E46 burning smell and steam/smoke from engine bay

Hi guys,

I feel like a chop for asking questions like these but I just arrived home, normal commute with a slightly heavy foot, when I noticed an indistinct mild burnt plastic but hot engine smell. I opened the bonnet to see (in poor lighting) smoke/steam issuing from the engine in this region by the exhaust manifold and also off the engine in general:





Does this look particularly healthy/unhealthy? When I opened it up a hint of vapour/smoke could be seen:



Gauges indicate normal operating temp with no warning lights. Engine feels fine and sounds normal. I checked the oil after letting her stand for 5 minutes... seems fine. Waiting for radiator to cool to check levels there too.

The smell dissipated fairly quickly.

Plus I've noticed evidence of a leak on a component that says "ATF OIL ONLY" on it...I assume this is the power steering fluid reservoir and that leakage is negligible (read somewhere that it was normal? )




I am looking down at the splash plate on the driver's side of the engine bay and can see evidence of leaking onto it around there... Power steering I'm guessing?



Any help would be much appreciated

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk

---

I think of this post:

http://www.bmwfanatics.co.za/showthread....#pid907541

My car has approx 109k km on her

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk

---

Oh and the smell was ever so slightly oily too...

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Tapatalk