General Car Conversation
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 8,364
Likes: 346
From: Las Vegas
Test drove a 2019 540i yesterday. Pretty nice car, drove really well, looked nice.
Issue that may be a dealbreaker for me: The air conditioning, while it blows cold, blows weak as hell. I drove this car for 30 minutes and never felt like it got cold enough inside the cabin. Granted, it was about 115 and the car was black with a black interior, but I had heard disappointing remarks about the G30's A/C and that was confirmed for me yesterday. My back was thoroughly drenched when I got back to the dealer.
Issue that may be a dealbreaker for me: The air conditioning, while it blows cold, blows weak as hell. I drove this car for 30 minutes and never felt like it got cold enough inside the cabin. Granted, it was about 115 and the car was black with a black interior, but I had heard disappointing remarks about the G30's A/C and that was confirmed for me yesterday. My back was thoroughly drenched when I got back to the dealer.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,524
Likes: 265
From: Illinois
Test drove a 2019 540i yesterday. Pretty nice car, drove really well, looked nice.
Issue that may be a dealbreaker for me: The air conditioning, while it blows cold, blows weak as hell. I drove this car for 30 minutes and never felt like it got cold enough inside the cabin. Granted, it was about 115 and the car was black with a black interior, but I had heard disappointing remarks about the G30's A/C and that was confirmed for me yesterday. My back was thoroughly drenched when I got back to the dealer.
Issue that may be a dealbreaker for me: The air conditioning, while it blows cold, blows weak as hell. I drove this car for 30 minutes and never felt like it got cold enough inside the cabin. Granted, it was about 115 and the car was black with a black interior, but I had heard disappointing remarks about the G30's A/C and that was confirmed for me yesterday. My back was thoroughly drenched when I got back to the dealer.
PS, you can manually raise the blower speed if the Auto setting isn't adequate.
Last edited by LexBob2; Jul 16, 2023 at 03:00 PM.
Lexus Test Driver
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 8,364
Likes: 346
From: Las Vegas
It did not. I've found that very few of them have ventilated seats. If I do decide to buy one, I'll hold out until i can test drive one with vented seats.
Lexus Fanatic
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 94,328
Likes: 236
From: Virginia/D.C. suburbs
Lexus Champion
Joined: Oct 2019
Posts: 18,096
Likes: 1,740
From: Ohio
Yeah GM and Lexus have killer AC, the euro brands are all over the place car to car but the flagships all generally outclass everything else no matter the brand. The S class in particular has some very effective cooling and the fan CFM is crazy even for the class of car it is.
I like how silent Lexus sets up their flagships though, very very unobtrusive and nearly imperceptible. My Audis are stupid loud by comparison but vs anything outside of their class they are very quiet.
The best I've experienced though is the VW Phaeton, it's silent and zero felt air movement.
I like how silent Lexus sets up their flagships though, very very unobtrusive and nearly imperceptible. My Audis are stupid loud by comparison but vs anything outside of their class they are very quiet.
The best I've experienced though is the VW Phaeton, it's silent and zero felt air movement.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 12,524
Likes: 265
From: Illinois
These days manufacturers design cars and systems, HVAC included, that have to operate in different climates and conditions worldwide. The German brands like Audi, Mercedes, BMW etc. design their HVAC systems to operate efficiently outside of their home market.
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Lexus Champion
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 17,021
Likes: 496
From: Knoxville, TN
Yeah GM and Lexus have killer AC, the euro brands are all over the place car to car but the flagships all generally outclass everything else no matter the brand. The S class in particular has some very effective cooling and the fan CFM is crazy even for the class of car it is.
I like how silent Lexus sets up their flagships though, very very unobtrusive and nearly imperceptible. My Audis are stupid loud by comparison but vs anything outside of their class they are very quiet.
The best I've experienced though is the VW Phaeton, it's silent and zero felt air movement.
I like how silent Lexus sets up their flagships though, very very unobtrusive and nearly imperceptible. My Audis are stupid loud by comparison but vs anything outside of their class they are very quiet.
The best I've experienced though is the VW Phaeton, it's silent and zero felt air movement.
Lexus Champion
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 17,021
Likes: 496
From: Knoxville, TN
Instructor
Joined: Nov 2021
Posts: 1,182
Likes: 89
From: Coarsegold, CA
I’m heading to SoCal tomorrow to visit my daughter in Oxnard. Back on Wednesday. She lives about a mile from the beach. Until I get almost there, over 200 miles, the ambient temps will be in triple digits everywhere. This will be a good test as the A/C will be on the whole time in the flats and up and over the Grapevine.
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 882
Likes: 11
From: TN
On my GS 350 the fan is loud on the highest speed. And it doesn’t blow as fast as I would like when it’s 100 degrees out.
And that’s crazy that you’re having trouble finding a 5 series with ventilated seats, practically every GS made after 2005 had that feature. They should be common equipment on that class of vehicle by now. I have no interest in owning a vehicle without them now.
And that’s crazy that you’re having trouble finding a 5 series with ventilated seats, practically every GS made after 2005 had that feature. They should be common equipment on that class of vehicle by now. I have no interest in owning a vehicle without them now.
