Originally Posted by SSI

I am having this same problem with my 2014 GL450. I've had it for about 13 months (8k miles) and have noticed a terrible odor a minute or so after the air conditioner comes on. It is disgusting, and not to mention embarrassing when others are in the car. I left a message at the service department and haven't heard back yet. I also worry this could be a health hazard if mold is circulating through the air of our family car? Has anyone dealt with this recently? Will the service department know how to fix this and I assume it should be free of charge, right?

Originally Posted by Patch123

MB bulletin #L183.30-P-059119

Originally Posted by dtk92657

Leetom, you and I know that replacing cabin air filter is not a permanent solution. This is a fundamental design problem that somewhere in the AC system (i.e. evaporator) is trapping moisture and providing a haven for mold to grow. I am an engineer by profession and at work we deal with many difficult problems and we don't stop until we root cause the underlying issue. Spraying disinfectant foam such as Lysol will only be a termporary solution and mold will return as long as there is a moisture. My tech advisor initially told me that they are replacing the evaporator with newly designed one. It turned out they didn't. They just cleaned with warm water. So my problem of mold smell may return in future. When I asked him why evaporator was not replaced with new design, he also learned that even 2015 GL class cars are coming in for the same problem. So it is evident Mercedes didn't address the fundamental issue. I don't know whether every GL class has the same problem or not, but according to the advisor, there are quite a bit of GL class with the same problem. Some are really really bad he said. I don't know whether people know it or not, but the mold is a serious health threat. It can cause all kinds of health problems. Perhaps not for everyone according to my research but about one third of people (30%) who have certain genetic marker will develop serious health issues including auto immune disease and cancer. Simply google search under "mold and health" you will find so many articles. If your home has mold, then you cannot sell the home until you do complete mediation and show proof of mold free. Car is a more confined space and you will inhale everything through the vent. I was thinking about filing the case with "Consumer Watchdog Lawyer". Then at least the dealer did something major and my problem of mold smell stopped for now. So I cannot pursuit any longer.
I have been a owner of mercedes for past 30 years. I have owned 1988 190E, 2000 E320, 2003 S550, 2014 S550, and 2014 GL350. All prior to 2014 models that I owned I didn't have this problem.
My wife complained that our 2014 S550 also had musty dirty socks smell 7 months after purchase. I confirmed the smell and my wife's multiple friends confirmed the "sour stinking socks smell". I took the car (S550) to the FJ Newport but they say unable to comfirm the smell and told us to pick up the car. They also say that they don't have any known problem with 2014 S550 and further say that the advisor is told to not take the car in the shop unless they can verify the smell. I guess all dealer techs are very insensitive to smells.^^ So we had to pick up the car and bring the car back home. We stopped driving the S550 for a while (weeks) until we are sure of mold free. Because both my wife and I have a certain genetric marker and also have compromised auto immune system and we cannot deal with any mold issue if there exists.
So when we came home we turned on the fan to the maximum speed with max heat for hours with engine running (without us in it). We did it a few times, and at least the smell in S550 subsided quite a bit over time. Then we hired mold testing lab technician did the testing on both GL350 (after the repair) and S550. It showed that the mold elevation was not significant enough and we concluded it is at least safe to drive the car until the problem develops more seriously. It costed me ~$600 for both mold and VOC testing. Too bad we had to go through this much headache. I spent so much time and money agonizing over both mold and chemical smell issues after spending $200K for purchasing both mercedes. I wasn't going to purchase any more mercedes but my collegue told me that he learned through review that the new mercedes improved so much in reliability. Well .... I don't know about that... Both S550 and GL350 is a super car. I really like it. I think it is the best car if it didn't have these problems. Well... let me put it this way. Having a problem is one thing but trying to save money by denying the problem is another. I also learned that local dealers hands are tight as they only get paid for the work Mercedes manufacturer approves.
When people purchase cars of this caliber, chances are that people are entrepreneur of some businesses. If I am a mercedes CEO, I would accept and address the issues at all cost. I would recall the cars and examine and make sure there is no problem. Perhaps the Mercedes CEO doesn't know about this issue. I took my other issue (chemical smell) to the highest case manager in MBUSA but didn't think of reaching the CEO. If I have enough evidence, then I will. I will even contact consumer protection agencies and even news media including 60 minutes if needed.
If people develop some serious health issues due to this known problem, they may face a big law suit, eventually if it gets to the media, they will lose a lot of buyers. There may be so many people turned away from the dealer as the dealer says "unable to confirm the problem". According to my research so many people are suffering from this mold (dirty socks smell) issue.