Believe it or not the AC in my 1986 745 with 210K on the clock still works with the original compressor, evaporator/drier and R-12 coolant. That said, the compressor has been making quite a racket lately. It rattles when the clutch engages and squeaks just about all the time. Sounds like the compressor is about to self destruct. Trouble is, it still works and cools the car pretty well.

Judging from the noise, I'm nearing the end of the life of this AC system and am planning for a refit to 134. I'd appreciate some tips from fellow 745 owners about sources of AC parts and some advice about whether to bite the bullet and replace everything at once or go at it piece by piece, i.e., wait till individual components break and then fix it. I'll probably have my trusted independent mechanic do the work and would appreciate some thoughts about how much to budget for a 134 conversion.


Thanks