Lately there has been this weird burning smell that comes from my SLK when I drive around. It doesnt even have to be long distance driving...it could be a short 5 minute drive. And if I stop and get out of the car, i can smell something like burning plastic. I'm trying to figure out what it is, I'm suspicious of the HIDs, but any other ideas??


Thanks in advance..

 

And that's what it could very well be. You could have run over a plastic bag and it's sticking to the exhaust. I've seen it before, several times.

 

Do you have a aftermarket HID system? in any case, I don't believe it is the HID's, they use less power than halogen bulbs, and the ballast only heats up a little, not enough to melt a plastic bag...

I would go with the exhaust theory.

 

Thanks guys, yes I found a plastic grocery bag that has melted on the exhaust pipes. Question, I pulled most of it off. However, there are some parts that have totalled melted to the exhaust and hardened. Do I have anything to worry about or can I just let it burn off from the heat?

 

I wonder if the slk exhaust is prone to stick to plastic bag, it happened to me before also!!! The burning smell was still there after i take the bag out so in order to make the smell completely go away, all you do is lift up the car and use a very sharp knife or similar tool to just scrape the muffler or the wherever the bag got stuck very hard. You will see some black burned plastic pieces falling off..just keep on scraping until nothing else falls off and the smell will go away...hope this helps

 

Wow, did I call that one or what??

 

It'll take a LONG time to burn off. Kenny had this exact problem on his SLK 32... car smelled awful for months. He finally put the car up on a hoist, and used a screwdriver to scrape whatever stuff is left after it cooled down (it hardens when the exhaust's cool).