glad I asked. This is the same engine as my X5 and I was thinking you were talking about older X5 that had engine similar to my E38. Not the case. My timing comments may or may not be true...you decide. Also, I have not heard of timing guide failure on these engines. My X5 has this same engine (78k miles), no problem. And, basically my '04 E60 has the same engine with 127k miles and no issues.

BTW, no baffle. With all this said, the timing control on these engines is much more complicated than the engine in my E38 and as such the timing tools might be a good idea. Also, if you need to replace the guides, you might as well replace the valve stem seals since you will be so far into the engine. I just did them on my E60 and it was a royal PITA, but stopped all engine oil consumption issues. I purchased the AGA tool for this purpose.

Good luck.