Recently I have noticed the smell of fuel on the E39. This problem is bizarre but I've so far been able to narrow it down and I'm sure its not intermittent. At first I thought it was because of the way the problem seemed to disappear but I can rule that out for sure
Everytime I start the car in the morning or evenings and drive off, after about 2mins of driving, if I come to a sitting stop, I can smell petrol, the smell persists for a few minutes and then disappears completely until the next time I start the car cold. If I restart the car while its warm and drive there is no smell anymore. With the warm weather, I also have noticed that if the car is warm from sitting in the Sun, then i don't smell any petrol when I start the car.
The whole thing has got me stomped, I've not seem many incidents with E39 but on the 7Series, there were quite a few reports of this problem, a few being attributed to the rubber fuel hoses, either cracking or leaking. In one case, the guy put it down to the rubber of the fuel hose ageing and hardening while cold so leaking, but once warm and softer it formed a better seal so no leak. I called around to garages and one quickly suggested an idling somethin, but I thought if it was an idling valve, it should continue happening all the time and not only when car is cold.
Now I'm starting to think maybe, but I don't know where to locate the fuel hoses that are in the engine compartment. Anyone know of this problem and any suggested solutions, please post..
Thanks