Hi. I took on an E320 Cab that's been in the family for years. I mention that because it was hardly used (28K) and kept closed tight for months at a time. When I got it, the interior had a strong musty smell, and I took it to Mercedes for an interior detailing. No luck. I thought it might be the headliner, until I noticed the smell even with the top down.

Question: What interior materials are most likely to release this musty odor? And what can I do about it? Could it be the perforated leather? The carpets? Plastic dash? Thanks for any help. Ken in NYC

Horse hair stuffing in the seats?

Does it smell like someone smoked a $100.00 dollar Cuban cigar in the back seat,
Years ago
(with just a hint of his girlfriends perfume?)
[typical Mercedes smell, not bad really]

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'84 300SD sold
124.128

bump, I have a smelly interior in my Older Merc and i'd like a answer too!

My AC condenser was moldy. You can go down to your local Heating & Air Conditioning Supply house and purchase ‘Evaporator Cleaner', for about $10/gallon and it is diluted 3:1.

The procedure for both is to;

Run the vehicle with the heat on max, fan on High for 5-10 minutes.
This is to remove the moisture from the inside air supply box.

Next remove the access panel next to the fan motor.
Turn the fan back on to High and spray the evaporator.
The engine may or may not be running for the application.

The Mopar spray can has a very long nozzle like the short one that comes on a can of WD40.
The Supply House cleaner will need to be applied with a sprayer, like a pump up garden sprayer.

The Mopar spray will not harm the interior of the vehicle but the Supply House liquid must be watched. It to will not harm Leather or Cloth but I do not recommend spraying until a mist is coming out of the vents and it my drip from the panel opening you are spraying into.

Have towels ready to catch any liquid that may run out.
The Mopar spray is a vapor and will not run out onto the carpet.
Both are not harmful to you or the environment.

The cleaner is like a band-aid, you'll need to find out if the drain is clogged or there is excessive trash in the cowl area to stop it from coming back.

If you search here this has been discussed before. The first thing is to check all the drain holes, especially with a convertable. Then once you know they're not clogged up the fun starts. Personally I've tried to combat this sort of thing unsuccesfully by leaving the interior intact (car had been parked under trees for a year).
IMO you'll have to pull out the seats and carpeting and treat them with a professional product and also wipe down the the floor pan. You may even have to look behind the door panels. The trunk should also be done. Good advice above about doing the HVAC system also. Doable but very labor intensive.

Hopefully it's not in the rag top also....a whole nuther can of worms

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2006 CLK 500 coupe Capri Blue on Grey (zoom,zoom)
47,000mi

04 VW TDI Passat 80,000mi
(Techno)

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...maybe I'll just start to call it an "aroma". Thanks, Ken

Did you check the trunk for bodies?

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

My 560SL, which I don't drive very often now, smelled musty, until I replaced the leather seat covers. The car has no leaking seals and hasn't gotten rained in as long as I've owned it. This made a big difference. BTW, the pads were fine.

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86 560SL
With homebrew first gear start!
85 380SL
Daily Driver Project

http://juliepalooza.8m.com/sl/mercedes.htm