[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by 10101X5

…I don't precondition/ventilation because I park inside. I wonder if this has anything to do with it.

Yes…it could very well be the problem since you “park inside”. If you have a lot of condensate left in the system…and you park inside a dark garage that is warm/hot with very little air circulation…this is the perfect condition for mold and bacteria to grow. In fact, it’s a “lover’s lane” for them.

So using the ventilation feature may be something you want to start doing on the days where you’re running the AC…its humid…and you park a hot vehicle in a closed garage. Let the ventilation feature run and it will help reduce the “prime” environment for the growth of mold and bacteria…which is probably the smell you’re getting. Running the ventilation fan will help evaporate residual moisture in the vents and on the condenser.

If you were to take a wet towel, then toss it in a gym bag…and leave it like that overnight or a few days…guess what’ you’re going to smell when you open that gym bag…yep…that’s the same thing probably happening with your AC system and residual condensate as you park inside with very little air circulation and darkness.

BTW, I’ve been using this ventilation feature for decades…especially on very hot humid days when I’m running the AC and then have to park in the garage. You can see the VENT feature on the MID of my old 97 e38 & 99 e39. I can say that it does work to help prevent AC stink.

[whatTheFuzz]

Originally Posted by HouseMD

With my 535 I would always use the ventilation when I got home if I brought take out. It was great to make sure that the smell didn't settle.

I really love this idea if you have got take away food OR you ate in car sometime back

[10101X5]

Originally Posted by Qsilver7

Yes…it could very well be the problem since you “park inside”. If you have a lot of condensate left in the system…and you park inside a dark garage that is warm/hot with very little air circulation…this is the perfect condition for mold and bacteria to grow. In fact, it’s a “lover’s lane” for them.

So using the ventilation feature may be something you want to start doing on the days where you’re running the AC…its humid…and you park a hot vehicle in a closed garage. Let the ventilation feature run and it will help reduce the “prime” environment for the growth of mold and bacteria…which is probably the smell you’re getting. Running the ventilation fan will help evaporate residual moisture in the vents and on the condenser.

If you were to take a wet towel, then toss it in a gym bag…and leave it like that overnight or a few days…guess what’ you’re going to smell when you open that gym bag…yep…that’s the same thing probably happening with your AC system and residual condensate as you park inside with very little air circulation and darkness.

BTW, I’ve been using this ventilation feature for decades…especially on very hot humid days when I’m running the AC and then have to park in the garage. You can see the VENT feature on the MID of my old 97 e38 & 99 e39. I can say that it does work to help prevent AC stink.

I see what you're saying but does that analogy only work for bmw? Because I have lived in this area for more than a decade and didn't experience this on other brands. In any case, I did preconditioning a few times and it seems to help. On top of it, I ran the uv light for 15 mins. I use this for work and hotels these days. People also use it to kill mold in the house and the attic. It helps keep inside house air fresh.

[nZtiZia]

leaves a rather strong odor in such a small enclosed space, eh?

[john1200c]

Originally Posted by 10101X5

The g05 doesn’t start engine once you turn it off. I learned that nothing beats a cooler when it comes to take out esp. crawfish

I tried this today after a drive. Put it in park, shut off engine then enabled preconditioning from the idrive screen that pops up every time I turn off the car. The engine did indeed start back up, so won't work for me in my garage unless I leave the garage door open, which I would inevitably forget to close....

[10101X5]

Originally Posted by john1200c

I tried this today after a drive. Put it in park, shut off engine then enabled preconditioning from the idrive screen that pops up every time I turn off the car. The engine did indeed start back up, so won't work for me in my garage unless I leave the garage door open, which I would inevitably forget to close....

I thought it was the G05 but I think it was the update that turned mine off. You can go into Setting and choose to either have engine start or not. It's not convenient but if you want to run when you get home, you can go into setting and uncheck the box.

[nZtiZia]

can consider programming a favorite button to quickly access enabling/disabling remote Engine Start

[john1200c]

Thanks. I will try these if I ever get an issue with odors. Its been fine so far.

[Qsilver7]

Originally Posted by 10101X5

I see what you're saying but does that analogy only work for bmw?

Nope...AC funk does not just affect BMWs...it occurs across all car manufactures and model years. If you do a simple google search using AC funk, or HVAC smell, or smelly AC...you will see it is a much discussed topic.

What BMW does, though...is offer the ability to run the HVAC blower fan AFTER the car has been shut down...which can help evaporate excess moisture.

Originally Posted by john1200c

I tried this today after a drive. Put it in park, shut off engine then enabled preconditioning from the idrive screen that pops up every time I turn off the car. The engine did indeed start back up, so won't work for me in my garage unless I leave the garage door open, which I would inevitably forget to close....

Check to see if you have another feature that runs the HVAC blower but DOES NOT start the car. You definitely wouldn't want the engine running with the garage door down.

On my older BMWs with the CIC & NBT idrive versions...I have Memory button 2 programmed to take me directly to the CLIMATE screen to activate the "parked car ventilation" feature...the engine does not start...it runs the HVAC blower fan for approx 15-30 minutes without the engine running then turns off.

[BAO_72]

This kind of issue is common to all AC systems more or less. Solutions like the "parked car ventilation" is a good feature, MB had a "rest" button that circulated warm air from the engine after a stop. This was intended to keep the cabin warm but also worked excellent to dry up the vent ducts on hot days after parking. but if such options are not available, an alternative is to crank up the heating for a minute before parking from time to time. This dries up the residual moisture. Its a bit annoying ofcourse as you have to stay in the car while doing this (at least I havent found a way to keep everything running in the 45e when the EV battery is depleated), but it works while waiting for BMW to code in functionality like this in the I7

[nZtiZia]

I'm confused. In the 45e, how is ventilating with A/C post-drive effective in mitigating moisture from the just-completed drive that was running A/C?

[BAO_72]

It wouldnt be. Hot air, fans on max would

[X5 45e]

Originally Posted by BAO_72

It wouldnt be. Hot air, fans on max would

Yes indeed. So the first scenario he described would work: circulating air that was heated with residual heat from the engine after leaving the car.

[nZtiZia]

Originally Posted by BAO_72

It wouldnt be. Hot air, fans on max would

that makes sense. so that would mean that before I leave my car after a drive that used A/C, I would need to increase the thermostat to 80°F or so, so that when I ventilate, it's using heat

Originally Posted by X5 45e

Yes indeed. So the first scenario he described would work: circulating air that was heated with residual heat from the engine after leaving the car.

except there would be no residual heat from my ICE as I drive fully electric, therefore I would need to increase my thermostat in my 45e to accomplish this?

[VTENGR]

I may be misunderstanding things but I think of ventilation as different than pre-conditioning. Ventilation would just simple be allowing air flow. So for example, rolling your windows down on a hot day to get the hot air out. Instead of doing this, you schedule a ventilation period for the X5. I'm guessing if you have "engine start" toggled, you no longer have this ventilation option?

[10101X5]

Originally Posted by nZtiZia

can consider programming a favorite button to quickly access enabling/disabling remote Engine Start

Wow nice. The more (I ask) I know about this car, the more I like it. This must be why some say once you step over the "dark side" there's no way back. Now if we could have a group of commands to be executed when a favorite button is pressed, it would be so cool.

[stockli81]

Don't you have to set a specific time to "precondition" departure schedule or something?

Whats the easiest way to set this so when you remote start the car the AC comes on full blast

[skyliner10004]

I don't use it for the schedule, but I would precondition the car coming from the mall or if it's been parked outside. Super useful

[X5 45e]

Originally Posted by nZtiZia

that makes sense. so that would mean that before I leave my car after a drive that used A/C, I would need to increase the thermostat to 80°F or so, so that when I ventilate, it's using heat

except there would be no residual heat from my ICE as I drive fully electric, therefore I would need to increase my thermostat in my 45e to accomplish this?

Yes correct. But the first scenario was for an older non hybrid car.

[45e21]

Originally Posted by 10101X5

Wow nice. The more (I ask) I know about this car, the more I like it. This must be why some say once you step over the "dark side" there's no way back. Now if we could have a group of commands to be executed when a favorite button is pressed, it would be so cool.

+1 for IFTTT.

[BAO_72]

Originally Posted by nZtiZia

that makes sense. so that would mean that before I leave my car after a drive that used A/C, I would need to increase the thermostat to 80°F or so, so that when I ventilate, it's using heat


except there would be no residual heat from my ICE as I drive fully electric, therefore I would need to increase my thermostat in my 45e to accomplish this?

Absolutely true 😁 I have the 45e myself. Only "simple" way to do it that I have found is to simply open the windows and crank up heat and fan for the last minute of my drive. Annoying but potentially effective. However it annoys me that they havent just implemented an automatic periodic AC dry-up cycle. Would be so easy. Matter of fact I thought maybe the newer cars were better designed, Ive only used this manual method on older cars, on my 2 latest Audis I never had these smell issues. Not having it in my x5 yet either but after reading about others having issues I thought Id mention it.
Depending on design it will only work if the condensation happens after the point where hot air is routed into the vent system. If the problem is prior to this point it wont help

[Stoshu]

My 2021 X5 M50i has a fan run for ~5 min after I turn off the engine. I’m not sure if this is to cleanup the AC or to cool the engine but I’ve never had an oder problem (well except wet dog) in eight months.