Okay here's the story:

This summer I bought my 300D. With the last few days getting cold up here, I used the heater for the first times. The previous owner was an old French man, and I can tell he probably smoked a pack of cheap Gitanes in that car, every day for the last 30 years.

I haven't found any litterature mentioning an air cabin filter for my car. What would be an effective way of getting rid of that awful smell?

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1984 W123 300D
1974 VW Bug

you'll probably want to clean your ducting out as best that you can. foaming evaporator coil cleaner works great, i use kool-it brand and it leaves behind a very fresh smell. you'll want to drop your blower motor to clean both it and the evaporator box

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1981 NA 300D 310k miles

Two good effective home remedies:


1. A dish of ammonia in a closed car overnight. Two days in a row.

Do it AFTER you clean out everything under the front and rear seats.

Pull and clean the carpetsand P_ine Sol the headliner

More permanently:

Put a small bag of cedar chips under the rear seat and even the front seats. Available at pet supply.

This combo remobved a pile of bad smells. One issue is getting the source if it is dead organic stuff along with the Gitanes/Gauloises.

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Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

Apples

Seriously, cut up several apples and place them in a container inside the closed car. Leave them there until they rot and completely dehydrate. A friend of mine, whose family has been in the used car business for three generations, has used this method passed down in the family.

I suspect they give off a gas that neutralizes the smoke odor.

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )

Old fashioned washing soda works really well on carpet and upholsterysmells. You can make it yourself by heating baking soda to 400F for 10-15 min untill it gets pale white. Mix it with water and your favorite soap and scrub away. From the sound of it you may be looking at cleaning your air box and heater core to get rid of the smoke smell completely.