Smelly aircon - how to resolve?

[parabolica]

Just bought a 15 year old car that is in overall great condition, including the aircon working well; however it stinks - nothing unusual, just that rather noxious chemical smell you get from older AC systems. Is there anything that can be done to remove the smell? I'm thinking of checking out/cleaning the ducting and making sure there is no residue in there, but I think the crux of the smell is the actual AC itself. Would a system refresh remove the smell? I'm not sure when the system was last touched.

[parabolica]

Cold said:

JDM_Fiesta said:

Link to one of these please and any further instructions?

Halfords AC Purifier link

I had thought about one of these but they struck me as a short-term solution - the car only smells when the AC is on and it's definitely the AC gas that is the source. Do those bombs really resolve this issue? They appear to be more suited towards ingrained smells.

Thanks for the tip of running it hot for a while, will try that one out. Want to look into how easy it is to get to the insides of the vents (it's a Z4) and give them a clean if possible.

ETA also planning to inspect the filters.

[parabolica]

Ok; I thought it was maybe a case of the gas being years and year old; my dad still owns my old Saab 93 which is a similar age to my new car and it has the same issue. I'll give the bomb option a try if the run-on-hot solution doesn't work.

[parabolica]

Thanks everyone; just away to inspect the pollen filter although the seller did say it was changed as part of a recent service (service book confirms this) but better to check and be sure. A mate had a spare bio-bomb so I have that for nowt now incase nothing else works.

ETA Pollen filter looks brand new so probably not the issue; will take a look into the vents as soon as I have access to my workshop.

Edited by parabolica on Thursday 24th May 14:28