Hello All,
I've been away for a couple of weeks (at work, not jail) and I've come back to notice just how smelly my car is! A friend tells me it's some manner of mildew / bacteria from the air con. He reckons there's some sort of aerosol you can let off in the car with the air recirculating which will kill the stinky bugs and leave the car smelling like it's just had a bath. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

New Orleans????

jake

I was thinking of somewhere on the same continent, much as I'd love to visit The City That Care Forgot.

Get anything in the cleaning supplies aisle that says "antibacterial" on the label. I've used Lysol and Febreeze. With the car running, turn the fans on full blast, then push in the flaps on the firewall, and spray inside. The fans will propel this all the way from there to inside the car.

When I did this, I also changed all filters at the same time (the big and small ones). I am not sure which of them helped, but the car has had no more smell of any kind.

-- Nick

maybe change ur cabin filters?

When was the last time you changed either of the HVAC filters (micro & recirculation).

The microfilters (located under the hood) are the easiest to change...and are a bit costly if purchased from the dealer. I'm not sure where to go in Scotland for aftermarket filters. The last time I replaced my microfilters...I went with ones made by Bosch (almost 1/2 the price)...I have been very pleased with them...and they did change the smell of the interior. I had also changed the smaller recirculation filters a year before the microfilters...that helped as well.

My old charcoal activated BMW Microfilters (front side/rear side) vs the new charcoal activated Bosch Microfilters (front side/rear side):
http://www.bimmerboard.com/members/q/original/E38%20Microfilters%20Old%20vs%20New%20Filters.jpg

My (smaller) old dirty interior recirculation filters behind the dash:
http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/1/web/433000-433999/433594_208.jpg http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/1/web/433000-433999/433594_207.jpg http://memimage.cardomain.net/member_images/1/web/433000-433999/433594_209.jpg

Thanks for that, Q. I'll go for the full filter change I think. I should be able to pick some up online. A fairly easy job hopefully, as the "to-do" list is slowly but surely getting longer. I'm looking to replace the rear centre seatbelt as well now, so it's a toss up between stinky, and safe. Probably safety first, if I can get a seatbelt.