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While on the road, I slept off in my Mini with the motor turned off, the moon roof cracked up, and the front windows cracked open. I woke up almost four hours later, gasping for breath.

Is the Mini so sealed off that carbon dioxide may accumulate in it? Since the engine was turned off, I don't think it's CO. Alternatively, the petrol tank might be leaking.

No German automaker takes air tightness (or near-waterproofing) lightly.

For those too young to remember the term "Austin Princess," I would say that Prince Charles had an affair with his princess and then set fire to something on the exhaust pipe.

It took me a moment to grasp the concept, haha! I'd never heard of a princess (the vehicle) before! It appears to be a more cosy sleeping option than an R55, but with that exhaust, who can say?

In order to see what would happen, I bought a CO2, TVOC, and HCHO monitor. Apparently CO2 is quite reliable, but TVOC detects anything—hazardous or not—including scent, so I have my doubts about their accuracy. I discovered that the weather played a significant effect when I attempted to reproduce the situation. As long as a light breeze could blow through the tiny holes in the windows, the levels remained quite low. All front levels began to climb after the wind died down.


I think I have identified the offender. It was off-gassing like bad, and I had a big box of trash bags in the back seat. Even after taking the bags out, the TVOC levels are still somewhat higher, thus I suspect that off-gassing is occurring from other areas of the car as well, such as the carpet in the back. I won't stay in there for too long without some sort of ventilation because I was surprised—not because I'm worried or anything—but because it was.