smoke from engine bay

[sbutt]

Hi All,

My 1 Series BMW (2008) has been producing some smoke in the engine bay. A couple of weeks ago when i turned on the heater, i noticed some burning smell inside the cabin. I turned the heater off and then the smell went away. I thought perhaps the heater requires some clean up. I did not do anything and stopped using the heater for 2-3 weeks. During this time I did drive the car occasionally. The car was not in too much use anyway because of the current Corona situation. However, when i turned on the car yesterday in the evening to get some groceries, i immediately (3min) started to feel the burning smell in the cabin. The heater was off but even then i could smell the smoke.

This morning i opened the hood, simply turned on the engine and after 2-3 minutes i could smell and see the smoke coming out from the engine bay. On closely inspecting the source of the smoke, here is what I could pin point to:

InkedIMG-8032_LI.jpgInkedIMG-8035_LI.jpg

Can you please tell, what part it is? How big of a problem in terms of fixing, it is? Is it a big and costly problem or are we talking about fixing it through some soldering that joint/part by going underneath the car? It's an old BMW with some 114953 miles on it.

I am a bit worried as to whether this turns out to be an expensive fix or not? Any cost estimate including labor and all?

Many thanks.

[shogun]

did you check the coolant level? Could be a leaking coolant line, I do not have the VIN, but check here the diagrams of the coolant lines going into the cabin to the heat exchanger http://bmwfans.info/parts-catalog/E8..._conditioning/
also check hoses coming out from valve cover in the diagram for the engine, use you VIN to select the correct parts

[Liquidity]

It’s just the typical leaking valve cover.

[323i E30]

Just a little drop of oil landing on your exhaust every now and then can do a lot of bad smelling.

[NHinNC]

I was at a junkyard a few days ago, and there was a 3 series that obviously had a fire in that area. Be careful.