Bought my 2010 R36 from a well-known non-VW dealer on the 31/12/13, and noticed relatively poor a/c performance straight away - it would take up to 10 minutes to start cooling and only seemed to work 'normal' at speed (40kmph+, no stop-start traffic).

I thought perhaps it was just due for an a/c service so I didn't think about taking it back on my 3 month stat warranty. Took it to a mechanic for an a/c service today and was told that the compressor was about to fail, and that they had found metal filings throughout the system. Would need to replace compressor, condenser and evaporator.

As I'm still under 3 month stat warranty I'll be taking the car in on Friday for it to be assessed.

Does anyone know if the dealer may void my warranty considering I have had a logbook service done elsewhere and had the a/c system diagnosed elsewhere since purchasing the car? I read that you must request the dealership fix any issue before organising for it to be fixed yourself, though would this apply for a 'diagnostic' service?

Thoughts?