rebattery

Are the switches on the climate controls(temp and fan) available? mine are flaking. thanks

jpg0511

mine too.

ajayabb

Apparently this is a common problem worsened with certain hand lotions and skin moisturizers

BHMav8r

I thought mine had something on them and made it worse by rubbing on them . . . DOH !

McCulla

This issue is covered on the forum pretty regularly. Switch surfaces on (I think) earlier cars (like mine, 2005) are poorly coated. The covering has a non-bond to the white plastic switch. There are all sorts of "theories" about how/why but the bottom line is that they are gone. You cannot change the switches, but have to buy the whole portion of the climate control unit that contains the switchgear. I've read estimates from $300-$600. Mine are completely unreadable in about 18 months of ownership (bought the car with 25K, now has 39.5K, and they were pristine when I took possesion) and I DON'T wear any lotion!

cvazquez

You'll need to replace the entire climate control... sorry.

sharmat

I try not to touch them that much.
I have the auto climate controls set to my liking in the PCM so at least I don't have to make frequent adjustments.

FiatCoupe

Is there a way to tell the auto not to blow to the windscreen and only blow to face and feet?

With the humidity here in Houston if I blow cold air to the windscreen I get water condensation on the outside above where the vents are which is annoying.

I'm currently setting it to manual by switching off the windscreen distribution.

yemenmocha

Black sharpie marker on the white spots?

By chance is your keyhole area worn too? Hehe... keyhole.

msh26

That's what I did..for now.

rebattery

thanks guys, mine were perfect went i bought it (2 months). I'll try the sharpie. I use no lotions---very poor for a car of the caliber!!

Mbiondo

Typical on German cars. Our VW Tourag's switches are unreadable, and my cousin's BWM X5 is flaking everywhere including the door and window switches. Not to mention door handles, too. This stuff is spray coated on white plastic-- it's not the lotion, or your skin type, or cleaning agent, etc. It's the cheap stuff in your car.

McCulla

+1 on the X5. I turned in our 08 "big block" X5 last October and all of the matte finish surfacing on the spokes of the steering wheel had peeled off. 3 yrs, 55K miles.

Typ997S

They replaced the whole unit on mine under the warranty...give it a go if you still have warranty left.

McCulla

FWIW, I tried and failed to get mine replaced under warranty.