So yesterday during my drive to work i smelt a horrible burning smell but I thought it could have been the road works i drove through as they were laying asphalt so i didnt bother checking, then on the way home the same smell came wafting into the car, luckily i only live 4km's from work. i popped the bonnet, nothing outta the ordinary, but when i opened the oil filler there was a white residue on the cap. Hopped under the car and saw ALOT of oil ... everywhere. its hard to locate where its coming from as the oil is over the sump, over the power steering rack/fan area, over the sway bar and my lower brace.

Called my friendly bmw mechanic and he thinks it could be this'
http://realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?...95&hg=11&fg=30
part no 8'

any other ideas ?

here are some ... crappy quality pics we took when it was on the hoist.

 

No one ? :'(

 

The way oil is blown around when it is hot and leaks....it is pretty hard to guess without a hands on....

 

--This article has a section that talks about common oil leak problems for the R53/50.

http://www.motoringfile.com/mini-r50r53-buyers-guide/

Do a search on this forum and you will find a lot of similar complaints and of the oil pan gasket leaking. Also check your oil filter housing for oil leaking out. Sometimes after an oil change a nicked gasket can get oil to leak.

Hope this helps.

~p