Wow these are all great answers...Thanks so much for the quick replies...

HPIA4v2...the puddle is DEFINITELY water...it just scared me because the car is new to me and I was not sure since my coolant appears to be going somewhere...I did the paper towel test and there is NO COLOR to the liquid...clearly water...it just seemed like a lot and from an odd place...I would have thought A/C condensation would have been in the front of the car...go figure..

primetime...thanks for the headlight clarification...I do have xenons but thought xenons and HIDs were two different things...I am still learning...I definietly like the facelifted headlights...but it sounds like I have a more pressing issue right now as I am afraid to drive my x for fear of blowing up the engine...

alpac...my hubby had an e36 that suffered from the infamous plastic parts coolant failure so common to those vehicles and indeed drove it with the needle buried in the red...I am girl but even I knew better than to do what he did...hahahaha...I believe you are dead on as the engine has not overheated to date...I am fearful however that it will and I do not want to cause further damage so I aim to get this corrected IMMEDIATELY...but would prefer to attempt to fix it myself if possible and if I can diagnose it...I will be referring to your link as soon as I post this...

I have added coolant after driving about 50 miles...I am wondering though IF I may have not added enough...what would cause the coolant to appear full then when I jiggle the red buoy the level goes down and then I can add more fluid...why is it doing this???? Is this a significant symptom or more likely just me not entirely knowing when my expansion tank is actually full??? If the red buoy supposed to stick up above the neck of the expansion tank when the lid is removed???? Thanks for the help...I am going to keep researching and hope to add more clues to my mysterious disappearing fluid...Are there any definitive signs that it is the valley pan gasket...I am hopeful to eliminate thaat one first...Thanks for all of your expertise adn related experiences!!!