[Dr.Factory]

Hello , I am fighting a persistent fumes or oil smell in the cabin of my 330d lci N57 with 245.000 km , it is very strong at cold or hot start up and noticeable driving with recircle off or even windows down .
I thought about an exhaust leak , but I have checked and it's fine , the mechanic even changed the header gasket because some of the nuts where loose and after dismantling the gasket was indeed damaged .
Now the exhaust is tight but the smell is unchanged .

While replacing the header gasket he noticed that there is a big oil leak from the valve cover in the back of the engine , pouring right on the header ( hence why the nuts came loose and the gaskets where f*cked ) .
We didn't have the new gasket available and I needed the car so I told the mechanic to fix the header and do the head gasket later .

Could this leak be the cause of the smell ?

Do you think I will solve the smell issue replacing valve cover gasket ?

I am planning to drive it before fixing it for around 1000km , because I don't have the time to fix it now , I hope the new header gasket won't be damaged by the oil in this short period.

I have owned the car since 3000 km and the leak is so bad to leave 10 cm stains on the ground when I park it , but the oil level in the dipstick hasn't dropped I'm 3000 km ...

This is the leak in the back of the valve cover , right on the header before replacing gasket.