Author Topic: Foul smell from BMW AC (Read 11966 times)

sailor723 · « **on:** September 18, 2014, 07:51:28 pm »

My daughter's 2012 X1 has a foul smell from the vents on startup (seems to go away after a few minutes) Google lights up when you enter things like "BMW barnyard smell", "BMW foul odour" or "BMW dirty socks smell" but the dealer (BMW Moncton) is playing dumb and saying they are unaware of any issues.. Appearantly from the posts on various BMW forums it has to do with AC condensation getting trapped, not draining properly and producing mould (Design flaw??)

She had it up to Moncton yesterday for service but all they did was replace the cabin pollen filter under goodwill saying it "had a strong odour. The smell is still there today. My feeling is if smelly air is passing through the filter of course it will have a smell. Changing the filter isn't going to solve anything if the odour is originating somewhere else.

Has anyone experienced this?

HeliDriver · « **Reply #1 on:** September 18, 2014, 08:10:00 pm »

Not a design flaw. It will happen in just about any a/c system from the condensation. My Civic did it, my Xterra did it, the Suburban did it, the Yukon does it, the GTI does it...

But, it's easy to work around: just switch off the a/c and keep the fan running for a few minutes before you shut down the car. That gets rid of any moisture in the system so it can't sit and mildew in there while the car is shut down.

If it's too far gone, you can buy cans of stuff at Cdn Tire to spray in the air intake that will kill the mould and freshen up the sytem. I've used it with success in the past, but if you don't do the a/c shutoff trick mentioned above, the smell will eventually come back.

rrocket · « **Reply #2 on:** September 18, 2014, 08:11:19 pm »

Quote from: HeliDriver on September 18, 2014, 08:10:00 pm

Not a design flaw. It will happen in just about any a/c system from the condensation. My Civic did it, my Xterra did it, the Suburban did it, the Yukon does it, the GTI does it...

You must have exceedingly bad luck. No car I've ever had has done that.

HeliDriver · « **Reply #3 on:** September 18, 2014, 08:16:07 pm »

^^ Interesting. Maybe some people are more aware of the smell than others?

Anyway, it's not just a "BMW problem." I'm sure if sailor Googles "VW barnyard smell", "Subaru foul odour" or "Toyota dirty socks smell", he'll get just as many hits.

sailor723 · « **Reply #4 on:** September 18, 2014, 08:21:57 pm »

Quote from: rrocket on September 18, 2014, 08:11:19 pm

Quote from: HeliDriver on September 18, 2014, 08:10:00 pm
Not a design flaw. It will happen in just about any a/c system from the condensation. My Civic did it, my Xterra did it, the Suburban did it, the Yukon does it, the GTI does it...

You must have exceedingly bad luck. No car I've ever had has done that.

I'm with rrocket on this one. None of our cars over the last thirty years have ever done that and while it's possible I wouldn't notice my wife has the nose of a bloodhound

rrocket · « **Reply #5 on:** September 18, 2014, 08:23:24 pm »

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2n8GATspLI

tpl · « **Reply #6 on:** September 18, 2014, 08:31:37 pm »

Many years ago I remember this coming up. Back then IIRC the best stuff to fix the smell was a spray that GM dealers sold specifically to clear mould off the evaporator.
Another thing was the condensate drain from the A/C being partially clogged not draining fast enough.

Never happened to me.

pi314 · « **Reply #7 on:** September 18, 2014, 08:50:36 pm »

I had a similar issue with the Focus.. and it happens to a very slight extent in the corolla..

I've been doing as helidriver suggested, and it works well.. except others driving the car don't always do it. :bang head:

Ford actually deodorized it twice for me under warranty, and that dealt with the mildew in the car and it's certainly less of an issue.

sailor723 · « **Reply #8 on:** September 18, 2014, 09:09:18 pm »

Quote from: HeliDriver on September 18, 2014, 08:10:00 pm

Not a design flaw. It will happen in just about any a/c system from the condensation. My Civic did it, my Xterra did it, the Suburban did it, the Yukon does it, the GTI does it...

But, it's easy to work around: just switch off the a/c and keep the fan running for a few minutes before you shut down the car. That gets rid of any moisture in the system so it can't sit and mildew in there while the car is shut down.

If it's too far gone, you can buy cans of stuff at Cdn Tire to spray in the air intake that will kill the mould and freshen up the sytem. I've used it with success in the past, but if you don't do the a/c shutoff trick mentioned above, the smell will eventually come back.

Just as an aside.......Has CT got the worst website ever or what?

I searched in automotive for "air conditioner cleaner" and got this.....

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/search-results.html?searchByTerm=true&q=air+conditioner+cleaner#/?count=15;i=1;q=air+conditioner+cleaner;q1=Automotive;searchByTerm=true;site=ct;store=0035;viewMode=grid;x1=c.cat-level-1

pi314 · « **Reply #9 on:** September 18, 2014, 09:13:54 pm »

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/odorstop-0390428p.html#.VBuDNUvH3Ro

that's what you want. I used it on my Mom's Rondo once when it was starting to smell.

dr_spock · « **Reply #10 on:** September 19, 2014, 11:10:06 am »

FGC. Check that the drain for the condensation is not clogged or blocked by the firewall material.

ArticSteve · « **Reply #11 on:** September 19, 2014, 02:16:54 pm »

johngenx · « **Reply #12 on:** September 19, 2014, 02:27:10 pm »

Never had such a thing happen, but it's drier out here.

EV-Light · « **Reply #13 on:** September 19, 2014, 02:43:37 pm »

Quote from: HeliDriver on September 18, 2014, 08:10:00 pm

Not a design flaw. It will happen in just about any a/c system from the condensation. My Civic did it, my Xterra did it, the Suburban did it, the Yukon does it, the GTI does it...

But, it's easy to work around: just switch off the a/c and keep the fan running for a few minutes before you shut down the car. That gets rid of any moisture in the system so it can't sit and mildew in there while the car is shut down.

If it's too far gone, you can buy cans of stuff at Cdn Tire to spray in the air intake that will kill the mould and freshen up the sytem. I've used it with success in the past, but if you don't do the a/c shutoff trick mentioned above, the smell will eventually come back.

^^^^^^^ all my vehicles have the same smell if I don't turn off the A/C and leave the fan running for a couple minutes before shutting down the vehicle.

Fobroader · « **Reply #14 on:** September 19, 2014, 03:49:04 pm »

My Altima had that horrid smell as well, I bought a deodorizing spray from Can Tire and it got rid of it no problem. Yeah, main thing is to keep the fan running after you shut the A/C down.

Ex-airbalancer · « **Reply #15 on:** September 19, 2014, 05:11:59 pm »

Here a website to try
http://noodor.com/p/carbon-pad-smell-away.html

RunsinLight · « **Reply #16 on:** September 20, 2014, 09:44:10 pm »

This what i was going to say as well. Mold in the evaporator.

Quote from: tpl on September 18, 2014, 08:31:37 pm

Many years ago I remember this coming up. Back then IIRC the best stuff to fix the smell was a spray that GM dealers sold specifically to clear mould off the evaporator.
Another thing was the condensate drain from the A/C being partially clogged not draining fast enough.

Never happened to me.

me_2 · « **Reply #17 on:** September 20, 2014, 11:05:17 pm »

I know with the Volt, there is a fix know as " After blow " that can be done at the dealer level ...

http://gm-volt.com/forum/showthread.php?8647-Mildewy-smell-from-A-C&p=87965#post87965

jamie1 · « **Reply #18 on:** September 21, 2014, 01:38:31 am »

As HeliDriver stated, it is a very common problem. If you find a dealer using BG products, chances are they are also doing an A/C service. It is designed just for this problem.

sailor723 · « **Reply #19 on:** September 21, 2014, 05:59:15 am »

I'm quite surprised at the number of people suggesting this is very common. I guess we've lucked out with all of our family cars over that last 35+ years as I've never experienced it or even heard of the problem.

Appearantly I misunderstood and the dealer not only changed the filter but also sprayed some stuff into the system. As of yesterday the smell is still there.