[haydenukhayden]

So 4 weeks ago I parted with my beloved e90 330d and baught 2011 520d F11 from a local dealer(102,000 miles). I had a look at the car on the forecourt seemed all ok. The dealer then offered to take the car for a test drive and he brought the car round to the front and i took it for a test drive all seemed well.(it was love at first sight )I bought the car and drove it home. The next morning when I started it and WACKKKKKK !!! a really bad smell from the air vents (15s on atmospheric air and aout 10s from A/C) that can only be described as Horse urine (really strong) I instantly called the dealer and took back to them they agreed that there was a smell and agreed to change 2 x cabin filters and carry out an aircon de bug. Went back to collect and it seemed to bit a lot better.(altough I culd only smell the de bug spray) The next morning altough not as bad the smell was back and after about a week I was at sqaure one!!. I spoke to the dealer and they agreed to do another debug. but after a week same again .At this point I am thinking maybe they haven't changed the cabin filters so I changed the 2 x carbon filters myself ( i think they actually had been changed). Nothing had changed the smell remians. The interior of the car doesn't smell (I looked like an absolute perverse maniac sniffing the carpets all around the car)Me being me i wet shampood the carpets anyway to make sure and still no differance. Any ideas what it could be? I am willing to try anything as my wife won't get in the car (not always entirely bad ) as it makes her feel sick, and altough I live in somerset and I am used to smelling poo and pee it's getting really annoying every time i get in the car getting hit by such a horrid smell.

thanks in advance

[haydenukhayden]

Update: Hot sunny days seem to make ot worse. I have been told it might be a form of mould in the vents caused by A/c being very cold and condensing when the car is turned off ny ideas how to get rid of it Any advice would be highly appreciated

Thanks

[dicky.hillary]

My F10 had a similar issue and I tracked it down to a decomposing bird that had managed to get behind the kidney grill. After fishing it out and pretty much cleaning the living daylights out of the front of the car the smell is gone :-)

[haydenukhayden]

Nothing dead that I can see was hoping I would find something. Am i right in thinking that the outside air induction is from beneath the wipers on an F11 ( maybe there is something in there?) Does any one else have any opinions about the condensation caused by the A/C. Surely if that was the case wouldn't almost all F10/F11 have the same issue?

[The Beast]

Usually is bacteria however the debug usually does the trick. This builds up when you don't use the air on regularly hence why I leave mine on all the time. Might be worth a trip to an aircon specialist for a second opinion...

[haydenukhayden]

***Update""""

I think I'm one step closer but still no idea how to tackle it!!! Apparently bacteria/mold growth starts to form in the evaporator. I have been told firstly I need to check that the drain pipe/hole from the evaporator is not blocked. Secondly I need to kill said bacteria by cleaning the evaporator. Anybody know where the drain pipe is located? Any ideas how you clean evaporator? Can it be accessed ?

[haydenukhayden]

+++ UPDATE+++ I bought a pro grade A/C / Ventilation cleaner which is a foam like substance that you squirt into the ventilation vents throughout the car which kills bacteria and mold. I has made a noticeable improvement in the car but when I switch it on it still smells very musty. Throughout all this I haven't noticed any moisture/ water dripping from the bottom of the car which leads me to believe the drain hole is blocked. My local garage not BMW) has had it on the ramps only to be greeted by a wall of splash guards and no real indication from where the drain hole is. Can anyone tell me where the a/c/ Ventilation drain hole is ? Could anyone possibly have a look under your car when you have the a/c on to see if you can see where it drains from.

Any guidance would be highly appreciated as my local BMW Specialist has a 6 week booking waiting list and I really don't want to take it to the main dealer as he will probably have my pants down within minutes.

[lsturbointeg]

Well good thing u found out the problem but wow...I couldn't imagine smelling that all the time!