I had that with my Subie. It happened occasionally the smell of burning oil. I always thought it was the head gasket leaking or oil leaking from some other place onto hot engine parts, but I kept checking the oil and it never seemed to need more before the scheduled oil change.

In your case, I would have taken the care to the dealer let them see if there are any oil leaks. I did ask the dealer to look at the Subie but they never could find anything. Duh

 

Best way to see if it's tranny or oil just take the dipstick out and smell it. If it smells burnt there is your source. It's probably the torque converter so check tranny fluid first..

It could also be the differentials... And doubt it's the bearings but another possibility. Anything that has lube or oil or any non water base fluid could give the smell of burning. Most synthetic can not burn at the temps our cars produce even under load but unfortunately this car does not use synthetic through out.

I have 800 miles on mine and got a small sense of burning very small and it jsu smells like seals, hoses, burning in. Will let you know if it changes.

 

^^^There is a distinct smell to new engine burn in vs what the op is saying.

 

Thanks all for your reply. I am not mechanically incline. Will schedule a day off to bring to dealer. but i can do the dip stick smell test