Why don't car heating/cooling systems shut off entirely once a temperature is reached?

[DT]

I’ll be honest: i can’t quite figure out how the damned AC/heat works on the i4 and iX. I just set it to a temperature and don’t touch it unless it’s to turn on the seat air conditioning.

I would do the same with the split controls, that's all sorted out before we leave the house The iX is used really for our once a week business jerk onsite meeting and for highway cruising down to Orlando/Keys/etc., so it's set-and-forget, we hit the road, everything pretty much stays the same - and like you, it's usually only seat (cooling/heat) controls that change and that's right there at the top level.

Honestly, I don't really use that often, I think one time on the drive up to Atlanta after a stop to charge (and I set the controls), and then the one time I had the BIL up front.

We have the immersive heating option too which is pretty fantastic, but VERY warm, hahaha, not needed to much here, but wow, it heats up the cabin so quickly.

 

[DT]

Tesla does offer fan speeds for auto (I think they added this 2-3 years ago) where you can set the fan speed to low-med-high while keeping the temp settings on auto.

Did they EVER put in an option to turn off the passenger side of the AC? JFC, that was an absurd omission. And since the vents were software controlled, you couldn't simply close them manually.

 

[Citysnaps]

And it’s why I’m worried about the next iteration of BMW’s interface - taking away even more physical controls is not going to make things easier.

Be careful... The next iteration will be using your iPhone to send a text to Munich requesting a temperature adjustment. With Munich sending a message back to your car's computer to execute the temperature change.

 

[diamond.g]

Did they EVER put in an option to turn off the passenger side of the AC? JFC, that was an absurd omission. And since the vents were software controlled, you couldn't simply close them manually.

In newer cars yeah. Annoyingly only the Y seems to auto disable the passenger side fan when no one is present in the seat.