Climate control stinks badly when opening sunroof

ethrnz · 07-23-2014, 03:45 AM

Hi there,

I drive a 3 months old 430d, with ca. 4000 miles. I bought the car new, and after the first couple of weeks I realized that when I open the sunroof really bad mold stink comes from the climate system.

I take extreme care on how I use the climate control. When I have cooling ON, I always turn it OFF a few minutes before stopping the car. I also turn on parked car ventilation after stopping the car to make sure that the system dries completely.

Despite this there is always a slight mold stink in the car, which gets very bad when opening the sunroof. It doesn't make any difference if the cooling is ON or OFF (!!!) Quite ridiculous, because I ordered the sunroof to be able to drive in fresh air during the summer time. It is sure that the system is somewhere infected with mold, and which is really bad as I have asthma and allergy, and I really feel it when spending a whole day in the car.

Last week I had a climate cleaning at my BMW dealer (I do not know what procedure they used), but the following day I also had an Ozone disinfection, just to make sure. In this they put an Ozone generator in the car, close all windows, turn climate control with cooling on to the maximum, and turn in-car recirculation on. All this in 40 minutes should disinfect the whole system.

None of the two procedures resolved the problem.

Has anybody experienced such a problem?
Does anyone knows the logic of climate control (i.e. what happens when I open the sunroof)?
Has anyone succesfully challenged a problem like this?

Many thanks for all your comments and suggestions.

xG35c · 07-23-2014, 08:05 AM

Seems many (all?) of us have stinky odors from the vents when the cars are new. I get the oily smell in my 428GC and after 2000 miles it now only stinks INTERMITTENTLY! Just can't figure out what conditions cause it, although full throttle seems to start it up every time...
Maybe it's an Eco Pro feature

(seriously - it's just crap burning off the engine/exhaust system)

ethrnz · 07-23-2014, 08:28 AM

Well unfortunately this is not oily stuff... Also not the classic "new-car" odor, which I personally really like. It is the distinctive mold stuff that's coming from unclean climate systems. Also causes bad cough when spending the whole day in the car...

07-23-2014, 03:45 AM	#1
ethrnz New Member 0 Rep 8 Posts Drives: BMW 430d Join Date: May 2014 Location: Hungary iTrader: (0)	Climate control stinks badly when opening sunroof Hi there, I drive a 3 months old 430d, with ca. 4000 miles. I bought the car new, and after the first couple of weeks I realized that when I open the sunroof really bad mold stink comes from the climate system. I take extreme care on how I use the climate control. When I have cooling ON, I always turn it OFF a few minutes before stopping the car. I also turn on parked car ventilation after stopping the car to make sure that the system dries completely. Despite this there is always a slight mold stink in the car, which gets very bad when opening the sunroof. It doesn't make any difference if the cooling is ON or OFF (!!!) Quite ridiculous, because I ordered the sunroof to be able to drive in fresh air during the summer time. It is sure that the system is somewhere infected with mold, and which is really bad as I have asthma and allergy, and I really feel it when spending a whole day in the car. Last week I had a climate cleaning at my BMW dealer (I do not know what procedure they used), but the following day I also had an Ozone disinfection, just to make sure. In this they put an Ozone generator in the car, close all windows, turn climate control with cooling on to the maximum, and turn in-car recirculation on. All this in 40 minutes should disinfect the whole system. None of the two procedures resolved the problem. Has anybody experienced such a problem? Does anyone knows the logic of climate control (i.e. what happens when I open the sunroof)? Has anyone succesfully challenged a problem like this? Many thanks for all your comments and suggestions.
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07-23-2014, 08:05 AM	#2
xG35c Lieutenant 36 Rep 433 Posts Drives: 330i Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: NJ iTrader: (0)	Seems many (all?) of us have stinky odors from the vents when the cars are new. I get the oily smell in my 428GC and after 2000 miles it now only stinks INTERMITTENTLY! Just can't figure out what conditions cause it, although full throttle seems to start it up every time... Maybe it's an Eco Pro feature (seriously - it's just crap burning off the engine/exhaust system)
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07-23-2014, 08:28 AM	#3
ethrnz New Member 0 Rep 8 Posts Drives: BMW 430d Join Date: May 2014 Location: Hungary iTrader: (0)	Well unfortunately this is not oily stuff... Also not the classic "new-car" odor, which I personally really like. It is the distinctive mold stuff that's coming from unclean climate systems. Also causes bad cough when spending the whole day in the car...
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