I am new to the forum, but did a bit of searching around, and I am trying to figure out what gasket this is that is leaking oil at a pretty steady rate when the vehicle is on.

My g/f just purchased this 2005 BMW X5 4.4 a month ago and now we see this rapid oil leak when the vehicle is turned on. We took it to a German car specialist auto mechanic and he diagnosed a blown head gasket and possibly cracked/warped head and gave a nice $4000 price to replace both sides gaskets and machined heads. Being affected by our down economy we don't have $4k just sitting around to fix a car we just bought, sorry not going to happen.

What I am trying to do here, is get an idea of what this visible leak is caused by, and see what lesser expensive options we have to fix it using DIY methods. I am mechanically inclined and have worked on all my cars for over the last decade with experience on replacing a head gasket in the past. I just need some expertise in trying to figure out what I am up against before I tear into things without a base understanding of what is involved and what solutions are on the table.

Please take a look at my image below where I circled the gasket that leaks, it is not the head gasket that leaks, it is the one that intersects with it in a vertical position. I have included a zoomed out shot of a different engine to demonstrate the location of where my zoomed in shot on my engine is taken. I also notice the previous owner or car salesman "patched" up the leak with what looks like silicone, that is why it held for about a month and now we are faced with the problem.

My Engine:



Other Engine, showing the location of my engine's leak: