Smelly aircon

[Beefy]

Hi Guys,
My x5 is only 2 months old and the air smells when I swithed off the aircon yesterday. We have recently had a bit of warm weather so just started using the cool air, changing now to spring soon. Any suggestions please? From experience with my old X5 the dealer would spray the filter, that only helped a few days. Surely this should not happen on a new vehicle.

Thanking you in advance for any imput.

[ljnlaw]

Take a look at the microfilter and see if its stained or dirty, try cleaning it or just replace it with a new one. If that one gets stained or dirty within 2 months start looking for the leak or problem. Also if you use air fresheners in the car the auroma will get trapped in the microfilter and could create some funky smells in the car when running AC.

[motordavid]

It isn't a fix and, it's a PIA, but I find that if I switch off the A/C
and run std. fan through vents for a mile or two before stopping
and turning off car, it greatly reduces the moldy smell. Not handy
or convenient, but it works for me.

[gburrell]

You might want to show your dealer the following TSB.

http://www.bmwtis.com/tsb/bulletins/...p/B640403g.htm

[scoobydoo]

The Aircon on my 2 year old 535d smells bad for a couple of minutes after start up. Its been doing that for a year now. It is not a filter problem but a BMW one. I have had the above procedure done 3 times in the past year and the smell keeps coming back after a month or two. It usually happens after a rain when you start the car on a hot day. The BMW dealer told me that it is a problem of bacteria and mould build up in the system. He tried hard to convince me that this is normal but I cant take that since the car costs 65000 euros and my previous japcraps never did that. Along with the pleasantries of owning a BMW there are some drawbacks that aircon issue and the RFT tyres are just some of them.

[Ferguson]

Scoobydoo, that is exactly what I have on my X5 also, I was wondering if it was just some kind of chemical smell that may be from manufacture that might go away.

That doesn't sound promising.

[Batm4n]

Had some mildew smell in my 03' as well. Took it to the dealer and they used this stuff on it

Wynn's Airco Fresh.

Seems to smell better now. I don't get that musky smell when you switch the airconditioner off and then back on.

I guess they just spray it right into the vents

http://www.wynns.co.za/

[boostinmr2]

The smell will come back. It's apparent on all cars I've had - Infiniti / BMW / Audi - yadda yadda.

[test5477]

This is interesting as mine just started with this smell last week. I will go to the dealer and see.