I drive by an oil refinery everyday, at least 3 times a day. And I can smell it inside the closed car like all the windows are open.

I do not smell anything else inside the car at other times other than the air freshener.

Could my filter need replacing? Or do you think it is just that an oil refinery has that overpowering an odor?

 

You could change the filter, it is not going to stop every single odor that you find outside.

 

I read somewhere that people have bought the filters at home depot and rigged it up and it works the same way except its not like 30 to 50 bucks like it is at the dealership. ever heard of this dan?

 

I bought mine here. http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B5_A4-...imate_Control/
Charcoal is better for smell but the others are very affordable

 

I haven't really heard of the making your own filter but if it works... P.S. I got mine from Autozone for about 11 bucks. Is not the charcoal, I don't like that one.

 

wow 11 bucks might have to check that out.

 

There are FRAM air filters that come with Arm & Hammer baking soda that do take stop outside smells going into your ride. I got mine at Walmart.

 

A cabin filter is a pollen and dust filter. Odors are much smaller particles. And a car is not air tight anyway. It's normal.

 

A regular cabin filter is only for pollen and dust; it cannot eliminate orders. If you want to filter out orders, you need a filter with active charcoal. However, even with active charcoal filter installed, you may sometimes still smell a little bit of orders. But, it should be whole lot better than regular ones.