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      02-25-2011, 05:21 AM   #23
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Originally Posted by BruinE90 View Post
where is the REST button?
http://autos.yahoo.com/bmw/m3/2011/c...shboard/4.html
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      02-25-2011, 02:36 PM   #24
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For sure some animal rest, could have run over a roadkill or a dead mouse somewhere in your engine compartment?
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      02-25-2011, 02:53 PM   #25
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I find when the air quality isnt to good with the A/C on I put it in recirculation mode and fire up a huge blunt..... End of air quality issue's.
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      02-25-2011, 03:06 PM   #26
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Originally Posted by piloto View Post
Try this stuff. You spray it down the vent and it helps kill the bacteria.

So I ordered two cans of this stuff. Question for you guys - the smell in my car is more prominent when I run the defroster. The instructions in the spray says to put it down the front middle vent. Will this fix the air coming out of the defroster? I'm hoping the defroster vents (the ones right under the front window) aren't freakin' all mucked up too.
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      03-02-2011, 06:39 AM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WangTa View Post
So I ordered two cans of this stuff. Question for you guys - the smell in my car is more prominent when I run the defroster. The instructions in the spray says to put it down the front middle vent. Will this fix the air coming out of the defroster? I'm hoping the defroster vents (the ones right under the front window) aren't freakin' all mucked up too.
Reason why they say to spray down middles vents is the 'hope' it sprays onto the evaporator. Unless the whole evaporator is coated and 'debugged' of bacteria, it will basically be back within a day. I haven't tried another product yet, but Autoglym (the car polish company from UK) has a new air cond sanitizer spray that you place in the footwell near the recirculation intake and release the can with the fan unit running on recirculation mode (fan on high) and doors closed. The concept is the fine mist is carried through the intake and over the evaporator which is usually a less tortuous path than going through the air outlets and also the benefit of having air assist pull (then push) the sanitizer through most of HVAC system since bacteria will be where the moisture collects.

Last edited by PKM3; 03-02-2011 at 06:41 AM.. Reason: Correction
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      03-02-2011, 07:38 AM   #28
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Also, make sure your a/c is NOT on recirc when you shut the car off. If it's super hot or you've only been in it a short time and it's still cooling down you may have to switch this back with the recir/fresh button, but it helps with keeping the system from growing mold and stink as badly.

edit - see elp_jc post below. I'm obviously way off on helping with this.....
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Last edited by Georgeair; 03-02-2011 at 01:23 PM..
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      03-02-2011, 07:54 AM   #29
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The problem is mold. BMWs have had this problem for years with the vents. After a while, when using the AC regularly, the vents begin to smell like your feet. (Not my feet, your smelly bastards)

Not to spook you but, I have yet to find any solution for this once the smell starts. Whether you change the cabin filter or sanitize the vents is only a temporary fix. With my last two cars I have a couple of things I always do to prevent it. 1) leave the re-circulation off; 2) always turn the AC off a ways before I get to my destination and leave the vents going to dry out the AC condenser. That should help
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      03-02-2011, 01:20 PM   #30
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The root cause of the odor IMO is BMW, in all its German wisdom, shuts off the vents when ignition is turned off, even if you had them in 'fresh'. You can confirm that no air gets in the car by shutting off the fan when in 'fresh' mode. In all other cars, you can keep getting air thru the vents with the HVAC off. On BMWs, it immediately turns into 'recirc' mode when ignition and/or HVAC system is turned off.

That's why it's so important to turn compressor off as far back from your destination as you can stand, to evaporate all condensation in the condenser.
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      03-02-2011, 01:31 PM   #31
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Had the exact same problem on my E36 M3. Replace the cabin air filter and your problems will be gone.
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      03-02-2011, 01:42 PM   #32
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Check, also, that the condensate drain is not plugged up. The plugged drain can also lead to stagnant water formation and subsequent bacterial growth.
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      03-02-2011, 01:56 PM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kyoshi71 View Post
The problem is mold. BMWs have had this problem for years with the vents. After a while, when using the AC regularly, the vents begin to smell like your feet. (Not my feet, your smelly bastards)

Not to spook you but, I have yet to find any solution for this once the smell starts. Whether you change the cabin filter or sanitize the vents is only a temporary fix. With my last two cars I have a couple of things I always do to prevent it. 1) leave the re-circulation off; 2) always turn the AC off a ways before I get to my destination and leave the vents going to dry out the AC condenser. That should help
Hah - not my smelly feet. If your care smelled like my smelly feet, you'd be dead!

Just to give everyone an update - I did apply the Klima-Cleaner last weekend, and so far so good. Smell is GONE when I use AC through the front or bottom vents. There is a slight musky smell when I use the defroster - I'm guessing some bacteria is in the front vents that go to the windshield, I may use the second bottle next weekend and try and clean that out. But overall - I have to say I think the product worked very well. And I really do like the smell - it has a nice minty fresh smell that is quite pleasant. The minty smell has weakened over the past week, but there is no bad smell anymore. Hopefully this lasts!
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      03-02-2011, 01:57 PM   #34
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Check, also, that the condensate drain is not plugged up. The plugged drain can also lead to stagnant water formation and subsequent bacterial growth.
Hmm, where is this condensate drain plug?
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      03-02-2011, 02:03 PM   #35
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Hoping I don't get this smell. My car only has 4k miles and it still kind of has a new-ish smell to the interior. I don't like using Air Fresheners and stuff in the car... I feel like they add an unnatural scent to the car. Not a bad thing, just different. Obviously, if the car stinks, you need to do something about it, but I haven't done anything to mine yet. I've been lucky since no one eats/drinks in the car, no spills, nothing like that.

Hope mine doesn't start stinking! Good luck with your car!
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      03-02-2011, 02:08 PM   #36
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Quote:
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Hmm, where is this condensate drain plug?
There's no plug, per se. The place where the condensate drains away from the coil can get plugged with a pebble or somesuch. It's a fairly common problem, and easy to fix.
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