daviddooley5

Ever since I purchased my c350, I have had this Crayon Odor inside it. I changed out the cabin air filter but it hasn't changed. Is there something I'm missing or else I can do?

rb23lb

do you have the all weather rubber floor mats?

mine smell like crayons

daviddooley5

No I have carpet mats.

downtowncanada

Did you pay for an interior protection package? Some of these interior protection packages apply Xzillion Mink Oil to leather / artico leather that has a waxy/oily smell. I had it once on another car and it was very strong in the hot sun.

Or did you get a rust inhibitor applied somewhere? Some of the rust inhibitors spray a wax like substance rather than the oil specifically in the door panels so it doesn't smear on the windows.

VW's come from the factory with a wax coating on the interior door panels and are known to smell like crayons.

Glyn M Ruck

If none of these apply it's bacteria in the aircon system on the evapourator & ducting - can produce many different smells. A dealer can sort out for you. If you have MBTex & not leather - it also has a distinctive smell.

LILBENZ230

I was searching for this. My 2011 South Africa built C300 has 13,900 miles on it and no crayon smell whatsoever. My dad's 2009 Germany built C300 has 37,000 miles on it and it has a very strong crayon smell just like my 2005 Germany built C230 had. All of them had MB-Tex. Is this a Germany vs South Africa build thing? Or have they finally eliminated that distinctive crayon smell from the cars?

Glyn M Ruck

SA cars smell different. Different materials & glues etc. Over 50% by weight local content depending on model Matt. My German CLK smells very different to my old local C240 & both with full leather.

LILBENZ230

I kinda miss the old crayon scent.. the other news is that anyone who would say there is a quality difference between German and SA W204s is full of it. They're equals as far as I can tell.

VictorE

My car had a crayon smell when I first bought it, but it eventually went away.

But sometimes i get this really bad smell when I first start my A/C, which I think is bacteria built up. I'll be cleaning/changing my air filter soon depending on how it looks.

Glyn M Ruck

Absolutely ~ the SA plant has won so many awards. In fact I think a very few things are slightly better on SA cars ~ the fabric used on door bins, A, B & C pillars & the seat belt quality. Some plastics are also more UV resistant.

TexFinn

Plenty of topics about that. Very common occurence and unfortunately just changing the cabin filter is usually not enough. I guess MB has recognized the issue and are offering some kind of cleaning service that people seems to report is working, so you might want to check into that in case the filter change doesn't work.

My wife's car has the same odor issue. we still haven't been able to justify the cost of doing the service, so we have learned to live with it for now.

Supposedly keeping the HVAC system in Auto mode will prevent the problem appearing.

LandSeaAir

My 2008 german built c300 has a very strong crayon smell, multiple people have gotten in it and specifically said it smells like crayons, glad to see I'm not the only one with it.

Sometimes I worry the odor is bad to be sitting in for hours, perhaps cancer causing, what does everyone think of this?

Glyn M Ruck

Not in a German built Benz. All potential carcinogens are closely monitored in the EU & especially Germany.

LandSeaAir

That makes a lot of sense and is definitely comforting to hear.

C300BLK

That crayon smell is very common in our our cars as well as some bmw's. Mine has smelled like that from day one. It usually gets worse when the car is sitting in the sun. Ive read that its caused by some of the insulation material under the back seats and from material inside the doors.

LILBENZ230

As a side note, I have a 2013 German built C250 loaner right now. It has no crayon scent. So I guess that, even for the German built ones, is a thing of the past.

Glyn M Ruck

Yes ~ Materials are always changing. Drove a new A250 Sport the other day & it smelt like my old Alfa's used to new.

Benz had a warning that the underbody spray used in the Shanghai plant violated carcinogen levels. Don't know the outcome.