u/kemosabe6296

I’m not talking about BBKs, I found some 296mm aftermarket front rotor—which is a direct replacement for 525i and below. The interesting part is they do have drilled or slotted rotor, which can upgrade the car’s look.

The brands are various that I have never heard before:

- BMTSR: from Guangzhou, China. They claimed that they have 20 years of experience making parts for BMW, MB, and Land Rover. (They even claimed that they’re one of the suppliers) bmtsr.net
- LPR: from Italy. They also claimed that they are supplier for Audi, MB, Land Rover, and Ford. lpr.it
- MTEC: Idk where they are from, but they claimed that their products are “upgrade” from OEM.
- TAROX: (couldn’t find anything about them)
- BRIX

My front rotor and pad are due soon, I know that I should replace them with OE-brands like Pagid or something, but these slotted/drilled/both rotor will be a nice upgrade looks for my tiny 296mm rotor. I don’t track this car, only daily it.

Originally, I’d upgrade my front brake by swapping to 530i brake, but since I live in Indonesia the population of 530i here are quite rare so I’ve been looking for it but no luck. So these aftermarket rotor replacement is like an alternative.

Has anyone tried any aftermarket rotor?

E231 series

Indonesian government accepts PT KAI (Indonesian Railways) request to import used 23 trainsets from Japan. This is to address the Jakarta's Commuter Line (KRL Commuterline) shortage issue with PT INKA's collaboration with J-TREC, iE305 (also known as CLI-225), being suspended after derailed twice in the same day. PT KAI's President Director, Bobby Rasyidin, decided to send all 7 trainsets of iE305 back to PT INKA for repair.

The suspension of iE305 series and aging E205 series as well as Tokyo Metro 6000 series put Jakarta's Commuter Line in desperate need of rolling stocks. This situation is worsened by the production delay by PT INKA, in which PT KAI still have 9 iE305 trainsets in order.

Importing more used Japanese trains is considered the logical sense due to PT KAI's experience operating Japanese trains since 2000s. Previously, PT KAI operated numerous numbers of used Japanese trains from JR East, Tokyo Metro, Toyo, Toei, and Tokyu.

Rumor said, most likely PT KAI will import JR East E209 and E231 series, but no official information from PT KAI yet, except of the fact that PT KAI will import a total of 23 trainsets. These newer trainsets are set to replace aging E205 and Tokyo Metro 6000 series, as well as temporary replacement while iE305s are being repaired and procuced.

iE305 (credits is on the pic)

PT KAI weren't allowed to import used Japanese train back in 2023 when PT KAI's requested for 348 unit of used E217. The Ministry of Industry wanted KAI to use brand new trains and to support Indonesian-made trains. Resulting PT KAI ordered 11 trainset (132 unit) of CRRC's SFC120-V and 16 trainset (192 unit) of PT INKA's iE305 series instead. However, due to the shortage issue in 2026, the Indonesian government accepts PT KAI's request to import used Japanese trains.

The Jakarta's Commuter Line has been like a "running museum" for Japanese railfans as they got to ride the already-retired trains in Japan that got a second life in Indonesia. It is not rare that both sides organized some collaboration events, like in 2025 when Indonesia Railway Preservation Society held an event with representatives from Japanese Embassy for Indonesia, PT KAI, and Indonesian railfans to celebrate the retirement of Tokyu 8500 series, Tokyo Metro 7000 series, and JR E203 series with an event named "Arigato KRL"

\"Arigato KRL\" event in 2025 with Tokyo Metro 7000 series

Also in the beginning of 2026, a collaboration event between Japanese railfans, Indonesian railfans, and Chichibu Railway were held in Saitama displaying Toei 6000-series in KAI's livery. Toei 6000-series were donated by the Japanese government back in 2000 and used by PT KAI until 2016.

Toei 6000-series in KAI's livery on Chichibu Main Line

Source:

https://tirto.id/pt-kai-segera-impor-23-krl-bekas-dari-jepang-hDch

https://en.tempo.co/read/2120186/whats-behind-indonesias-plan-to-import-used-trains-from-japan?tracking_page_direct

https://en.tempo.co/read/2064731/indonesia-retires-iconic-japanese-commuter-trains-after-nearly-two-decades

Symptoms

• Degradation in performance--quite noticeable.
• At higher speed (and high rpm) I can feel the engine a bit stuttering

What I've done

• Physically checked both charge and boost pipe--no tear
• Scanned it using Bimmerlink, no error codes.

What I suspect

• Fuel pump (HPFP/LPFP)--how to check these?
  • I'm leaning towards HPFP because it doesn't give me any codes, afaik HPFP is mechanical. LPFP should've give me error codes when it's failing.

Thank you!

EDIT: The car is at 137k km on the clock

Mungkin disini gua gak akan ngomongin hal yang udah basic ya, seperti jangan lap pas kering, etc. Disini gua bahas hal-hal yang lebih mendalam:

Seputar abu vulkanik

Seperti yang kita tau, abu vulkanik itu sifatnya kayak kaca alias tajem. Karena bentuknya kecil dan kaya debu, jadi kadang kita suka nggak sadar kalo benda kecil ini sangat berbahaya. Ngelap pake lap kering di bodi mobil ini udah kaya ngelap bodi mobil pake lap yang penuh sama serpihan kaca.

Apa yang lebih berbahaya?

Banyak media udah ngasih tau cara bersihin abu vulkanik di bodi mobil biar ngga baret, tapi media ini banyak yang nggak kasih informasi tentang hal-hal yang lebih membahayakan buat mobil, bahkan berpotensi bikin mesin jebol.

• Kondensor dan radiator

Kondensor adalah part yang paling terekspos dengan dunia luar, dan dibelakangnya ada radiator. Dan, belakangnya ada kipas. Jadi, udah pasti udara luar yang termasuk sama abu vulkanik akan kesedot masuk ke ruang mesin. Nggak, gak semena2 langsung bocor dan rusak, tapi perlahan bisa bikin tumpukan abu mengganggu air flow karena ketumpuk di sela-sela kondensor atau bahkan radiator. Apalagi kalo sempet kena air, karena si abu vulkanik tadi bisa menggumpal di kondensor--bikin hambatan air flow lebih parah. Ini bisa bikin ac jadi panas (karena kondensor nggak bisa kerja secara optimal), bahkan overheating (kalo air flow udah kehambat parah), or in extreme cases bisa bikin kondensor atau radiator bocor (very small chance, tapi inget materialnya tajem so anything can happen).

Mitigasi

1. Sering-sering di cuci pake air bertekanan sedang. Jangan terlalu tinggi takutnya malah ngerusak kondensornya, kalo terlalu rendah malah kurang efektif bersihin abu vulkaniknya.
2. Jangan dipake ngebut dan rpm tinggi, karena semakin ngebut/nyetir dengan rpm tinggi, air flow yang masuk ke ruang mesin juga akan lebih deras.

• Mesin

Pastiin filter mesin terpasang dan baik dan kondisinya masih bagus. Ini adalah satu-satunya media yang menyaring debu dan polutan lain (in this case termasuk abu vulkanik). Balik lagi, karena sifat abu vulkanik yang tajam bisa ngerusak internal mesin.

Mitigasi

1. Sering-sering cek kondisi filter mesin. Sebenernya, semakin kotor filter semakin bagus filtrasinya (karena accumulated dirt itu juga membantu proses penyaringan kotoran), tapi akan mengurangi performa mesin karena udara yang masuk jg akan berkurang. Kalo dirasa performa mesin udah berkurang banget, baru ganti filter.
2. Jangan dipake rpm tinggi (again), karena semakin tinggi rpm = mesin akan nyedot udara dari luar semakin kenceng juga.

• Rekomendasi
  • Kalo emang ga perlu-perlu banget, lebih baik di rumah aja.
  • Selalu pasang ac di recirculation mode, supaya ac gak ngambil udara dari luar (mengecilkan kemungkinan abu vulkanik masuk ke kabin, dan mengecilkan kemungkinan abu vulkanik ketumpuk di evaporator ac)
  • Kurangi buka jendela apalagi kalo jendelanya masih ada abu vulkanik. Mengurangi kemungkinan baret
  • Sering-sering cuci mobil dengan air mengalir, dan pakai shampoo ph balanced.

Oke, well mungkin itu dulu biar singkat. Kalo kalian punya tambahan atau opini berbeda, feel free to leave a comment.

Stay safe semua!

So I'm having issues that narrowed down to DME. It does seems like my DME is having internal failure.

Upon looking for replacement, I noticed that there are some differences in part number and index. Since mine is 2001, I believe mine is index 01. The highest I've found is index 10.

As far as I know, the higher the index means it has improvements than the previous index. E.g. index 02 is improvement from index 01. Is this true?

I'm quite curious because I've found a seller offers an index 01 MS43 for 60$, and there is another seller selling index 08 for double the price (both are reputable seller).

Should I go with the higher index? Or should I be fine with index 01?

So I'm having a very random EML issues with PVS Ratio error, I've replaced throttle body, accelerator pedal, and wiring. It goes very random, it could be days, weeks, months, even once I've gone full a year without issue and then EML came back and the car won't move.

It always resolved by unplugging the DME for a while, and replug it. Sometimes I used electrical cleaner.

Lately I've been observing that the car will having some issue if it's been idling for a while. In the past 3 months, I'm already having this issue twice. Once when I'm stuck in traffic, then the EML came on and the car wouldn't move, and the other was when I'm testing a new AC compressor so the car was idling for about ~10 minutes or more. The latter wasn't giving me EML straightaway, but it goes by cutting off compressor, followed by CEL (I got misfire on cyl 6 error), then lost communication between DME and IKE (scanned it, and the temp gauge goes all the way to the max even though it's not overheating), and then finally EML.

Curious, when the latter happened, with the DME still connected, I tried to take it from the bracket, and try to move it back and forth. My curiousity answered since the CEL, PRND, and temp gauge are affected by the DME movement. Sometimes the CEL disappeared, sometimes I got no PRND, sometimes the temp goes to max.

Tried with another E39 DME and move it around, none of that issue happens. However since it was from another car, I could not start the car and see what happens when the engine is on.

After that, I swapped it back to my DME and the issue came back. It was quite tricky since unplug-replug method didn't work. I had to unplug all DME and EGS, clean the connector thoroughly using electrical cleaner, and replugged them back. Then suddenly all the issues were gone--AC compressor kicks in, no CEL, no EML, and no communication error between modules.

I'm quite certain that it is my DME that gone bad, but tbh I've never heard DME fails this way. How is this possible? Bad capacitor? or else?

Gua perhatiin, di sini banyak bgt bahasa2 yang berhubungan dengan otomotif tapi menurut gua aneh.

Karena gua sering beli spare parts sendiri, jadi sering lah gua kontak2an sama penjual spare parts, dan banyak bgt "bahasa bengkel" yang menurut gua aneh aja wkwkkw

• Rotak -> fuel pump -> pompa bensin (ternyata kata "rotak" diambil dari "Rotax", yaitu salah satu merk suku cadang juga. Asumsi gua kayaknya dia dulu supplier fuel pump. Macem air mineral jadi "Aqua" lah)
• Metal duduk -> main bearing -> bantalan antara crankshaft dengan mesin. Like, kenapa jadi "metal duduk"? Dia duduk kah? wkwkkw
• Metal jalan -> rod bearing -> bantalan antara crankshaft dengan stang piston. Ini juga, kenapa jalan anjir wkwkwk padahal kalo rod bearing "jalan" = mesin bubar (spun rod bearings).
• Pala babi -> kaliper. Wkwkwk ini gatau kenapa paling lucu jir. Dan sampe sekarang masih ga ngerti dimana "babi" nya
• Roda gila -> flywheel. Ini juga kenapa jadi gila anjir wkwkwkkw
• Vanbel/fanbelt -> belt yang di depan mesin. Padahal di mobil modern fan nya udah elektrik, dan di beberapa mobil lama, ada belt yang cuman buat ke kompressor ac. Tapi tetep aja nyebut nya fan belt wkwkwk
• Sensor TD -> sensor crankshaft / camshaft. Kalo sensor crankshaft bilangnya "TD Bawah", kalo camshaft bilangnya "TD Atas". Kalo yang camshaft intake / exhaust biasanya tergantung dari model nya, kalo ada pake kabel bilangnya "TD Atas kabel" etc wkwk
• Rumah tawon -> visco fan (rumah tawon dari mana jir wkwk)

Ada juga bahasa2 mobil yang menggambarkan kendaraan, alias julukan:

• Mercy "Barong" (W116), "Tiger" (W123), "Batman" (W111), "Boxer" (W124), "Lampu Kacang" (W203)
• Beberapa Kijang, kaya "Kijang Buaya" (ini kijang apa buaya jadinya? wkwk), "Kijang Doyok", "Kijang Jantan", "Kijang Kapsul" (ini krn model kijang pertama yang bentuknya agak mbulet)
• "Jimny Jangkrik" gatau ini jangkrik nya darimana wkwk
• "VW Kodok" jelas lah ya krn bentuknya mirip kodok
• "Galant Hiu" gara2 moncongnya kaya ikan hiu

Kalo dilihat, mungkin orang kita lebih mudah mengingat sesuatu dari bentuknya aja kali ya? Karena kalo diperhatiin, julukan2 atau nama2 diatas itu semuanya diambil karena mobil/barang tersebut menyerupai sesuatu wkwk.

Malah sekarang julukan2 kaya gini udah ilang kayaknya ya? Mungkin yang terakhir gua tau itu Yaris Lele (setelahnya Yaris Bakpao). Abis itu belom pernah denger lagi hahaha

Gua adalah salah satu orang yang anti dengan engine flush. Sebenernya ngga ada pengalaman buruk atau apa, cuman in my mind engine flush ini has little-to-none effect in my experience.

I could be wrong though, tp beberapa alasan gua untuk tidak engine flush karena:

1. Gua against masukin chemical selain oli ke dalam mesin. Yes, memang cairan engine flush itu nanti langsung di drain dan diisi oli baru, cuman some of it pasti masih ketinggalan di dalem mesin. It shouldn't do any damage, but I just don't like the idea of other substance in the engine.
2. Gua nonton cukup banyak video yang membuktikan kalo engine flush itu nggak punya efek signifikan.
3. Tujuan dari engine flush itu adalah bersihin kerak dan oil sludge.
   • Gua mikirnya, kalo gitu kerak dan oil sludge nya rontok kemana? Gua malah takut nyumbat saluran oli apalagi di motuba wkwkwk.
   • Setau gua (cmiiw) kerak dan oil sludge itu bisa terjadi karena jarang ganti oli atau pakai oli yang spesifikasinya nggak bener. Sejauh ini gua menghindari hal tersebut dengan ganti oli rutin (interval 6-9 bulan, km selalu sebelum 10k) dan hasilnya di motuba umur 25 tahun gua begini:

Gua slow-mo jadi mohon maap FPS nya rada ngedrop. Pretty neat I'd say, ga ada sludge dan kerak

My conclusion

Balik lagi ke tujuan utama engine flush yaitu rontokin kerak dan oil sludge. Tapi, oli dengan API rating SN keatas (SN, SN Plus, SP) itu udah dengan teknologi yang bisa ngurangin deposit serta nggak bikin sludge.

Dan paling penting adalah ganti oli secara rutin serta filternya. Rule of thumb gua sih ganti 6-9 bulan sekali, atau kilometer dibawah 10k. Pake oli yang sesuai rekomendasi pabrikan. Ada yang bilang ganti filter oli itu per 2x ganti oli, tp kalo gua sih ganti filter setiap ganti oli since it doesn't cost much.

Nah mungkin disini ada yang punya pandangan/pengalaman berbeda dari gua mengenai engine flush, let's have a proper healthy discussion here!

Car is 2001 BMW 525i automatic.

So weeks after I got my car AC working, I found that after I drive a while, I can feel like something is blocking the air flow—I can hear the blower working but I can feel only little cold air. After some time, the air flow back to normal. And the cycle happens repeatedly.

I scanned it using INPA, and I can see that there is evaporator sensor error. On live data, the evaporator sensor shows 0.0°C. So since I still got cold air, I assume the evaporator icing up and blocking the air flow. Then it melts—this is when the air flow seems back to normal. Ok, not a big deal. It should be a simple replacement.

Mechanic took out the sensor, and we found out that the sensor was quite dirty. So before replacing it, we tried the cheapest way first: we sand it.

Sensor sanded, and installed. Now the aux fan not working. Aux fan not working means AC not working as well. Hook it up with INPA, we test the aux fan and it works using INPA. However at this stage, the AC doesn’t work. But we can rule aux fan out.

Then we realized that the AC compressor isn’t engaging. We scan the IHKA module, still got the evaporator sensor error, but nothing related to compressor. We test the compressor with INPA, it works. The AC blows cold again. The evap sensor error is still present and can’t be erased.

We disconnect INPA, and turn the car on. Turn on the IHKA, no cold air. The compressor doesn’t engage, even after 10 mins. Car is fine, no overheating.

We scanned it again using INPA with engine on. We realized that the DME acknowledge the IHKA is turned on, however both input and output to AC compressor are off.

We also tested the only wire connects to compressor, it has no power. However when we turning on the compressor using INPA, the power is present on that same wire.

Afaik, IHKA will send signal to DME to turn on the AC compressor, and DME will check the car condition first, and if the DME feels the car condition is safe, it will send power to the compressor.

***So, at this point we’re pretty sure that DME somehow wouldn’t/couldn’t send signal to the compressor.***

While I monitoring the data with the car idling, suddenly CEL is on, saying misfire on cyl 6, error 243. I tried to press the gas pedal, EML and gear cog warning appeared on the dash. Car isn’t responding to the throttle input. Now, there are two errors: misfire and pedal sensor, at this point, AC still not working. Which kinda doesn’t make any sense.

To make it worse, the temp gauge suddenly went to the right, on the max temp area.

So I suspect something with DME or at least at its connector. When my mechanic checked the wiring, I noticed that sometimes the CEL flickering on and off.

We tried to wiggle some wires on the DME, we found at least 3 wires that is kinda wobbly: the one that gives CEL, the one that shows PRND, and the one that correlated to temp gauge.

When the CEL is off, temp gauge goes back to normal, but the PRND disappeared.

When the PRND appears, CEL is on and the temp gauge goes all the way to the right.

We tried to use a known working DME from another E39, we wiggle the cable on the DME and nothing happens. CEL is gone, temp gauge is normal. EML and cog lights still on but according to INPA, it is just communication issue between DME, EGS, and ABS. Probably because I disconnected the DME while the car isn’t fully asleep. So, it does seems like I have DME issue.

However we couldn’t know if the AC works with that DME since the owner of the other E39 a bit hesitated to lending me the DME set with EWS and key, which is understandable because his E39 interior is in a very mint condition lol.

We tried to inspect a bit and found out that there are some evidence that maybe some rodents decided to make foamy materials in my car as snacks. So there is a possibility that maybe some cables are destroyed and affecting the AC performance.

**So, I am wondering if a bad DME can affect AC, or maybe the problem is lies to wiring?**

Thank you and have a wonderful day.

So weeks after I got my car working perfectly, I found that after I drive a while, I can feel like something is blocking the air flow—I can hear the blower working but I can feel only little cold air. After some time, the air flow back to normal. And the cycle happens repeatedly.

I scanned it using INPA, and I can see that there is evaporator sensor error. On live data, the evaporator sensor shows 0.0°C. So since I still got cold air, I assume the evaporator icing up and blocking the air flow. Then it melts—this is when the air flow seems back to normal. Ok, not a big deal. It should be a simple replacement.

Mechanic took out the sensor, and we found out that the sensor was quite dirty. So before replacing it, we tried the cheapest way first: we sand it.

Sensor sanded, and installed. Now the aux fan not working. Aux fan not working means AC not working as well. Hook it up with INPA, we test the aux fan and it works using INPA. However at this stage, the AC doesn’t work. But we can rule aux fan out.

Then we realized that the AC compressor isn’t engaging. We scan the IHKA module, still got the evaporator sensor error, but nothing related to compressor. We test the compressor with INPA, it works. The AC blows cold again. The evap sensor error is still present and can’t be erased.

We disconnect INPA, and turn the car on. Turn on the IHKA, no cold air. The compressor doesn’t engage, even after 10 mins. Car is fine, no overheating.

We scanned it again using INPA with engine on. We realized that the DME acknowledge the IHKA is turned on, however both input and output to AC compressor are off.

We also tested the only wire connects to compressor, it has no power. However when we turning on the compressor using INPA, the power is present on that same wire.

Afaik, IHKA will send signal to DME to turn on the AC compressor, and DME will check the car condition first, and if the DME feels the car condition is safe, it will send power to the compressor.

So, at this point we’re pretty sure that DME somehow wouldn’t/couldn’t send signal to the compressor.

While I monitoring the data with the car idling, suddenly CEL is on, saying misfire on cyl 6, error 243. I tried to press the gas pedal, EML and gear cog warning appeared on the dash. Car isn’t responding to the throttle input. Now, there are two errors: misfire and pedal sensor, at this point, AC still not working. Which kinda doesn’t make any sense.

To make it worse, the temp gauge suddenly went to the right, on the max temp area.

So I suspect something with DME or at least at its connector. When my mechanic checked the wiring, I noticed that sometimes the CEL flickering on and off.

We tried to wiggle some wires on the DME, we found at least 3 wires that is kinda wobbly: the one that gives CEL, the one that shows PRND, and the one that correlated to temp gauge.

When the CEL is off, temp gauge goes back to normal, but the PRND disappeared.

When the PRND appears, CEL is on and the temp gauge goes all the way to the right.

We tried to use a known working DME from another E39, we wiggle the cable on the DME and nothing happens. CEL is gone, temp gauge is normal. EML and cog lights still on but according to INPA, it is just communication issue between DME, EGS, and ABS. Probably because I disconnected the DME while the car isn’t fully asleep. So, it does seems like I have DME issue.

However we couldn’t know if the AC works with that DME since the owner of the other E39 a bit hesitated to lending me the DME set with EWS and key, which is understandable because his E39 interior is in a very mint condition lol.

We tried to inspect a bit and found out that there are some evidence that maybe some rodents decided to make foamy materials in my car as snacks. So there is a possibility that maybe some cables are destroyed and affecting the AC performance.

So, I am wondering if a bad DME can affect AC, or maybe the problem is lies to wiring?

Thank you and have a wonderful day.

I've been trying to re-create it but no luck. Anyone?

I'm from Indonesia so AC is a must here. It is 30-40°C during the day and 25-28°C at night. Humidity is around 60% in dry season like this, and around 80% during wet season.

Mine is 525i, M54B25, and it has IHKA instead of manual AC.

Before I did my AC job, I set the AC with fan speed 1 (out of 17?), 20°C both sides. No matter how hot outside. It is not freezingly cold, but enough to not make me sweat inside. I was using E36 compressor, as previous owner set up that way, lol.

Now, since my compressor went kaput, I replaced all the AC components and feel that fan speed 1 is not enough. Now at least I set the fan speed at 3, or 4 in a hot day. I am using original Denso compressor for E39 that I believe has variable valve unlike the previous E36 compressor which only has engage-disengage mechanism. If this is somehow related, passenger side AC is stuck at 16.5°C because my wife broke the button, lol.

Is this somewhat normal? All these times I was using E36 compressor so I don't really know how's the behavior of a normal working E39 AC. How do you set yours?

Got to replace my evaporator on my BMW E39, the shop offers me Chinese Behr or non-Chinese Mahle (I believe Behr is now the same as Mahle?)

Chinese Behr is half the price of Mahle. (~111$ for Behr, and ~220$ for Mahle)

I live in Indonesia so I have limited option. Is either those two, a Thai-made evap "Formula" (~56$) or a local made "Yuki" (~34$). On my wife's W211 the P.O. use Yuki condenser and it ran fine. However since replacing evap is such PITA and I don't want to do this twice, I'm quite unsure. The shop doesn't recommend me "Formula" as well because of bad experience in the past.

I'm on a tight budget since my compressor went kaput so I had to replace all of the AC system. Has anyone have experience with Chinese Behr?

Temen gua orang Italy magang di kedubes Italy di Jakarta, dia sambil belajar Bahasa Indonesia dan dia punya pertanyaan: Gimana ketentuan kata2 repetitif di Bahasa Indonesia? Menurut dia banyak hal random yang pake kata repetitif di Bahasa Indonesia.

Gua jd bingung jawabnya karena kata2 repetitif di Bahasa Indonesia bisa buat macem2, contoh

• Menunjukkan jamak: ikan (singular) -> ikan-ikan (plural)
• Sebagai kata benda: ari-ari, laba-laba
• Sebagai kata kerja: coba-coba, pikir-pikir
• Menunjukkan pengulangan: berkali-kali
• Menunjukkan kemiripan/menyerupai: kebarat-baratan, mobil-mobilan (mainan)
• Mungkin ada yang bisa nambahin lagi

Sebenernya di KBBI/aturan/apalah ada ga sih ketentuan soal kata2 repetitif? Abis dipikir2 banyak juga ya kata repetitif di Bahasa Indonesia.

So after my compressor went kaput I replaced basically everything except the evaporator. The evap is like 1 month old. Went to the shop and they thoroughly cleaned it for 24 hours. Checked everything we found that the evap has a hole on it. Since it is only a month old evap, so I tried to weld it. Installed all that and we checked, no leaks. We filled it with refrigerant (r134a), and the ac blow cold.

A week later, the AC blows warm on one side, and cold on the other--classic case of refrigerant leak. Sometime later, I hear hissing noise from the evap--another classic case of evaporator leak. So I guess the weld did not work. Went to the shop and tried the cheapest way first: top up refrigerant.

It needs 1 can of r134a (~395g). Hissing noise is gone. AC is very cold.

Two days later, AC is warm again. This time, both sides. Hissing noise is back.

Next day, I brought the car back to the shop and the AC is somewhat cold. Not as cold as it should, but definitely cold. Hissing sound is gone. I still lose some refrigerant, though.

What cause the hissing sound to come and go? And why the AC goes cold and warm randomly?

One thing I really don't understand about Japan is how the gacha shop survives. I can understand about claw machines since usually they are part of arcade game business, so maybe the main source of income isn't the claw machine itself, but from other arcade games, or even stuff like photobooth. Plus it does seems like arcade game businesses are always busy.

However, the gacha shop... this is I don't understand. Yes there are some gacha machines that is part of another business like in merch shops or department store. But I've seen there are some gacha shop that only have gacha machines.

Like in Divercity mall in Odaiba, when I first went there back in 2024 I only saw one gacha shop, but this year I believe there are two or three of them (I believe the owner is the same because it has the same interior and placement, couldn't remember the name). I didn't see any advertisements in the shop, so I believe there is no income from advertising.

Or in Yokohama's Chinatown, there is a huge three stories gacha shop that has massive amount of gacha machines. This also has no advertising inside the shop.

And I've seen gacha shops like these around Tokyo.

With locations like that (placed in a mall, or in a multi-story building) the rent must be a lot. I tried to calculate it with simple math using assumption, if the rent is 4 mill yen per month, and the gacha is 500 yen each, they have to sell 8000 gacha items in a month just to cover the rent. Not include other fixed costs.

Is the gacha market is really that promising, or maybe they have other source of income that I don't know?