AC Mildew/Moldy Smell

[TonyB58]

Has anyone experienced a mildew/moldy smell from their AC? Mine occurs whenever I start up the car after not driving it for 2+ hours. The smell is present for the first 8 seconds and then disappears. Another way to trigger the smell is by having only the fans blowing. I've tried doing the kool-It Evaporator cleaner 3 times, sprayed the air inducts with disinfectant countless times, changed the cabin air filter with carbon ones 2 times, stopped using recirculating air, and used those meguiars odor eliminator and the smell keeps coming back. I live in South Florida and I get that the humidity may be the cause of my concern, but I've own 2 Japanese cars and none of them had this issue.

[TinCanSailor]

We have dealt with this on occasion with our cars. We use this product in our house to help with pet odor and after cooking with garlic, onions and such. My mother in law had a sewer backup happen at her house, We cleaned up removed the carpet, ventilated and ran this for a few cycles and you would never know it happened. Works like a champ!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[ilovebmwx3]

is there any tutorial for F25 AC drain hole location ?

[cbpip]

A/C evaporator issue I would recommend BG FrigiClean to remove excessive odors / cigarette & cigar odor.

Best product to clean evaporator coils IMO. FriClean first followed by FrigiFresh.

Have also sprayed Lysol scented disinfectant ( I used Linen scent) into the fresh air intake to remove stale air smell temporarily.

https://www.bgprod.com/catalog/clima...g-frigi-clean/

And

https://www.bgprod.com/catalog/clima...g-frigi-fresh/

On Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Frigi-Clean-E...s%2C111&sr=8-1

Also used Nextzett 96110515 Klima-Cleaner Air Conditioner Cleaner - 10 fl oz not as effective as FrigiClean.

https://www.amazon.com/nextzett-9611...s%2C111&sr=8-5

[E70X5M35i]

Originally Posted by TonyB58

Has anyone experienced a mildew/moldy smell from their AC? Mine occurs whenever I start up the car after not driving it for 2+ hours. The smell is present for the first 8 seconds and then disappears. Another way to trigger the smell is by having only the fans blowing. I've tried doing the kool-It Evaporator cleaner 3 times, sprayed the air inducts with disinfectant countless times, changed the cabin air filter with carbon ones 2 times, stopped using recirculating air, and used those meguiars odor eliminator and the smell keeps coming back. I live in South Florida and I get that the humidity may be the cause of my concern, but I've own 2 Japanese cars and none of them had this issue.

I can confirm i had the exact same symptoms. Mildew/moldy smell when starting the car lasting a few seconds.

The solution? Changed the cabin air filters. This worked for me

[DrVenture]

Originally Posted by ilovebmwx3

is there any tutorial for F25 AC drain hole location ?

This is an excellent point.

[Tuxedo]

I've had this issue, fix is have the hvac on auto recirculation always

[E70X5M35i]

Originally Posted by Tuxedo

I've had this issue, fix is have the hvac on auto recirculation always

interestingly enough, i've heard the exact opposite. i've heard that to make this issue go away, you wanna circulate some fresh air through the system for a while. I tried this , but it never fixed it. Tried it multiple days for extended drives and it never went away.

Until i changed my cabin air filters.

Why have it on auto recirculation? Just curious.. what does auto recirculate even do?

[TonyB58]

Originally Posted by E70X5M35i

I can confirm i had the exact same symptoms. Mildew/moldy smell when starting the car lasting a few seconds.

The solution? Changed the cabin air filters. This worked for me

I ended up handing the problem to the dealership and mentioned that the ozone treatment that they offer is not gonna work for my issue. They did a deep clean to the evaporator core twice and changed out the cabin filter. After that, I haven't had the issue come back yet (has been approximately 5 months). I don't recirculate my AC and keep it on fresh air mode, and I also dry out the evaporator occasionally just by running the fans and having the AC off. I assume this service would be a routine service if you don't want to have the issue recurring again.
Here are the parts that they used with the number
64-11-9-382-886 Cabin filter
83-19-2-180-507 Air conditioner cleaner
83-19-2-360-464 Odor Remover

[jokeroz]

Originally Posted by ilovebmwx3

is there any tutorial for F25 AC drain hole location ?

This guy goes through a bunch of drainage things about the F25, see if it's any help to you