So I stupidly never checked the power steering fluid, but I checked everything else. On the 4th of july I leave my driveway and hear power steering whine. I figure it needs fluid, but I'll do that when I get back home. We're only going about 5 miles to the river for the day and 5 miles back. The whine went away after a few minutes driving.

When we leave the river, the whine is back for a minute and there is a faint smell of something burning. I stop at the store and my wife leaves the car on with the ac on for the kids while I run in. I come back out and she has it off. She says that the noise came back at idle. Shortly after some light colored smoke came through the vents.

I run back in the store, grab power steering fluid and fill it to the second line. I run the wheel back and forth a few times, lock to lock, and check again. I top it off slightly so it's to the top line and off we go. No noise. Smell is still kinda present. But I figure it's fluid that had leaked on the exhaust in the first place.

She says today after going across town that the smell was back when she stopped. She drove about 30 miles. I tell her to check the fluid. She does and says it's still at the top line.

Is this most likely a slow leak? I have seen no signs of leaks under the car on the driveway or on the skid plate either. I detailef the skid plate so I could easily detect any leaks. But none are visible from below.
If it is a slow leak, what's the most likely culprit for our X5s? It's a 3.0i if it matters.

My fesr is that it's a bad pump/rack and the burning smell is from it going bad, even with new fluid.

Btw: it was below the dipstick when I checked it. But it was still in there and looked clear.

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2006 X5 3.0i
2000 323i R.I.P.