AIR CONDITIONING ODOR
 

THAT TIME OF YEAR AND NOW WHEN I FIRST START MY X5 I HAVE A VERY BAD ODOR COMING OUT OF THE A/C. SAW A POST ABOUT TRYING TO SPRAY LYSOL INTO THE SYSTEM. WHERE DO I SPRAY IT? ARE THERE ANY OTHER SOLUTIONS OTHER THAN THE DEALER? IT IS A 03 X5 3.0. THANKYOU

turn you ac on and heat up to max. Let it heat up and sit for 20 minutes. Should kill the bacteria breeding in there

BMW dealers sell an aerosol which sterilises the air conditioning . I purchase stuff from a motor factor .
the stuff I use involves setting heating to cold , set to recirculate air , open only dash vents , switch on air conditioning , place aerosol in rear footwell and activate , exit car and close door , wait 10 minutes until aerosol is empty then switch off car .
I usually do this spring and fall .
I do it when I will not be using car for a day or two .
the aerosol leaves a citrus smell for a few days .
there is also a diy somewhere on this forum on how to access the heater box to clean if it is seriously contaminated .

Eliminate AC Odor Smells
 

The Lysol method is done by:
1) putting A/C on with full blow & recirculate air off.
2) then spray about half the can of Lysol Disinfectant in the intake vents below the front windshield wipers. Spray drivers side and passengers side.
3)Do Not be in car during this, the smell can be choking. Have windows
rolled down.

Note:for those rancid dead animal or cat urine like smells coming from vent; you really have bad mold mildew and bacteria then dilute 1 part bleach to 2 parts water and spray into vents, then follow with Lysol method.

i got a smell of horse manure when i turn on the ac/ no joke. at first i thought it was the guy i bought the car from, but nooooo its something inside. if not too much trouble could anyone post a link to DIY possibly with pictures.?

follow the above method, first use the lysol then if it is still present go with the bleach and then follow with the Lysol. Don't forget to open the windows though.

Do E53's have pollen filters? Sometimes these get overlooked during Maintenance and can get clogged with junk/mold/etc....

Also, wouldn't turning on your recirc function make spraying lysol into your outside air intake a waste of time? Seems it should be picking up the air from the inside of the cabin, not the outside.

In past cars (Range Rover, Saab, Volvo) I've sprayed the lysol or other bacteria ridding aerosol straight into the intake with the air on high as mentioned... but the recirc was off. Keep windows shut. Then after you dump in 1/4 of the can or so, turn the recirc button on and let it run on high for 15-20 minutes. Also, make sure they aerosol doesn't stain any leather/plastic before using... because it will get everywhere.

You can also dump in a little baking soda into the intake.

I've used those aerosols that you let off in the car before, they seem to work but leave the car stinking of cleaning stuff for a week or two.

I circulate to allow the lysol to enter through the windshield vents and get the entire sytem; through an intermitent spray. I like the thought of eliminating the mold, bacteria, spores out and fresh lysol spray and fresh air entering in rather than keeping all that crap it in an enclosed loop such as found in recirculating on. But to each there own.

You can leave the windows closed if you choose, but to avoid stains on inside cabin and eliminate harm of spray to humans i leave it open.
*Read the bottle it says some sort of warning about this. It is a powerful disinfectant so if allowed to saturate inside of cabin you will be constantly breathing this in, not good in my opinion. Worse if you have children.

I don't think i will be dumping "baking soda" down the intake it may become caked on in vents. The odor is from the byproduct of living organisms. baking soda will only eliminate the odor not the source.

That is exactly why I leave the windows open while spraying.