Smell from Trunk?

[InfinitySky]

Long story short I left some wet shoes in my trunk and it seems like the inside of my car now has a “musty” smell. Am I imagining this or do smells from the trunk really get into the cabin?

 

[jjrandorin]

The trunk area is not "sealed" from the cabin (the seats even fold down), so of course smells / air could go from the trunk to the cabin.

With that being said, many times, that smell is caused by mold / mildew starting to grow in the cabin air filter. Search this site for "smell from AC" or something like that, and you should see quite a few threads on that.

But, if you left wet things on the fabric in the trunk, and it didnt dry out properly, you could get that smell from the trunk, sure.

 

[KenC]

Remember to use the frunk for smelly and potentially smelly stuff. The trunk may have an opening in the parcel shelf, newer ones don't, that could allow smells thru to the main cabin. I wonder if an ozonator would fix the smell issue.

 

[InfinitySky]

Remember to use the frunk for smelly and potentially smelly stuff. The trunk may have an opening in the parcel shelf, newer ones don't, that could allow smells thru to the main cabin. I wonder if an ozonator would fix the smell issue.

So I’m assuming there’s no way for the smell to get into the cabin from the frunk then? Also, I do have a newer Model 3 (about 3 months old) so I’m still a little confused how that smell got through the trunk and into the cabin...

 

[AmokTime]

Remember to use the frunk for smelly and potentially smelly stuff. The trunk may have an opening in the parcel shelf, newer ones don't, that could allow smells thru to the main cabin. I wonder if an ozonator would fix the smell issue.

I can verify this - there is a cloth-covered opening from the trunk into the passenger compartment “parcel shelf” in my 2019 M3. My 2020 appears not to have that. My cars are SR+ (no subwoofer). Was that opening for the subwoofer or for transmission of the sound from the subwoofer? I’ve never looked at the subwoofer placement in a premium interior. Maybe they started closing it up on partial premium interiors? Perhaps someone with a 2020 premium interior can chime in...

 

[one2many]

At first I thought this was going to be a juicy mafia post.
Here in Germany where people have a sense of smell that is
number one in the world, I have had to have two cars ozone treated
because of this and most dealers offer this Duh. It cost about 100 bucks.
I would have it ozoned, and clean the A/C as well.
I double bag any smelly crap that goes in the trunk,,gas for the lawnmower
and so on. For you that like to try out the gas or KFC smell test, hot day and
a few hours.

 

[M109Rider]

Mold spores from your shoes are now in the fabric. Those spores will grow and continue to produce an odour, until you kill remove them. spray down the trunk liner with an antimicrobial. Vacuum it with a heppa vacuum, then dy it out completely.
Repeat as needed.

 

[InfinitySky]

Mold spores from your shoes are now in the fabric. Those spores will grow and continue to produce an odour, until you kill remove them. spray down the trunk liner with an antimicrobial. Vacuum it with a heppa vacuum, then dy it out completely.
Repeat as needed.

Holy smokes! That’s intense...I never had this issue in 10 years with my previous car. If I put my wet shoes in the frunk will I be ok next time?

 

[M109Rider]

Holy smokes! That’s intense...I never had this issue in 10 years with my previous car. If I put my wet shoes in the frunk will I be ok next time?

I’ve had wet contents in my trunk many times with no problem.
That advice is if you have a mold smell in there from leaving wet contents in too long, and the smell occurs. Same advice for any trunk.