Strange smell - a cautionary tale

[donnyblaze1]

Due to construction on my commute home from work, I started taking a new route recently. One night on my way home, I was cruising down an off-ramp with my windows down when I caught a whiff of a strange smell. Being a prototypical E9X owner, I immediately went into paranoia mode. Was I smelling my clutch burning itself to oblivion? Some dastardly oil-burning symptom? I couldn't put my finger on the smell, but it was troubling.

For the next few weeks, I drove my car carefully, trying to feel if anything was out of sorts. The clutch didn't slip, oil temps seemed normal, no new clicks or clacks coming from the S65. Every evening on my way home I made sure to have the windows down on the off-ramp to see if the smell would return, and sure enough I got a sniff of that same old mysterious smell like clockwork...same place, every night. It must be something to do with those exact driving conditions, right? For some reason, I was getting a weird smell every time I exited the highway... taking the car out of gear at 76mph on a 2% grade during a sweeping right turn. I spent hours pouring over the forums for similar symptoms, only to come up empty.

Fast forward to yesterday, when I went home early, taking my prescribed exit in broad daylight for the very first time. With the benefit of sunlight, I saw in front of me the single largest landfill I've ever seen. Turns out that for the past few weeks while I've been convinced that my car has been the source of this mystery smell as it slowly disintegrates from some obscure S65 malady, it was actually the combined household waste of a metro area of millions that was to blame. And, like a moron, I'd been subjecting myself to taking deep whiffs of the detritus every evening in an attempt to diagnose the source.

Yes, I'm an idiot...but I figured I'd share my tale as a caution to my E9X brethren. Don't be like me, huffing garbage every night. Spend more time enjoying your sweet ride, and less time paranoid about every smell and sound!

[spazzyfry123]

It was shortly after I picked up my old E90 that I moved to a different house and started taking an alternative route home from work. Turns out that a manufacturer I pass releases a byproduct into the atmosphere that smells EXACTLY like a burnt clutch. I was freaking out for a week thinking my new M3 had some issues same as you.

Car guys/gals are some paranoid folks.

[RedScytheM3]

Your poor M3 getting blamed for the smell! I'm the same way, I catch a whiff of something weird and automatically I think something is on fire under the hood

[sv848evo]

I'm like this too. Completely paranoid that my car's gonna blow up any minute.

[M3 Number 86]

shit I get paranoid even when I drive behind some car with a hole in the muffler thinking I don't remember my car smelling THIS bad? haha.

Or if a squeaky car is next to me in traffic - is that MY car?!?!

[MachinesWithSouls]

This is an extension of the chime behavior. You hear the chime, immediately tense and freak out, expecting the worst...and it's just telling you it's 37 degrees out. Happens every time.

[spazzyfry123]

Originally Posted by SoManyBlueCars

This is an extension of the chime behavior. You hear the chime, immediately tense and freak out, expecting the worst...and it's just telling you it's 37 degrees out. Happens every time.

LOL! That's me in my Mini S. I'm always expecting a sensor gone bad or something...

[XKxRome0ox]

Originally Posted by donnyblaze1

And, like a moron, I'd been subjecting myself to taking deep whiffs of the detritus every evening in an attempt to diagnose the source.

Don't be like me, huffing garbage every night.

thanks for the laughs

btw
i like how you write
very descriptive and captivating with your words
what do you do for a living?

[donnyblaze1]

Originally Posted by XKxRome0ox

what do you do for a living?

Appreciate the kind words! I'm a software engineer.

[CaptainKirk2008]

Wouldn't it be nice if BMW built their cars like Toyota? Or even Mercedes for that matter.

[LuckiSevens]

Originally Posted by CaptainKirk2008

Wouldn't it be nice if BMW built their cars like Toyota? Or even Mercedes for that matter.

Mercedes built in Mexico you mean? 🤣 they fall apart.