[Diyengineer]

With the cabin fan on I end up smelling like a combination of exhaust/gas but I don’t see any visual signs of under hood smoke.

It was giving me the 2A19 tank venting valve error.

Interior: I turned ac on at end to see how it would react.

Underhood & oil cap:

Hood closed (sounds very lifter like):

[Diyengineer]

Literally had to change clothes and shower after 5 minutes of sitting in the vehicle. No visual signs of smoke or burning. Oil cap actually had suction on if that matters.

[Cal122]

Based on the 2A19 code, wonder if you have a leak/disconnected hose for the fuel tank breathe valve/line that connects into the intake manifold. If so, maybe the smell is being pulled in through your cowl/cabin filter?

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...34#13907618643

[lobotomy]

Start with this thread, and note in the initial post a link to another thread discussing the AUC sensor in greater detail.

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=830021

I cannot say what you are smelling, but the AUC sensor keeps (certain) noxious odors from entering cabin, unless it is inoperative. You would need to scan to see if it has a fault, as there is no indicator to tell you so that I know of.

[Bims328i]

My valve cover was leaking bad enough it would drip oil down on the rear cat/manifold after a regular 8-hour shift. You couldn't really see that much smoke unless you popped the hood, and it went away shortly after warming up. With that said, your VC looks pretty good. In my case I could smell something like burning oil in the cabin when leaving work or after it had been sitting for a few hours. didn't really put it together until a bit later.

Try turning on the air blower but quickly put in on recirculate so it doesn't pull air from outside. I was doing this to try and prevent smoke from getting in my cabin until I fixed the VC. I think Cal122 is onto something though. That intake manifold has the yard paint stick numbering. Was the motor replaced?

[Diyengineer]

Originally Posted by Cal122

Based on the 2A19 code, wonder if you have a leak/disconnected hose for the fuel tank breathe valve/line that connects into the intake manifold. If so, maybe the smell is being pulled in through your cowl/cabin filter?

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...34#13907618643

Cal,

Something must not be connected. I just had my intake manifold off to get to my starter. Either a hose broke somewhere, or I totally missed plugging something in. I will do a full check and get back to ya! As far as the idle sounds, horrible or?

[Diyengineer]

Originally Posted by Bims328i

My valve cover was leaking bad enough it would drip oil down on the rear cat/manifold after a regular 8-hour shift. You couldn't really see that much smoke unless you popped the hood, and it went away shortly after warming up. With that said, your VC looks pretty good. In my case I could smell something like burning oil in the cabin when leaving work or after it had been sitting for a few hours. didn't really put it together until a bit later.

Try turning on the air blower but quickly put in on recirculate so it doesn't pull air from outside. I was doing this to try and prevent smoke from getting in my cabin until I fixed the VC. I think Cal122 is onto something though. That intake manifold has the yard paint stick numbering. Was the motor replaced?

I just did my valve cover about 6 months ago and haven’t drove the car since. No oil leaks, or fuel leaks that I can tell. I will my air on “auto” and see if that works.

[Diyengineer]

Originally Posted by lobotomy

Start with this thread, and note in the initial post a link to another thread discussing the AUC sensor in greater detail.

https://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=830021

I cannot say what you are smelling, but the AUC sensor keeps (certain) noxious odors from entering cabin, unless it is inoperative. You would need to scan to see if it has a fault, as there is no indicator to tell you so that I know of.

Lobotomy,

I had no clue, I thought that was just the outside air temp gauge. I’ll inspect it and make sure my auto mode works.

[mainbearing]

In the video I see white vapor coming out of the filler cap when you opened it. I do not think it should do that.

I wonder if it was the 3-way CCV pipe that has cracks. It is best to replace that flimsy pipe with the valve cover.

Could it also be a section of the valve cover gasket fell out or got pinched?

You might also want to take the belly pan off and look at the oil pan gasket area. It is a known leaker there too.

Originally Posted by Diyengineer

Literally had to change clothes and shower after 5 minutes of sitting in the vehicle. No visual signs of smoke or burning. Oil cap actually had suction on if that matters.

[mainbearing]

It is pretty bad if you had to change clothes for a short time in the car. Then again, BMW did a very poor job sealing this engine anyway. They should train their engineers with Honda.

The AUC sensor sucks and really is not sensitive enough to do a proper job. Besides, the E90 bulkhead design WILL allow stinky fumes to come into the cabin even on recirc. Maybe it is the (Valeo?) HVAC unit that sucks too.

The ticking noise on that engine sounds a little louder than should be. I do not know what that might be -- whether something like rod knock or not.

[Cal122]

Originally Posted by Diyengineer

Something must not be connected. I just had my intake manifold off to get to my starter. Either a hose broke somewhere, or I totally missed plugging something in. I will do a full check and get back to ya! As far as the idle sounds, horrible or?

The pipe is plastic and easy to snap and definitely routed underneath the intake manifold. Take a look down behind your power steering reservoir, down towards the steering shaft, you'll see a black plastic pipe coming up from underneath the car and routed over the engine mount. It heads up and is routed underneath the intake manifold before eventually going into the valve shown in the diagram above.

Here's a picture from my car. Worth a shot to see if everything is connected properly considering you had the manifold out.

[Diyengineer]

Originally Posted by Cal122

The pipe is plastic and easy to snap and definitely routed underneath the intake manifold. Take a look down behind your power steering reservoir, down towards the steering shaft, you'll see a black plastic pipe coming up from underneath the car and routed over the engine mount. It heads up and is routed underneath the intake manifold before eventually going into the valve shown in the diagram above.

Here's a picture from my car. Worth a shot to see if everything is connected properly considering you had the manifold out.

Appreciate it, will check tonight! I will also double check my hood is making contact with the seal. Maybe I forgot something :/

[Diyengineer]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

It is pretty bad if you had to change clothes for a short time in the car. Then again, BMW did a very poor job sealing this engine anyway. They should train their engineers with Honda.

The AUC sensor sucks and really is not sensitive enough to do a proper job. Besides, the E90 bulkhead design WILL allow stinky fumes to come into the cabin even on recirc. Maybe it is the (Valeo?) HVAC unit that sucks too.

The ticking noise on that engine sounds a little louder than should be. I do not know what that might be -- whether something like rod knock or not.

I’m going to change out the oil, synthetic 5W-30 is suggested right?

[mainbearing]

5W-30 LL-01 spec is fine. That is what BMW used for my free oil changes.

I use 0W40 or 5W40 myself with an OEM Mann filter HU816x (oil usually Castrol Edge or Valvoline Euro from Walmart). i think the engine runs slightly quieter on -40 weight than the dealer oil.

[Diyengineer]

Originally Posted by mainbearing

5W-30 LL-01 spec is fine. That is what BMW used for my free oil changes.

I use 0W40 or 5W40 myself with an OEM Mann filter HU816x (oil usually Castrol Edge or Valvoline Euro from Walmart). i think the engine runs slightly quieter on -40 weight than the dealer oil.

Good to know. I’d like to tune it down a bit. Noisy! It’s raining out so more to come next semi dry day.

[Diyengineer]

Just discovered the vanos solenoids had filters? Going to make sure they are cleaned out really well.

[Diyengineer]

The part that has the strip of rubber that contacts the hood, somehow I’m missing the hardware? Ugh! I had to zip tie them in anyone have the link to the hardware? I didn’t see any other broken hoses or any steam/smoke under the hood. Didn’t get a chance to remove the vanos filters as I had to order up a T40 to remove them.

[Cal122]

A little hard to tell from the photos, but if it's part #4/#13 on the diagram below, it should be expanding rivet 51168197908

https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/sho...diagId=51_5861

[Diyengineer]

Reset adaptations, seems to idle a hair better. Added some moly additive to see if she would quiet down, I have an oil change due any ways soon. Sounded smoother actually after 10 minutes.

Codes have re-appeared:

2F9A ambient temp sensor
2F80 engine switch off time (I’ve read this can appear when you clear adaptations which I did)
2A82 vanos intake
2A19 tank venting valve activation

Randomly noticed: it was leaning to a fairly constant 15v
Control module voltage 14.8v-15v

Next things are checking the vanos drain filters to make sure they are clear, Replace the purge solenoid, and fuel cap, double check for any hoses cracked or disconnected. The vanos solenoids were aftermarket, and new so doubt they are bad but maybe there junk. If there the same sensor I could swap them to see if the error moves?

[Diyengineer]

Going to replace intake Vanos seems like I have a code for it, and it’s running like a diesel engine with misfires (had codes for that also) while driving and loss of power at higher rpm’s.

[Diyengineer]

Replaced the gas cap, the oem gasket looked like it was slightly shrunken. I did notice the mating surface of the gasket has a ton of black oily build up on it that took me scrubbing it off with hot water to clean it back up. That might have been the source of one of my leaks.

[Diyengineer]

Swapped vanos intake solenoid (it was previously new but might have been a dud out of rock auto). Seems to idle much better. If I reset the adaptations should I do it when cold and idle till it’s warmed up than go on a drive for 15 minutes, or what’s the best way to do a full reset.

I’m still getting a smell, my purge solenoid came and yet to install. There has to be something broke/not plugged in.