Do we honestly think that they will admit to true cause of this smell? Bandaid patches of replacing the airbag vents and adding some silicone is much cheaper than replacing the entire exhaust isnt it? Here's my theory....when the car accelerates over 3.5rpms for an extended period of time (over 5+ secs), the exhaust gas is hotter than under normal acceleration. The cheap fiberglass (or whatever crap) they used as packing in the mufflers is heated up and starts to burn/melt. Hence, the smell as we know it is produced. The smell (not exhaust) fumes seep up into the rear cabin through the floor and rear hatch area (under/around spare tire, etc). Here's my futher rationale:
-If it were truly exhaust fumes, we would smell it at ALL times, not just under these circumstances.
-The smell does NOT occur immediately under hard acceleration - it is delayed, as it takes time for the packing to heat up and produce the smell.
-The smell is NOT produced under quick periods of acceleration - WOT for less than 1-2 secs.
-The exhaust fumes would have a hard time coming BACK into the cabin, since the tips extend out beyond the bumper. The rush of air around the car would simply sweep it away. HOWEVER, fumes coming from the MUFFLER housing itself would easily get trapped/pulled in, as the source is BEFORE the bumper, and air would push the fumes into these crevices. Hence why the focus of the TSB seems to be in these areas....
-Exhaust fumes do NOT smell like burning fiberglass - This smell is NOT typical exhaust smell, not even if the car was burning oil.
-Try this.....take the car out and accelerate hard to produce the smell. If you can, immediately pull over. turn the car off, and lay down behind the car and smell the mufflers. What you will find is that the EXACT smell will be emanating from all around the mufflers....front/back, tips, etc. If it were truly exhaust fumes and not burning packing the smell would go away with the car OFF, but it doesnt.
-I read that a fellow member replaced his exhaust with an aftermarket setup - got rid of 80% of the smell.
Solution.....replace the mufflers with aftermarket