Aircon Gas question

[karl1171]

I'm continuing to search for a 525 with aircon and sunroof in the uk, in fact I foolishly let one go due to a steering box issue, but I digress...

I was wondering if or when the type of gas changed on the e34's aircon system.

I've heard it referred to in different ways, eg. non-freon/R12/R134 but I'm unsure what the difference is.

The main concern is if I find a car which needs the aircon regassing (as many tend to), am i likely to require an expensive upgrade to the system to allow it to comply with modern standards?

Thanks

[bjl4776]

I think 92 was the last year of R12, at least in the US anyways. The new refriferant is R-134a. In the states, R12 costs 10x or more the amount of R-134a because technically it is illegal. Anything else that you here about is bad and is not what the car was designed for. They sell frozone and other crap refrigerants at auto parts stores, but can lead to costly repairs later because shops won't damage there equipment removing it, so they will replace everything..