khaug

Hi all. We're back from Germany and the ED experience. In spite of encountering Hurricane Jeanne at the Atlanta airport on the way over, the trip was wonderful, with M-B and everyone else performing flawlessly.

Alas, there are issues with the car. The biggie: when the sunroof is opened while driving, a strong odor which resembles diesel fumes fills the cabin. Is this a regular part of the E-Class experience, or is my particular car defective somehow? Your comments, negative and positive will be appreciated.

Barry45RPM

Have never smelled exhaust, let alone a diesel fume smell.

ATS

Khaug is driving a diesel.

You are probably getting used to the smell of diesel. The exhaust pipe is not that far from you when you think about it..

DWP

It might be part of the diesel E-class experience. I've never noticed the smell of exhaust in our E500 when the sunroof is open. I have to wonder, though - if the smell of diesel exhaust is more distinctive than the smell of gasoline exhaust, is it possible that gasoline exhaust is also finding its way back in through our sunroof, but we're not smelling it? The exhaust of low-emissions cars like the W211 has very little odor, and of course CO is odorless.

glojo

Hi Karl,
Was this experience whilst you were in Europe? I ask this because here in the UK diesel fumes (especially when first started) smell like a 'cheap' perfumed boudoir (not that I have personally experienced such an aroma).

It is refreshing to read the dinosaur comments of the 'petrol heads' amongst us, but this is the 21st century and you should NOT being experiencing any of the obnoxious fumes that no doubt the E500 emits!!

Take it to the dealer.

Regards,
John
Night time in Torquay

ATS

Driving behind a diesel here I can smell the fumes.. It makes me press the recirculate button. So, here in Canada the smell is obnoxious..

glojo

Hi
That's why I deliberately asked if his problem was in Europe.

Told yuh, you got those terrible fumes in the gas guzzlers. Fancy blaming the poor innocent diesel.

On a serious note, does Canada have a low sulphur diesel policy, are do you use the same fuel as the US?

Thanks,
John

levind

I smell no diesel fumes at all....with the sunroof open, walking behind the car while it was running, etc......none

I did read of one complaint of fumes on a german forum. Their dealer traced the smell to a cracked fuel line. The fuel was soaking up in the belly pan and smelling. Otherwise I have read or heard of nothing. It is not a common complaint. I would ask your dealer to inspect the car once it arrives.

khaug

Hi Karl,
Was this experience whilst you were in Europe?

Yes - the car is now (presumably) on the boat on its way to Baltimore. Most of the driving was in the German countryside at very moderate break-in speeds. The odor was quite strong with the sunroof open and surely smelled like diesel exhaust, although not as rank as the truck diesel fumes from our crummy diesel fuel here in the USA.

Come to think of it, some of the same odor appeared in the cabin when the vent system was set for recirculation (sunroof closed), which made no sense at all to me.

Viesel

Mine has absolutly no oder at all with the SR open or closed, or windows down, up, rec button on or off. Actuall standing behind the back bumper with the cdi running there still isnt any smell. These cars are so clean burning.

cmentz

Interesting in that I just took delivery of a new SLK and I get a noxious smell in the cabin when the top is down. It is an oily smell that could be diesel fuel, except it obviously doesn't have a diesel engine. The dealer claims it is the preservative used on the exhaust and undercarriage for shipment protention. Probably something like cosmoline. They claim it will exentually burn off and the smell will go away.

Just wondering what was the eventual solution to the problem you noticed. it sounds (smells) like the same issue.

Messerchmidt

your exuast probably has a hole in it somewhere under the car

you should not smell anything liek that inside of the car.

cmentz

Thanks. A leak is what I thought and why I took it to the dealer. They say no leaks. Yet I have a smell that is oily and rather noxious whenever the car has a crosswind or going into a strong wind and the top is down. No smell with the top up.

Now I am wondering if there might be some kind of back draft that is pulling in exhaust fumes under certain circumstances. Would appreciate any thoughts.

The dealer's idea that it is some kind of residue from a shipping preservative doesn't seem to make sense as there is no smell when I park it in the garage. If it was burning off a residue you would think it would smell when the car wasn't moving and was in a confined area.

livetodrive

Does it smell like rotten eggs? If so, it could be a damaged catalytic converter.