[Oksamit78]

Originally Posted by Ehodg66

Thanks billfitz

oksamiit 78,
Thanks for the reply but in the first sentence of my comment it says "valve cover gasket and cover" The shop insisted at the time. Seems to me , 3 years and 30 k miles seems a bit short for a new gasket and cover to last.

I must be going blind. - Misread your first sentence.

Well... hard to tell the reasons for the oil leak over the internet. I'd try to get the engine inspected to identify the area of the leakage first.

If the smell is strong enough to be felt inside the cabin, then the leak is somewhere around turbo and exhaust piping as oil is spilling on to the hot surfaces and is burning. This was the exact symptom on my dad's N55 F10 - oil smell inside the car. No dripping or other signs on outside and under the car.

I see that you live in Florida and it is a hot climate area and if you do get stuck in stop-and-go traffic daily or in summer, than 3 years and 30K miles is not that small of the time/mileage in hot climate as the temps under hood soar in such conditions. The plastic cover won't last long this way. We have a similar problem with E65 750i in summer - the aluminum hood is hot and is uncomfortable to the touch after driving in stop-and-go Toronto traffic for an hour.

Keep us posted if inspection finds anything obvious.