hey guys, i have a 3 story townhome and this morning i woke up on the 3rd floor and could smell gasoline. it got stronger on the living room/2nd floor, and in the garage it was very strong. thought it might be natural gas at first it was so strong, so i went to work and had our local natural gas company come and check for gas but they found no traces. they also said it smelled like gasoline to them and by the time they got there an hour after i pulled my car out of the garage, you couldn't smell it as strongly.

when i got to work i could smell the gas a little as soon as i got out of the car. i put my head under the hood and smelled it faintly, but there was no gas leaking on the ground. i got gas at a gas station yesterday so wonder if that has something to do with it or if it is coincidence? there was no smell near the gas tank and the nozzle was closed tightly and properly. also it seems like since this AM the car smells less like gas the more i run it. still, it seems like there would have to be a LOT of gasoline somewhere in the engine bay to be exposed to cause my entire house to smell like it, don't you think?

i'm taking it in at 3pm today...does anyone have any insight as to what it might be? i'm under CPO now and a little concerned about taking my car to the dealer as i've heard so many horror stories about things not being covered and having to shell out a lot of $$ to fix things.

do you think it's safe to be driving the car at all? my car is a 2007 530i.

 

anybody?

 

If it smells less as you drive it, it shouldn't be a problem driving it to the dealer. I would expect the fuel system to be covered under CPO, but I'm not sure (or confident) it is. I would double check the fuel filler cap and see if maybe it feels secure just because it was cross threaded or if it was actually secure, can't hurt to unscrew it and screw it back in. Good luck

If the filler cap is secure, have the dealer check the fuel pump. If for some reason it continued to run after you shut the car off last night it could cause the fuel to fill up the fuel rails. Also, if the return lines are plugged with debris the unused fuel will not properly return to the tank as it should.

 

sometimes when ur smell something strong and then u think something is wrong that smell stays in ur nose all day long even tho there nothing really there. it happens to me but then again i might have a weird nose

 

Its impossible for an electrical fuel pump to continue to run once the car is completely shut off. Even if the car is in a KOEO state(Key On Engine Off) only the incoming fuel line pressurizes. A clogged return line is possible but highly unlikely since they are noticeably larger than the pressure line and any debris would get caught by the fuel filters which are also located on the pressure line.

Its possible that you have a fuel leak somewhere, even a small one can create a VERY noticeable smell. And since gas evaporates you only have a short time to detect it. The best way to check for one is to start the car outside, open the hood and look/smell for leaks following the fuel lines from the gas tank to the engine and back. It should be pretty easy to isolate by smell - if it's coming from the engine area SHUT THE CAR OFF IMMEDIATELY.

I don't know if these cars have gas evap cannisters - if they do, a leak here or to the connecting hose would also cause the same problem.

As far as your garage, do you keep any other gas operated things in there (lawn equip, etc)? Also, does your home have HVAC? If so where is it drawing in fresh air from?

 

thanks for all of the responses. i took it in to the dealer and they are checking it out. the smell was most definitely coming from the bmw. there is nothing else in my garage that contains gas (unless i'm also in the garage drinking beer).

my car is CPO but when i asked if they would call me before they fix something (to make sure it is covered under CPO), they told me that it would cost $135 just to diagnose and not fix. is that right? that's bullshit and nobody ever told me that before i bought a bmw.

you guys are really helpful, but i'm seriously on the brink of ending my awful bmw experience (not just this one instance). my car has 50,300 miles on it, and they still won't give me a break on the $135 if the gas problem isn't covered under CPO. at the moment, pukka is implying it's quite possibly a leaky piece of equipment, which won't be covered.

as for the "bmw experience" this is the 4th time my 2007 has been in the dealer in the 7 months i've owned it, and it's now the 9th problem to have been fixed (or maybe just diagnosed). i wish texas had a lemon law.

 

HAHA yep, one dealer here in SoCal (McKenna) told me it was $148 if they found a problem, but free if they didn't find anything wrong. I was like WTF!?!?!?! That seemed very dishonest to me, because if there was nothing wrong WTF would I be doing at the dealer?

BTW, I was there because my passenger restraint system warning was on - so I knew I was going to have to pay.

 

can i call bmw usa and complain? i agree it's retarded. i also had an SES light, so they said if the light is under CPO and the gas smell is not, i pay $185, or for both no problem and problem covered. i mean it's all incentive for them to make you let them fix your car, but it is unethical.

i think the place i bought my car would have waived that, but they are a good 45-60 minute drive from me, at which point all the time wasted and gas spent may not make it much better than $135.

 

It only takes a few drops of gasoline to really stink things up. Check to see if when you last bought gasoline that a few drops didn't fall from the nozzle into that plastic-lined well where the filler sits.

That's one of the reasons I prefer to pump my own gas [EVEN in NJ where gasoline MUST be dispensed by a highly trained, skilled, certified, licensed, inspected, guaranteed, highly compensated ... etc etc etc gas pump jockey]!! That and to be sure the professional gasoline dispenser doesn't "top it off" and then dribble gasoline down the side of the car because the nozzle didn't drain after stopping the pump.

 

I was in the same situation, where I bought my car was around 50 miles from my house (in LA traffic) and McKenna was 5 mins. Since that little incident, however, I've been going to Crevier since they're about 5 mins from my job