This is interesting... I had my oil cooler split last Christmas. I thought it was a fluke but... I guess not. I walked out to start the car, I was walking back towards the house and my wife said "what is that coming from the car" I figured she was taking about water melting off, I turned around and it was oil. It pumped about 3 qts on the ground before I shut if off. Luckily, I shut it off before it was too late. BMW covered it but I often wonder if there was any internal wear due to the low oil level.

I have a few pics somewhere... If I can find them, I will post them up...