anyone else have a mildew kind of smell ALWAYS in their mini? I've had my car detailed and air fresheners galore in my mini and the smell is still there. It's not horrible but I crack the windows everyday to get new air in there so it doesn't get worse. anyone else? anyone have ideas? please help.

 

It's probably coming from your AC system. This has happened to me as well. Try getting a carbon impregnated cabin air filter. It should help. Then when you run your AC turn it off for the last couple of minutes before you turn off your car and just let the fan run for a bit. It's the condensation in your AC lines that can mildew and cause this smell. I hope this helps you.
-Cheers!!!

PS. There is also a cleaner that you can inject into your AC lines to kill off the mildew but I can't for the life of me remember what it's called or where to get it. Maybe another member can chime in and help out here.

 

Has your MINI gone through a service yet? The first major service includes replacing the air filter. MINIs with auto climate control are supposed to get filters with activated charcoal. Many dealers are skimping and replacing them with the cheaper standard filter. This can have mildew problems.

 

If you cant wait for the service call, you can replace your own.

Here is DIY for the cabin air filter. I prefer the ones with activated charcoal but they all work pretty good.

video: http://www.doityourself.com/video/Ho...lter-208498258

Photo instruction: http://www.geekshocker.com/Claire/maint/cabinFilter.php

They show R53 but they are basically the same.

 

Hey thanks for that. Replaced mine last year, time to do it again I think... too much hot boxing... just kidding

Any recommended retailers for the cheapest, carbon-activated filter? Think I got my last one for like 20 something off autozone but I want the best filter available this time around

 

Here's where I recommend. Take your pic.
http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/200...ir_filter.html

 

+1 - just be careful of some of the aftermarket brands. While they sometimes have more pletes in the filter, the plastic frames tend to be more rigid than the OEM filters, and can snap at the corners during installation.

I have not purchased any from these guys DWright, what was your impressions of their construction.

 

Hmmmm... wasn't this an episode of Seinfeld?

http://www.sonypictures.com/tv/shows...episode&ep=422

I think Seinfeld ended up trying to sell the car - but he couldn't because of the smell!

.

 

Working at a dealer[not Mini] I encounter many cars with "Air Fresheners" often in multiples of five or more.The oils that they exude impregnate everything in the car and after exposure to high heat/humidity they don't quite smell fresh or pleasant.Also personal fragrances can react with mildew and produce some ugly aromas.The A/C systems get mildew odors in summer months from the water that condenses out of the air flowing through the evaporator.There are some products that can be sprayed into the ventilation intake that might help but the only sure way is to remove the parts and clean them with a bleach solution.To reduce the amount of water condensed it is best to use the A/C on recirculate when the humidity is high[most all the time in summer on the east coast] it also gets colder as you aren't trying to cool 120F air to 40F within a 2 foot long duct.Try cleaning the interior with unscented cleaners and maybe ditch the trees.

 

I had a dirty sock smell in my wife's BMW 530. The problem is that the aluminum fins on later model car's AC evaporator are so close together that moisture does not drain off of them as well as in older designs. Many car makes are having AC odor problems. Just google any brand + AC odor and you'll see.

I used the Air Sept product and the compressed air attachment to coat the BMW's evaporator coils and that did the trick and it has not come back a year later. Check it out at http://www.airsept.com/index.php?loadmod=ac

Good luck!!

 

The carbon impregnated filter I ordered from partsgeek was from the OEM manufacturer for my '08 Volvo C30. So I can not say 100% that what works perfectly for the C30 will work perfectly for your MINI. But I did order from partsgeek and I do trust them 100%. The OEQ filter at the bottom of the page I suggested looks very similar to the quality and build of the filter that I ordered.

 

As a sort of long term solution, first clean any and all debris from the cowl area and under the hood in the cowl area. Remember the smell is mold, besides using chemicals like Fridgifresh, Lysol works great. With the windows down, the fan on high, and the recirculation bottom off; spray the Lysol into the air intake on the cowl. The fan will drawl the Lysol into the heater box where the mold is. Having the cabin filter out before would be a great help, though. Remember moister is molds friend.

 

My car smells like stinky feet, too. Not in the winter here though. it will come back as soon as the spring hits. But it only occurs when i turn on the AC. My carbon filter (I have auto climate) was replaced a year ago and I did confirm with the part number that it was the carbon one.

 

I had an old pair of stinky gloves stashed in the boot. They were rotten.

I thought it was the car too until I found the moldy gloves.

Yuck.

 

The problem I had was that in the area right behind the cabin filter (on the engine compartment side) I had a mouse nest being built. Now my whole car reeks of urine like smell. I have to replace the cabin filter and hopefully this will fix the problem because just removing the nest pieces hasn't. (For anyone that notices a bad small and can't figure the reason check behind the battery!!!)