[Pussiwillow]

Alright as we know these cars off gas a bit of a crayon smell with time, lol
I purchased a new, to me, 2014 335i m sport

My wife has asthma and shortness of breath issues with odors generally, and this smell is semi bothersome to her and I was seeing if anyone had a remedy to lighten the odor or eliminate it completely without using strong fragrance.

Thanks guys I appreciate any help

[bellguy]

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1446488

May help.

[Pussiwillow]

Ah yes I stumbled on that one. That was the only solution is really saw, I don't have a dealership around me to request this product. I'll pm the OP and see if he remembers what it was so I can order it

[rjd598]

Meguiars has an aerosol air freshener product. Reviews seem to be good overall, but I haven't done a lot of research on it. I know there's tons of youtube reviews on it plus probably many online reviews.

[Pussiwillow]

In attempts to keep this car I may be removing the dash to find the source and remove it
Whatever it is, it's 100% behind the dash, I pulled various things out and smelled and inspected and there's nothing giving off this odor, the moment your nose goes towards the vents and dash it's overwhelming.
I live in Arizona where it's very hot
It's likely worse for me than others, I'll update when I find the source.

[exE36M3]

Maybe consider a charcoal infused cabin filter. Charcoal does wonders for odors.
But as an aside, in my experience, crayon burning smells tend to be synthetic oil burning off...

Sometimes from the valve cover onto the exhaust manifold.

[Pussiwillow]

Have that exact type of filter coming as we speak
There's zero oil leaks whatsoever
I've been through the entire bay and underside, removed everything I could to inspect everywhere.

It's more of a waxy smell, similar to a box of crayons
Not a burning smell at all, just really potent and strong waxy smell.
8/10 on strength if we need a scale lol

[Pussiwillow]

The smell personally is strong but I can live with it
The wife on the other hand wants nothing to do with the car, doesn't want to be around, the clothes and hair smell like crayons after 15 minutes of being in it.

Shortness of breath is triggered with her asthma within minutes, when we test drove, checked, and purchased the car the odor was no where to be found, literally 3 days into ownership it just started creeping in and does not appear to want to let up, entire garage smells of crayons now. Lol

[bigdaddycane]

most German cars have this smell in the interior and some have said its a component of the sound deadening material

[Pussiwillow]

Ya seems most German cars suffer the same fate
Different sources over the years, some say the adhesives in the foam, some say sound deadening, some say carpet pad, in the f30 there's definitely a major source behind the dash, likely on the firewall, when I have the time to tackle it I'm going to open up the entire dash, before I attempt to remove it, to see what I'm up against, I read someone was able to lay dynamat over the problem area on the firewall in a different chassis bmw, I think it was a 1 series, without having to remove the dash, but doing so through openings.

They said it remedied the issue, so we shall see
I'll definitely update this when I figure it out or as I go, because certainly someone is going to want to figure this out at some point as well. Haha

[bigdaddycane]

Originally Posted by Pussiwillow

Ya seems most German cars suffer the same fate
Different sources over the years, some say the adhesives in the foam, some say sound deadening, some say carpet pad, in the f30 there's definitely a major source behind the dash, likely on the firewall, when I have the time to tackle it I'm going to open up the entire dash, before I attempt to remove it, to see what I'm up against, I read someone was able to lay dynamat over the problem area on the firewall in a different chassis bmw, I think it was a 1 series, without having to remove the dash, but doing so through openings.

They said it remedied the issue, so we shall see
I'll definitely update this when I figure it out or as I go, because certainly someone is going to want to figure this out at some point as well. Haha

that sounds like a monumental effort IMO. Good luck with it and let us know what you find.

[Pussiwillow]

I will for sure
It's what I gotta do if I wanna keep the car, it's a bummer but it's whatever, I'll figure it out, wife drove it for 15 min today and had to use her rescue Inhaler and it didn't even improve her 50%
This is after a cabin filter and ozone...

[exE36M3]

Do you get the smell when the HVAC system is in recirculate mode?
Or does it occur with recirc and outside air?

This might help you narrow down the source.

[Pussiwillow]

It does it no matter what the setting is, I feel it's out of the vents more so on recirculate, I changed my cabin filter and was peeping around under the dash, it's very strong on the passenger footwell with this odor, I've been so busy lately I haven't had a chance to dig deeper, it's definitely something under the dash/on firewall

[Onizukachan]

I find this interesting as I also live in the desert SW and haven’t had a bit of issue, even when parked outside on a 109 degree day with the windows up. And like your wife I have asthma, and I have a sensitive nose...

I kind of miss the old crayon smell from the e34 era... nostalgia. On those it was a wax in the carpet pad/ sound deadening that would do it.

Even they were nothing like what you describe in intensity. Open a window and the smell was gone.

I’d look under the seats, in the vents etc and see if something didn’t actually get into them, run the heater and see if it gets worse.
What you describe almost sounds like someone spilled something into a vent or lost one of those vent clip stink sticks. I mean fragrance enhancers...

I’d especially look at the console/ rear vents as kids like to stick things in places like that.

[ladu23]

I live in New York area and my girlfriend has been complaining about the smell as well. We had good number of dry days and I noticed the smell was gone until it rained recently. This is a theory- my passenger side sunroof drain has been leaking in and recently the carpets were drenched. The smell came back this morning and I am going to dry the carpets and deodorize the smell again to see if this is the cause. Hopefully its not mold.

[ziyfan]

Solved, latest update to the interior/cabin smell :
the smell is confirmed to be the insulation material , mainly the front insulation under the dashboard.

My car is BMW 2013 M135i, bot from BMW dealer in 2021 with extended warranty.
The smell mainly come from the gap between the window and the dashboard.
the smell is strong when the carbin is hot , eg. switch to hot A/C facing up or just put the car under the sun for a few hours.
the smell is weak when A/C temperature is cool or use a big towel to block all the gaps on top of the dashboard .

Took 2 weeks to oder the new sound insulation boards from BMW Germany . Cost only around $200
Then took around 8~12 hours to install the new parts. cost $2500 for labour.
all paid by BMW dealer under warranty.

Good luck everyone, don't buy old BMW, they used faulty material in old models. especially F20,F30

[Onizukachan]

Umm. Duh?
Thought everyone knew Bmw used a waxy sound insulation material.
They eliminated it entirely on later models, along with things like steering feel and correctly opening hoods.

You should definitely buy an e12 or e34.
They still smell like crayons 20+ years later. Miss that smell.

As someone with asthma I can tell you…The BMW isn’t faulty; your wife is.

[celsdogg]

Originally Posted by Onizukachan

Umm. Duh?
Thought everyone knew Bmw used a waxy sound insulation material.
They eliminated it entirely on later models, along with things like steering feel and correctly opening hoods.

You should definitely buy an e12 or e34.
They still smell like crayons 20+ years later. Miss that smell.

As someone with asthma I can tell you…The BMW isn't faulty; your wife is.

ouch man.

but don't forget about window switches in the "correct" place.

[bigdaddycane]

Man, this is a ton of work to correct this issue. Even though I love BMWs, I would have just bought another car.

I'm not sure if it was this post or not, but I swear I smell the crayon smell more now in my F31.

I guess I will have to get use to it.

Crayons have one of the most recognized scents in the nation.

"A Yale University study found that it ranked 18 among 80 recognizable scents to American adults. Wonder what you're smelling? The odor is a result of stearic acid — a derivative of beef fat — added to the batch to give the coloring tool it's waxy consistency. Gross!"