5'ers:

When sitting idle, I can smell exhaust...

I've recently tuned her up and all is well...

Is this just a nuance of this model?

I'd love to know if anything can be done about it...

Thanks Guys,

J :buttrock

Hi Juliene. I have the same problem on my 2001 525it and was hoping to find out what it is before taking it in. Has been happening for a few weeks now. Did you ever have the problem remedied?

Thanks Juliene,

ken

There shouldn't be.

a. You have a really bad exhaust leak.
b. You have block to manifold leak that is sucked in by your heater/blower.

Exhaust/manifold leak or maybe a bad cat. Is your car over fuelling? May need a new 02 sensor which i have just had replaced on my car as the emissions were slightly high. Your fuel lines under the car may have corroded and have started leaking - This happened on my brothers bmw which really gave a petrol pong in the cabin. Check around the clips holding the pipe to the underside of the car as this is where they tend to go (especially around the fuel tank). Leave your car on a dry surface over night and see if there are any puddles in the morning.

Its a combination of the 2 i know cuz i have it also. My muffler has some rot in it so a new muffer is going in on the weekend. The smell also has to do with the fact that you cat is like done and needs to be replaced. The cat on most cars wont last too long.

Skirmishband-

BEAUTIFUL CAR!

Nick

I had that problem with my 93 525i. I can smell so much gasoline fume in the cabin that my hair was starting to smell like gasoline.. I was getting a headache driving my car.

I traced the problem to 2 broken hose on the engine.
1. small hose that goes from the front of the valve cover to the underside of the intake manifold.
2. a medium size hose that goes from the same area of the front of valve cover to the rubber intake elbow.

BTW my intake elbow itself was cracked also. so I changed that too.

I then clean the engine of any oil residue sitting around so it wont be cooking slowly on top of the motor to generate fumes.

If it is any exhaust leak you will hear it as loud and unplesant exhaust sound. just get it to a muffler shop to weld the leak close.

Cheers Nick! :)

I would look into the O2 sensor and cat after checking out the exhaust for leaks/holes. My 535 does the same thing. I wasn't sure if it would pass emissions, but it did just fine. So, may not necessarily be the O2 sensor/cat.

hey guys, yes ive noticed this too, like when moving cars around in our driveway, ill be backing in the wagon, and smell it, and heres what i think is the problem.

since the m50 engine only used 1 O2 sensor, and pretty far from the manifold, it doesnt get hot for a while. until its hot, it cant provide the fuel/air mix info, so it makes the car run rich, to insure that it doesnt stall,etc. so i think youre just smelling strong exhaust fumes.

i guess, to check, turn the car on, and let it idle till its hot, then see if you smell anything.

im not 100% certain on my theory, but thats waht i suspect.

good luck

spark notes: O2 sensor not warm enough yet; running rich temporarily

Skirmishband-

BEAUTIFUL CAR!

Nick

Wow no kidding +1

Have any more pics?? (sorry to thread jack)