Audi Repair: Audi TT, tt quattro, hr job

Question
Hi, I have a 2001 Audi TT quattro. I have noticed in the past few weeks that when driving my car, a burning smell comes from the engine area. I poped the hood and noticed a very small but noticeable stream of smoke coming out around where the turbo is. Its almost un-noticeable except when the turbo is fully opened at higher rpm's. My guess is that is a simple gasget leak on the turbo and small amounts of oil are dripping on the exhaust manifold which is right below. This makes sense since it only is really noticeable when driving at higher rpm's. Does this sound right? Is this at all harmful to keep driving? I want to wait for spring to fix it so I can do it myself because I was quoted almost 300 dollars to get it fixed. It doesn't look difficult to repair, but is it?
Thanks for the time and help.
Nick

Answer
An oil leak around the turbo area is never good news.  $300 for a repair by a dealer means it is about a 2 hr job.  I would imagine the part costs to be around $100 which is a lot for a gasket.  It might be worth getting a second estimate.  The verification of where exactly the oil is coming from is key, so that you can get the right gasket before starting the job.  As long as you keep the oil level topped up, there is not any real issue but watch out for the problem worsening.  Once an oil leak starts it typically gets worse...  Let me know,  Jan