OLY

Hey, new here & new with M.B's, my wife "had to have it" 1991 E300 3.0 w/269,000 miles. Bought it cheap, "looks" well taken care of. Head has been rebuilt (have receipts) runs/drives/brakes& handles great, only concern is it's slow going into reverse (I know,B3 bands) My question is could a old cabin filter cause the previous owners smoke odor to linger? Better yet will changing this help the smell go away? Thanks, smelly in seattle, OLY

Saijin_Naib

Well, keeping it certainly won't help anything!

Depending upon how much they smoked, you'll find that some of the tar and other deposits will leach out of the leather, plastic, & vinyl under extreme heat (think summer in a parking lot).

You'll be fighting that odor forever. Best course of action is to pull the old filters, vacuum vigorously, scrub vigorously, and clean every inch of the interior. That'll offset things a fair bit, but again, it'll be present for a long while at least.

Post some pics!

ptoro01

Yup, scrub clean vacuum and empty the ashtrays....
Your car doesn't have a pollen filter.

Give it 3 months, the smell should go away.

OLY

Thanks, I've used a carpet deodorizer (the powder kind) that seemed to help some. Ptoro1, you mentioned a pollen filter, is that different than the cabin filter? I would add photos if I knew how, I'm a carpenter not a computer whiz, pardon my electrical ignorance. Explain it like your talking to a 7 year old & I might get it! Ha! OLY

OLY

[/IMG]Not trying to get off topic, trying to add photo from album, OLY

OLY

Trying the photo thing again, OLY

Saijin_Naib

Ah, that is a lovely color. You don't see that very often

raymond g-

very nice, oly. will keep an eye out for you. (i'm a bit more to the right in your photos, near Boeing Field.)

Stickbuilder

Does a 91 even have a cabin filter? I didn't think they came out until 94-95.

OLY

Is that what ptoro01 meant by not having a pollen filter a few reply's back? Honk if you see me raymond g- OLY

2PHAST

Yes. The cabin filter wasn't present till model year 1994.

OLY

Thanks, saves me from looking for something that isn't there! OLY