X5 4.4i oil leaks galore!

[mgbmwx5]

Hey guys, It's funny that when my X5 hit 100,000 miles suddenly all the engine and transmission oil gaskets began to leak as if they were on a timer to fail. I can understand one or two failing, however, in my case they all failed, well almost all.
The whole thing started with changing the tranny oil, while servicing it I discovered that there were numerous engine oil leaks, traced one to the valve cover gaskets and another to the lower oil pan gasket. I'm hoping the upper oil pan gasket is not leaking as it looks difficult to service.
The valve cover gasket change has been a night mare as I had to disassemble half the engine bay to get to them, thus far I've only replaced the passenger side, however, the drivers side looks like a real pain in the ass.
I've already replaced the power steering reservoir as it was leaking as well as the coolant reservoir and several associated hoses.

Is this common on X5s with 100K on the clock?

I wonder what other gaskets I will need to replace.

Photos:


Fuel injector wiring harness box held out of the way with zip ties to facilitate removal of valve cover


The head looks pretty clean for 100K





The driver side valve cover will be a challenge to remove with all the hoses



I made an attempt to clean and polish the valve cover but it is a lot of work so I decided to paint instead. I'll post the painted version soon.

[SlickGT1]

It's probably not all at once. You just started noticing the leaks. Plus even though you only have 100k, your car is 11 years old. Soo it sucks anyway. You are doing good. Just spray that Mofo with brake cleaner like crazy and clean the whole engine. You don't want to be thrown off by old leak spots.

[mgbmwx5]

Originally Posted by SlickGT1

It's probably not all at once. You just started noticing the leaks. Plus even though you only have 100k, your car is 11 years old. Soo it sucks anyway. You are doing good. Just spray that Mofo with brake cleaner like crazy and clean the whole engine. You don't want to be thrown off by old leak spots.

Thanks. Once I finish all the work I will thoroughly clean the engine.

[SlickGT1]

I thought I had a leak. Damn oil was everywhere. CPO did timing cover. Months later I see oil all over the bottom. I freak out, but instead of replacing everything, I cleaned the whole engine, engine bay, skid plate, plastic, everything. Went through almost 5 cans of the crap. Had the plate off recently, 3 months later, still dry. Go figure. I guess they didn't clean the engine.