[SkierM]

Hi All

I own a G21 330e X-Drive Touring, a year old with 9.5K miles on the clock.

For the second time since owning the car I have a horrible damp trainer type smell in the cabin. First time this happened BMW used an aircon cleaner which sort of cured it for about 4 months.

Smell has now returned with a vengence - it is so bad I actually dread even getting into the car. Yesterday I was out in it and thought I’d open the sunroof a bit - sliding back the headlining seemed to release a tidal wave of the smell. Now could this be an issue with the sunroof itself or has the mouldy smell been trapped between the headlining and the panoramic glass sunroof?

I’ve checked everywhere but I can’t find any sign of damp carpets, leaks etc. Air from the vents doesn’t seem to smell so I’m at a loss as to what is causing this.

Any advice would be gratefully received - if this persists the car will have to go, I’ve never had anything like this before.

Regards

[SilverGrey]

If it’s only a year old I would get your dealer to look at it. It’s clearly not right.

Just as a general tip, I was told to always leave the a/c on and let the climate control do its thing. I’ve owned several BMWs over the past 20 years and never encountered any smell issues.

[Charlie (Wessex)]

I've got a strong damp trainer smell in my VW Amarok. It's got a leak in the footwell from somewhere. A real bastard to try and find, and can be hugely expensive.

SkierM have you checked for water ingress?

[SkierM]

Hi

Thanks for your responses.

Yes checked car over and no sign of damp on carpets or headlining. Bit of a mystery - car booked in for Thursday to see if they can get to grips with it .

Regards

[paulockenden]

You haven’t got a dead body in the boot by any chance?

[SkierM]

I did have a quick check but couldn’t immediately see anything !!

[shauntb]

Any joy?

[Jonnyr7]

my M340i touring also has the smell

booked into garage for a cabin filter change and aircon disinfection thing.

hopefully that will fix it

if not I'll be moving the car on!

mine also has a sunroof, but I can't see anywhere where it is leaking

smells like dead cat unfortunately

[V330d]

I had an issue on a previous 330d, turned out that the condensate pipe for the air con wasn't properly connected. complete dash out to fix it, diagnosis was helped by a very muggy/ warm July day.

[paulockenden]

Originally Posted by Jonnyr7

smells like dead cat unfortunately

I’m slightly concerned that you know what a dead cat smells like!

[P-ToK72]

Originally Posted by Jonnyr7

my M340i touring also has the smell

booked into garage for a cabin filter change and aircon disinfection thing.

hopefully that will fix it

if not I'll be moving the car on!

mine also has a sunroof, but I can't see anywhere where it is leaking

smells like dead cat unfortunately

My car had it's first service on the 23rd Feb and as part of that the Microfilter (I think this is the same thing as the cabin filter?) was changed.

Since then my damp trainer smell has not come back.

[SkierM]

Hi All

Update for you on the damp smell.

Car went into BMW to be checked - they did various water ingress tests but could find nothing wrong. They handed the car back to me and I pretty much noticed immediately that the smell was still evident.

At this stage I decided to have a mid life crisis and I part exchanged the 330e for an M340i X-Drive Touring. Brooklyn Grey, 6 months old with 2.3K on the clock.

Regards

[Jonnyr7]

my m340i is going in on Monday for cabin filter change and aircon sanitising

I too will be part ex ing it if the smell doesn't go away!

[SkierM]

Hi Jonnyr7

Does your M340i have a sunroof as well? Be interesting to learn if the cabin filter change and aircon sanitising manage to sort the problem.

Regards

[bmnut]

Originally Posted by SkierM

Hi All

Update for you on the damp smell.

Car went into BMW to be checked - they did various water ingress tests but could find nothing wrong. They handed the car back to me and I pretty much noticed immediately that the smell was still evident.

At this stage I decided to have a mid life crisis and I part exchanged the 330e for an M340i X-Drive Touring. Brooklyn Grey, 6 months old with 2.3K on the clock.

Regards

Expensive eradication of a smell! But you'll love the M340i.

[Jonnyr7]

yeah, I've got a sunroof too

I can't see any obvious leaks from it but maybe sunroof is the common theme

[SkierM]

Hi

It was weird but both my wife and I noticed the smell got considerably worse when we moved the headlining back to reveal the sunroof.

BMW tested everything and could not find anything amiss. I was wondering if moisture was condensing on the inside of the sunroof and then making the headlining damp although feeling it and doing a sniff test didn't yield anything. Just seemed strange that the smell definitely got worse with the headlining moved back.

Yep bit of a radical move to get a M340i. It was never the intention to really keep the 330e long term due to concerns over what happens to the battery at the end of the warranty period should anything go wrong. Also residual values - would they hold up. Decided to take the plunge while the 330e still had low mileage and would pay me some money back to help bankroll my way into a M340i.

Regards

[Jonnyr7]

I’ll have a play with that

We tend to keep the headliner open all the time for daylight.

Smell much more noticeable today, it’s a sunny day and the cabin is warm. Not pleasant

[paulockenden]

Have you owned the car from new? If you bought it used I wonder if it’s ever had flood damage?

[Jonnyr7]

no, I've had it since new. its really weird. we've tried hard to keep it clean, its used mostly for commuting up and down the motorway to work. not been damaged at all

[Talisman77]

Strange - I've a G20 M340i w sunroof and also had the damp smell issue. Had BMW air con sanitize and the smell hasn't come back since, so hopefully at a minimum it doesn't come back over the warmer months!

[Jonnyr7]

couple of days since the cabin filter was changed and so far the smell seems to have gone. which is good