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