20 months later, I'm experiencing low to zero cooling.

A quick check with VCDS confirms the following:
1. System pressure with everything turned off is strong at over 9 bar with ambient temps in the 80s - normal.
2. Upon starting A/C, high side pressure drops slightly to about 8 bar instead of building up - abnormal.
3. No compressor shut-off codes, and compressor duty cycle and currents seems normal.
4. Post-evap temps are similar to ambient temps inside the car - abnormal.
5. No fault codes related to either the pressure sensor, N280 (not N360) compressor control valve or the expansion valve. I did have a fault related to the air quality/humidity sensor but I don't believe that's causing my AC to blow warm which I cleared.

A quick check with a manifold pressure gage shows that the high side pressure is only slightly higher than low side pressure with AC turned on - low side remains about 7-8 bar, while high side remains at about 8 bar - this isn't normal.

Finally, I used to hear a darth vader whisper anytime AC was running earlier this spring and AC was blowing cold. However, the AC stopped blowing cold a few days ago, and around the same time, the darth vader whisper completely disappeared. When I turn on the AC, I don't hear the whisper anymore.

What I'm diagnosing so far is that there is no leak in the system. All indications appear to point towards an expansion valve stuck open. However, there's a possibility that there's something funky with the N280 valve. Is there a way to rule out the N280 - or confirm that my issue is only the expansion valve?

Thankfully the expansion valve is accessible from the engine compartment and is relatively inexpensive but I'd like to not have to keep filling/evacuating multiple times, so trying to ascertain if I need a new N280 solenoid. Any additional tests or hints to pinpoint would be great.