Hey guys. I had a 2003 S, and absolutely loved the car. Unfortunately, BMW bought it back it had so many problems that they could never fix. Understandably, I was gun-shy with MINIs, but we bought a 2015 Countryman S last year for my wife. It's been trouble-free so far, so that's good. However, after our last oil service at the dealer, we started noticing an exhaust/burning oil/hydrocarbon-type smell in the cabin. I assumed they spilled a little oil and it was burning off. I looked over the engine and couldn't find anything. The smell persisted. Took it back to the dealer, and they couldn't find anything and couldn't duplicate. Of course, the smell was back the next day.

Here is what we notice. Engine must be hot. Smell is most notable after driving and getting engine hot, then parking for awhile, then when car is cranked with the front air vents on, we get blasted with the exhaust/oil/fuel smell. Setting air to recirculate solves the issue, so it is definitely coming from the engine bay. I checked the cabin air filter, and it looked fine.

I read about the solenoid issue, but I'm assuming this was corrected and wouldn't be an issue on a 2015. Is that a good assumption?

If anyone has an ideas, I'd sure appreciate it, before we gas ourselves. Thanks much!

 

I have a 2014 Paceman S All4 - and have noticed the exact same thing. No apparent leaks. Does not use a drop of oil between oil changes. But yet when I sit and let it idle - you get a distinct odor that smells like exhaust or burning oil. This definitely has me puzzled. Would be curious to see what it turns out to be - and i am glad that I am not the only one with the same problem.

 

Its from the oil changes on the Gen 2 MINI engines, the oil filter and its location seems to always spill a little oil on the engine and its hard to clean off, when the engine gets hot it burns off.






11427622446


https://www.ecstuning.com/Search/Sit...11427622446KT/

 

Simple fact, cars are not computers....they sometimes have an odor or a smell.....
Once the car has been looked over, and the dealer says a-ok, I would not worry....
Just as a car can sometimes have a smell of coolant and not be leaking, sometimes vapors escaped, or drips of oil get burnt off....
Remember, you are turning oil and oil byproducts into energy with thousands of mini explosions and flames....
If you sometimes smell something, just think back to the smells of the old cars from the 70's....no emissions, no pcv systems, etc...cars have come a long way...
If it still concerns you, might I suggest a Tesla or a Nissan Leaf....might smell ozone...but less oil smell...

 

Just had my CM in for an oil change and HPFP replacement.

Came back stinking. No other car I've had takes 3 days to burn off oil... and when I did the first oil change at 1000 miles, I didn't spill any...

Zippy, service techs aren't infallible.

 

Maybe this is related or maybe it's not:

my battery cover was removed and reinstalled backwards by the dealership. It doesn't fit backwards. It leaves a gap where (presumably) stank air can pass.

Not sure if the firewall region is where our clean air goes (around the battery for example), but perhaps that's part of the issue.

 

Up on till a few weeks ago I couldn't quite figure out where the smell was coming from, till I noticed a little oil wicking around the upper valve cover hose that leads down to the turbo. After driving a bit, and then shutting down the car the smell of fumes was very strong at the exact spot. So I took the chance and replaced the hose. Been about 3 weeks now, and no smell at all. Cant explain why it smelled so bad without very bad leak. It would smell the most if the car is left to idle for more then 10 minutes. The o-ring in the hose looked fine when i removed it - so not quite sure if the o-ring was leaking, or the factory clamp on the hose where it joins the quick connect.

Any how, 3 weeks and no smell.

 

Can you post a link to the page / item on realoem.com? I've been looking and can't figure out which hose you mean.

 

Its hose #19...in the link below. Got the part from ECS
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=13_1212

This is the hose I replaced:
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...e/11157607779/

And the locking clip, I figured that the original will break during removal - which it did.
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...w/11127589618/

Drove the car again today, left it idle...and no smell.

 

Thanks for that info. I'm hoping fixing the battery cover was enough--so far no smell, but who knows.

 

I could have written the initial post - exact same problem. Took mini on a 1600 mi trip, 800 mi up and back. Drove at 76 mph 90% of the time so somewhat taxing on the engine. A few days after the trip noticed a very strong gasoline/exhaust smell in the cabin. Changing to recycle greatly reduced the smell. An inspection of the engine compartment reveals nothing but a very clean engine, but the smell if overpowering inside, noting but normal smell under the hood.

One odd thing is the strong gasoline smell; I accused one of my passengers of having spilled gasoline on himself after we both got in the car and I started it, it was that strong. if I understand with today's modern engines there should be very little un-burned gasoline in the exhaust, so it my not be exhaust at all. It does not smell like burning oil, and if it were oil I would think I would see some smoke from the engine somewhere. I considered a fuel leak but see no indication of that either.

I hate to think about bringing it to the dealer with the complaint of exhaust smell in the cabin, I'd rather present them with something to fix, like a leak.

So a basic question: Where is the cabin air intake located?

 

Like this for the DIY:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...placement.html


Cabin filter Charcoal version:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...bad-smell.html

 

I'm interested in knowing where outside air enters the cabin. It looks like at the base of the windshield, which with the bonnet closed is technically outside of the engine compartment. Not sure how the fumes are entering...I'll bring it in for service because a fuel or exhaust leak is serious.

 

I have the same smell in the cabin after she warns up and is on city streets, I removed the battery cover and found that behind the battery is the 4x6 opening to allow air into the cabin. You can see the cabin filler. Still doesn’t answer how the smell in getting in the cabin or were it is coming from in the first place.

 

 

I changed the oil on my 2012 Countryman S ~ 2 months ago and noticed the smell as described in this thread immediately (when the engine is at operating temperature and sitting still). At first I thought that it was just excess oil that spilled and needed to burn off, but it persists. I’ve driven about 3000 miles since the change and the oil level has only decreased by a negligible amount, which I don’t think is concerning since mine has a turbo. I can’t find any leaks whatsoever, and even took it to a mechanic and they didn’t know either. They just said that possibly the turbo could be going bad, but that was just a worst case scenario. I changed the cabin air and engine air filter when I changed the oil.... both are still clean. I know this thread is old, but it was spot on with my issue so I thought I’d see if anyone had an update. Thanks for any suggestions you might have!!

 

I too have been dealing with engine odor inside the cabin as described in many of the post above, after since recent work by both a mechanic and the dealer.
I noticed that the seal on the battery side cowling grill had been pulled out and creating a gap that would allow the odor to enter the cabin. I'll post again to confirm this was the issue or not. But definitely worth checking because it would be easy to knock it lose, while working anywhere near the area.

 

Well I have had this problem for a while and it is mostly from a leak in the oil filter housing and I also had a leak in my main crank seal. Both leaking onto the exhaust. I just got the crank seal fixed and still have to get the oil filter housing gasket replaced. I also installed a oil catch can which relieved some smell but just got worse when the leaks got worse.

 

My concern is that that the smells shouldn't be getting into the cabin and they weren't with our mini even though we clearly had leaks and one of them was the crank seal the dealer repaired and when the leaks were all fixed we ended up having the smells enter the cabin. I would look at that Cawling seal and maybe get a new one that would seal the compartment better. Just my 2 cents.

 

Hey guys.
This has been an issue for me for years.
Guess what? It's a very common issue and I'm guessing many of you have the same problem I had.
The flex pipe is crap and will leak a slight amount of exhaust and it is basically right under the outside air intake.
The smell becomes less as the downpipe cat heats up.
There is no noticeable exhaust leak noise.
Go to a good custom exhaust shop and have them make a better flex pipe connection for you. They make better flex pipes than Mini had used in 2011.

 

I got 2008 mini S and have same issue I think I came to the conclusion tnst it might be the purge valve solenoid mine is located under the intake manifold just trying to figure out a way to swap it without taking intake out. Anyone done this?