Smell after aggressive driving?

[new2the3]

I got 1050 miles on my car currently and with the current cold front in South Florida I have started to get on the throttle instead of waiting till 1200 miles.

After a session of aggressive driving, when I pull up to a red light with the windows down or pull up in my garage, the car smells like shit. Compared to when I drive regular there is no smell what so ever.

This is also my first manual car, could the smell be my clutch? I want to make sure i'm not burning my clutch... Or does it smell because the car only has 1050 miles on it?

[aut0sh0cker]

smokey brakes and tires?

[Ender_]

Probably your clutch, that’s the only thing that would smell like 'shit'.

Learn to drive! :P

[AtomiK]

It might be the CDV. I would point to you an article, but I'm too lazy to search.

[scorcherjf]

Do you know what clutchburn smells like? That's what I would guess it is lol

[pit1]

Plenty of residual material from manufacturing that could be burning off with the higher temps. Aside from that, the clutch has a very distinct smell, and it will often creep into the cabin if you're burning it.

[jeremyc74]

It's probably just the coating burning off the exhaust. It may also be the brakes if you're using them hard for the first time.

Unless you're launching the car from a dead stop it's very unlikely that it's the clutch, and it damn sure doesn't have anything to do with the CDV.

[BlackjackMulligan]

I had the same weird smell and I don't burn the clutch or brakes. So it's normal with it being new.

[imdanomite]

clutch...take it easy home slice

[KeithLM]

I noticed my garage smelled weird for a couple weeks after I got my 135i. I don't recall specific smells while driving it, but it could be related.

[1013mm]

its the wax melting away.....

[justphil135]

i had the same issue yesterday.after babying my car with only 480 miles i decided to take it on the freeway and downshifted from 5th to 3rd and gave it gas.i took it to bout 6000 rpm and back to normal driving.this was only for a min or so but also did smell some burning nasty smell.note that i have a auto so it cant be the clutch.i think its just the stuff they sprey on the engine when new thats burning.nothing to worry bout.

[Lucky1]

I seem to recall from another post there are others who experienced the same thing. A very keen 1addicter pointed out that it was likely the chemical they spray the car with to ship it overseas...prevent damage from salt air blowing off the ocean maybe?

[1013mm]

Originally Posted by Lucky1

I seem to recall from another post there are others who experienced the same thing. A very keen 1addicter pointed out that it was likely the chemical they spray the car with to ship it overseas...prevent damage from salt air blowing off the ocean maybe?

yes its the wax... if youve own a bmw in the past you would know.

[Tom K.]

Originally Posted by jzhang

yes its the wax... if youve own a bmw in the past you would know.

Not necessarily. I'm on my 4th BMW & I've never gotten any smell from a poorly prepped car.

Tom

[1013mm]

Originally Posted by Tom K.

Not necessarily. I'm on my 4th BMW & I've never gotten any smell from a poorly prepped car.

Tom

its not normal car was. its the wax they lay on to protect the car from salt water at sea.

[tbird]

It is the exhaust. It is common. It is not a worry.

What IS worrisome is that you are not waiting long enough to break her in. Granted, the 1 doesn't do the "New Car mineral oil" oil where you are forced to go slow. However, it is HIGHLY advised that you follow the rules of
1) Break-in of 250 miles per cylinder (1500 miles for the 1)
2) No more than 50% acceleration and no higher than 4000rpm for first 500 miles
3) No more than 75% acceleration and no higher than 5000rpm for next 500 miles
4) For remaining 500 miles, still be gentle, but you should punch it here or there.
5) After 1500 miles, go to the dealer and ask him to do the "Chip Reset-Return to Break-In Status" (as it is called on my Dealer Service Report) because your chip will record all that easy acceleration and cut back on your power. Once reset, if you punch it many times for 1 week, it will program the chip to full power.

No matter what, the car needs to be broken in gently to let everything settle into place. This set of rules has been around for ages, and I have always obeyed them, and for even my cars that I drove into the ground, it was the car that fell apart and not the engine. I have never had an engine fail on me. Starters, alternators, radiators, clutches, cold-start switches, distributors, etc etc etc, but never an engine.

[Lester]

A burning clutch smells distictively like the pungent smell of burning garbage.

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by tbird

5) After 1500 miles, go to the dealer and ask him to do the "Chip Reset-Return to Break-In Status" (as it is called on my Dealer Service Report) because your chip will record all that easy acceleration and cut back on your power. Once reset, if you punch it many times for 1 week, it will program the chip to full power.
.

Where the HELL are you getting that information?

The chip (ECU) most certainly doesn't need to be reset after the break in period and it's damn sure not going to cut power because you're driving conservatively.

[and 1]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

Where the HELL are you getting that information?

The chip (ECU) most certainly doesn't need to be reset after the break in period and it's damn sure not going to cut power because you're driving conservatively.

yeah i've never heard of anything like that either.

best advice for break-in: just drive - it's a car, not an egg - but don't drive like an idiot. you can get on it OCCASIONALLY, but don't redline it and make sure the car's warmed up properly. don't slam on the brakes. avoid cruise control or extended driving at constant revs.

really, it's just like exercising. if you haven't worked out in a while, you can't just go maxing out on the bench or running 10 miles - you gotta ease into it over a couple weeks. and you gotta warm up first, you're not gonna go out and run wind sprints without jogging and stretching beforehand.

[tbird]

Originally Posted by jeremyc74

Where the HELL are you getting that information?

The chip (ECU) most certainly doesn't need to be reset after the break in period and it's damn sure not going to cut power because you're driving conservatively.

BMW, both the Lauderdale dealer, and the Regional Representative, state that the chip "learns" how you drive and sets the car's performance accordingly.

My family and I first learned of it when my mother complained that her 5Series was really slow. When my brother drove it, he noticed it too. He took it to the dealer, they told him about the chip, they reset it, he drove it from the Service Dept, it instantly had more power. They stated that the chip "learns" how you drive, and if you drive gently, it sets the car for better mileage. If you drive hard, it sets the car for full power.

When I was trying to diagnose the issue I had with my last 3Series, they reset that chip multiple times as we were testing. I have Repair Orders stating this, because we wanted the car to try to reach full power because it had a problem with a hesitation in torque.

As for your point of it being "needed", I agree, it is not needed. The car can eventually learn to be as fast as possible. I just put that in since people in here want their 1's to be as fast as possible and more. But it is not needed. It is just a nice bit that is easy for the dealer service to do.

But if you baby the car for a long time, it will cut power to enter a more fuel efficient mode. It does on the 3 and the 5, and even just driving home in my 1, there was a touch of extra power with the chip reset.

As I have said in other threads, this information is relayed to me by BMW Service (Lauderdale BMW and the SoFL Regional Representative). I believe them on some things, and don't believe them on others. I can just tell you that I noticed a difference in my last 3 and now in my 1, and both my mother and brother noticed the difference in the 5 once the chip is reset to factory default.

If you can provide BMW-technical information on how that chip works, and what it can or can't do to the engine, that would be a help to all of us. We 1Addicts love our technical information

[jeremyc74]

Originally Posted by tbird

BMW, both the Lauderdale dealer, and the Regional Representative, state that the chip "learns" how you drive and sets the car's performance accordingly.

They're full of shit.

What the ECU "learns" are ignition and fuel curves, and they're based on A/F ration, and knock sensors. It will advance the ignition until it sees knock, and then retard it. The A/F ratio is constantly tweaked for optimum performance/emissions.

The notion that the car learns your driving habits is just outright wrong.