That's the best way to do it.

Actually, I'm sorta spoiled by the auto climate control, it is pretty nice when you get it working correctly. Whenever, I drive my wife's 240D I get tired of playing with the manual controls all the time. Yesterday I drove it about 5 miles wondering why the heat wasn't getting warn until I remembered what I was driving.

Both systems are fine, the only advantage of the manual system is that it really has nothing to break. The auto system can be a hassle to troubleshoot, but you still can't spend more than about $500 fixing it. Compared to new cars, either system is very cheap and easy to fix. Given a choice, I would still take the auto system because the cost difference is negligible, and I like to be able to "set it and forget it."