Musty Smells From A/C

R

RTSooner

New member
Anyone have any good suggestions for how to eliminate the smell from the A/C vents on a 7 year old BMW? This thing is disgusting!
 
The first thing to check is to see whether or not the drain in the condenser unit under the hood is blocked. That would cause water to remain in unit and begin to smell. The other thing to check is to see if possibly some type of small rodent, such as a mouse crawled up into A/C condenser unit.
 
A lot of new cars have this problem. As mirrorfinishman mentioned it good to make sure the condenser is working/not blocked/and clean. There will also be a filter than you want to make sure is clean. Assuming they are (and it's likely they are ok), the simple solution is to run the fan with the A/C off for 5 minutes before turning off the car. Since that's a pain in the butt another solution is to buy a de-oderizing anti-bacterial aerosol, turn the A/C on high and have it re-circulate the air, then spray the aerosol (all of it) into the intake which is usually in the passenger side footwell. This normally eliminates the smell for a year or two, but it might have to be repeated. It's one of those things that's usually a symptom of poor design so you have to keep treating it.
 
I'd like to thank you guys for the advice. It makes sense and I really appreciate your input. I'll give it a try.
 
old thread, but if you haven't replaced your cockpit micro-filter, you need to! I have an M3 and the smell got bad after awhile. When I replaced it, the stuff stuck in there was unbelievable. Think of your household filter on your HVAC system, they get nasty after two months. Now imagine how much more dirt/grime your car filter pushes through it, especially if it's not on recirc. If you need help with instructions replacing it, let me know. Some of them can be a bear. I had to remove the glove box on my M3 to replace the filter.
 
Dont forget though, not all automotive a/c's have a microfilter. i know my tC doesn't have one. That's mostly a higher end option. I've used the lysol method above on my grandparents car and it worked great.
 
My neighbor had a simular problem with bad musty odor coming from the A\C vents. I crawled under the truck and located the drip hose..snaked it with some mechanics wire to make sure it was clean...I got some product from NAPA (forgot the name) it was a A\C sanitizer in a spray can...



I sprayed up into the drip tube and into all the vents and into the intake which was located in the cowl by the wiper blades....let the blowers run on hi for a few minutes and odors were gone...it is a neutral smelling product so there was no cover scent masking.



The product stated it was a bacteriasat and killed odor causing bacteria....good for smoke odor also...worked great....the can sold for 9.99 and came with a nozzle extension...



also his drip tube was draining fine so I do not think he had a backup problem....



Al
 
Neothin said:
Dont forget though, not all automotive a/c's have a microfilter.
Click to expand...

If it's a 7 yr old BMW, I'm POSITIVE it has a micro-filter in the cockpit. Don't get me wrong, these other ideas are great, but they will never kill the funk on that micro-filter.
 
I just bought a 97 BMW 528i less than a month ago and I have already changed the cabin air filters. Those things should be standard on EVERY car built. On the 528, they're a snap to change. There are two of them, one on each side of the engine bay close to the firewall. They should be changed out at least every 10k miles.
 
I've built a substantial reputation by providing an odor neutral environment.

We get 'problem cars' from Enterprise locations all over the city -Progressive Insurance, and several body shos...



*THE BEST* Odor Teminator



This will make your day, and perhaps your reputation!



(Not related, yada, yada....)



Jim



IF YOU HAVE AN ALTERNATIVE/BETTER SOLUTION, PLEASE POST...



The ValuGard product is not inexpensive, so...



Jim
 
RTSooner said:
I just bought a 97 BMW 528i less than a month ago and I have already changed the cabin air filters. Those things should be standard on EVERY car built. On the 528, they're a snap to change. There are two of them, one on each side of the engine bay close to the firewall. They should be changed out at least every 10k miles.
Click to expand...

They (BMW) obviously wised up when they made the E39's. My 95 M3 needs to have the glove box removed to change the filter and even then its a ***** to do.

How much does the Value-Guard deodorizer cost? I know of a truck that was rained in a couple yeras ago and has a bad musty smell in it. Do you think the VG would be capable of removing this odor? Its a pretty stubborn smell.
 
How much does the Value-Guard deodorizer cost? I know of a truck that was rained in a couple yeras ago and has a bad musty smell in it. Do you think the VG would be capable of removing this odor? Its a pretty stubborn smell.
Click to expand...



I have great confidence in the product. Remove the seats, lift the carpet where practical. Clean everything with a good APC - Odor Terminator is a CONTACT product - be sure that it comes in contact with all surfaces. Recirculate as discussed earlier..

:xyxthumbs :xyxthumbs

Good Luck!



Jim
 
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