Update: Today I took my x5 to an indy who does prestige cars and has a bit of experience with X5s. He used to own an 4.8is himself but sold it due to all the probs he was having. Yeah reassuring I know.

Anyway he diagnosed my smoking and oil consumption as VSS also So naturally I'm pretty bummed out. I know that I will be returning to the Japanese manufacturing base for good. Unfortunately for me I'm not mechanically inclined and even if I was I still don't think I'd buy another car like this.

So my situation is repair and keep for a while longer or sell/ trade up. Thing is I'm an honest person and I wouldn't do it without disclosing the problem. Will anyone even accept the car with this kind of problem? And the worry for me is even if I do repair the car I've heard of some valve stem seal repairs that don't do the job and how long till another multiple thousand dollar repair springs up, air suspension, cooling system the water pipe thing in N62s that are prone to breaking, T-case etc.

Anyway sorry for the long winded post just not in the greatest place and its a bit of a dillema