Chemical smell from aircon

[IFM]

Hi..I'm new here..hope I can get all the good advices from the seniors!...my problem is..ever since I took delivery of my 328i last September..I noticed chemical smell in the car whenever I use the aircon...sent the car to Ingress for checking n was told that it is normal due to the turbo engine...checked with my friend 328i n no smell at all...please help

 

[anaksarawak]

Sound like aircon gas leaks

 

[fabianyee]

Do you get the smell when the aircon is ultra cold?? or the smell is there at any temperature?

PS: i know some older BMW aircon tend to emit a kind of musky smell when the aircon is set to coldest. tune up the temperature a bit and the smell goes away. Not sure if this the same scenario you have.

 

[AT-Sixx]

I have a 328i and there is no smell when I use the aircon even at 5 kph or 180 kph.
It is NOT normal for smell to emit bcos of turbo engine - the two systems are separate systems.
Complain to your car distributor together with your service advisor present.

Good luck

 

[IFM]

The smell is very obvious when I start the car in the morning....and then intermittently throughout the day....so sad...

 

[Val101]

The smell is very obvious when I start the car in the morning....and then intermittently throughout the day....so sad...

Mine was Petrol Smell when ever i rempit really Hard...sent to AB, they said its done...but since then i never rempit real hard as there had been no Weekend short Drives...:wink:

 

[pussy]

IFM , why so sad.. do this test. Get a strong air freshner can.while your engine is running with the ac on, you sit in n get someone to spray the can outside near the fresh air vents n inside the engine near the firewall.. check each spot u spray area by area.. if got then u will know where is the leak is. Make sure your ac is set for inside circulation mode.

By the way, forget about the sc centers, they wont get down their knees to find out.

Good luck..

 

[willy5]

I have the same problem too, leave the car for a few hours and when you restart there is this chemical smell. I am just worried that there is some plastic bits that are releasing something toxic and maybe harmful in the long run. BMW in China had similar complaints and they found the plastics used in the AC system to be sub spec.

Cannot be turbo, just start the car and it happens at idling. Can't be gas leak either ( and I know the smell of the ac gas) coz it has been 'leaking' for 8 mths and the ac still cold.

Open the hood to the engine compartment and you don't get the smell so it is not leaking in from the engine bay.

 

[saat]

I have never used any air freshener or any solvent cleaner in the car cos I like the new car smell to stay as long as possible. My car is 3yrs old and the leather smell is till there.

I had a similar problem. The smell comes only during startup. It goes away after a running it for a while. It turned out that the smell is from the carbon filter element. It got wet and the carbon is breaking down and has mould in it. The carbon gives off a "chemical"-like a scent. Changed the filter and the chemical smell went away. But bear in mind the micro filter has been changed only once since new.

Yours is a new car and you should not have a problem with the micro filter, but check it anyways.

 

[splee]

Is it mouldy smell? Check your cabin filter. Maybe it's dirty or there's a fungus infestation.

 

[jarance]

The AC Vent is automatically open to the engine compartment whenever the engine is shutdown regardless when it is set to Auto or Recirc mode. Even though there is a microfilter inside the engine compartment, it will not filter the smell from the engine. When you start the engine, the vent will close after a few seconds later. The air from the engine compartment will be suck into the car by the blower.

You can try to OFF the AC and blower just before you stop the engine. In the morning after you start the engine for a minute then only on the blower and AC. See whether it help to reduce the smell.

 

[lazzydogg]

my advisor told me to have the set the air cond to the hottest temp (turn on the heater) and have it run for 30 minutes..... havent get to try it as my car is in the SC...

 

[AT-Sixx]

Any rationale for that bro ?
I presume it is a one off action - not a daily affair haha

cheers

 

[splee]

Maybe it's like detox to flush and clean the Aircon piping and filter or something.

 

[langatian]

My AC emit kelapa smell while in circulation. I like this kind of smell. :burnout:

 

[Donovan]

The AC Vent is automatically open to the engine compartment whenever the engine is shutdown regardless when it is set to Auto or Recirc mode. Even though there is a microfilter inside the engine compartment, it will not filter the smell from the engine. When you start the engine, the vent will close after a few seconds later. The air from the engine compartment will be suck into the car by the blower.

You can try to OFF the AC and blower just before you stop the engine. In the morning after you start the engine for a minute then only on the blower and AC. See whether it help to reduce the smell.

Works for me !! Thanks and fingers crossed!!

 

[Mafulat]

Mine smells like dog poop. I noticed that it only happens when parked under the hot sun and when i turn it to 'max'. When outside temp is cold or not under the hot sun, it doesn't have this dog poop smell.

 

[omnimech]

I tink i found the issue.

I had the funny smell on my 320i as well.

I changed the Air Recirculation from Auto to Manual.

Ta da . no more problem

 

[Volvos525i]

Hi..I'm new here..hope I can get all the good advices from the seniors!...my problem is..ever since I took delivery of my 328i last September..I noticed chemical smell in the car whenever I use the aircon...sent the car to Ingress for checking n was told that it is normal due to the turbo engine...checked with my friend 328i n no smell at all...please help

Hi bro...
Is your prob solved by now...:smokin: