[Mickyb66]

I get a burning smell coming through the air vents when going up hills shortly after setting off.
When i open the bonnet there is abit of smoke. Its been happening for a while but cant see any leaks?
Any clues anybody please.

[Suvorovo]

Originally Posted by Mickyb66

I get a burning smell coming through the air vents when going up hills shortly after setting off.
When i open the bonnet there is abit of smoke. Its been happening for a while but cant see any leaks?
Any clues anybody please.

Remove the lower cowl and inspect the back of the valve cover. Sounds like an oil leak onto the exhaust.

Can you differentiate between burned oil and electrical fire? Also, not sure what kind of PCV heater your car has. There's a recall here in US (a third one) related to PCV heater issues. Careful.

[tcphoto]

Open the bonnet and look at the left side of the valve cover, there is a silver tray running the length of it, look between the valve cover and the exhaust manifold and see if there is oil pooling. If so, it's the valve cover gasket and it needs to be changed.

[Mickyb66]

Thanks for the advice. There are no recalls on it and no oil on the silver tray near the manifold. I may have to take it in to the garage to get checked out. It doesnt do it all the time though!!

[Mickyb66]

Turns out i had a slight leak out of the rocker cover gasket. £38.50 from BMW and 3 hours labour charge. All sorted now.
Thanks for the advise