I drove around with a leaky oil pan for 4 years before finally biting the $1200 bullet. That said, my indie was not super enthused about that job (because it's a complete bit*H) and insisted we change the OFHG first. He said he goes left to right, hi to low analyzing m54 leaks. if oil is leaking on the passenger side, start with the valve cover. driver's side...OFHG. If you KNOW both of those gaskets are good (which is not always easy to know without disassembly), the oil pan is likely the next culprit.

I swapped out the VC and OFHG myself. Those aren't terribly difficult. Leaks didn't stop. Had indie do the oil pan. Leaks stopped. In retrospect I probably should have tried the bolt-tightening trick and the CCV mod but I was giving the car to my kid and couldn't have her leaking oil all over friends' driveways.

NOW, during those 4 years, I probably had a dozen different people (BMW friends, mechanics, forum buddies) tell me the same thing I just recommended....OFHG and VCG...but ultimately the pan gasket failure could not be denied. One of the indie mechanic's assistants told me when I took it in that a lot of them leak and it is usually around 100k miles when they start - but some last a lot longer.

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2005 X5 3.0i - 71k mi (9.2018) -> 81k (9.2019) -> 100k (9.2021) -> 123k (8.2025)
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SOLD : 2003 X5 3.0 - 177k mi (9.2018) -> 186k (9.2019) -> 205k (9.2021)
SOLD : 1997 328is Coupe - Hellrot Red
SOLD : 1988 528e w/ Bullseye s256 / MS2 Extra / GC Coilovers / Yukon Coils ~ 300+ HP