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My (our) 2017 X5 sDrive 3.5 (Space Gray Metallic / Black Dakota) (build date 05/01/2017) had me quite concerned in the last couple of weeks with poor AC performance unless using the MAX setting. The airflow was very low and unable to keep up with the 90*+ (heat index well over 100*) days we've had lately.
Living in South Florida makes this a BIG deal. Additionally, my wife (it's her car) is sensitive to certain sounds, including blower noises such as an AC unit in a car or home. So she immediately began complaining about the system not cooling sufficiently and not wanting to use the MAX setting because the blower is too loud.
I began researching here and got a pit in my stomach reading the many complaints of poor AC cooling. I was beginning to dread having leased this vehicle.
Yesterday (8/6/17), we took a drive (about 100 miles) to run some errands, so I planned ahead a bit and decided to experiment by turning off the rear seat climate control (as suggested in several threads) to see if this would have an impact. I started the vehicle, set the AC for AUTO at 68* and made sure that the SYNC was NOT set.
As I was removing the sunshade, the fan began blowing. I was expecting the (so far) paltry flow of air, nowhere near enough to cool the big interior on a 94* day. Lo & behold, the fan slowly kicked into high gear as our previous cars (2013 Volvo S-60 & XC-60) normally would. WOW! Pleasant surprise!
At this point, I've done nothing at all in settings. I figure that I'll continue with my experiment and disable the rear climate control, although this is not ideal nor logical. I would think that it would contribute significantly to cooling the rear of the car. but who knows. I did note that there is a definite boost in air volume in the front a few moments after disabling the rear AC. Not Earth-shattering, but noticeable.
After driving just a short while without MAX enabled, the car began cooling as I would expect it to...slowly but surely there was a cooling trend going on. Throughout the 4 stops, 70% highway traffic at ~80 mph (not an admission of guilt!) and 30% city driving, the interior was cooling. Again, this was a mostly sunny South Florida day with temps between 89* and 94* with strong sun.
For now, I'll keep the rear AC off and we'll see how it goes.
I'm going to keep checking on this thread and will continue to report back with any changes or additional findings.
I'd like to express a debt of gratitude to those that have posted, especially if you're experiencing unsatisfactory cooling.
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