2004 X3 30i
 

Just new to this vehicle. How common are head gasket problems on these vehicles? Has air bubbles coming out of the rad filler spout.

Not common. But these engines do not tolerate overheating well, and overheating can cause head problems. Make sure you bleed the cooling system fully before chasing any potential head gasket problems.

Sorry I forgot to mention that there is an oily white residue in the coolant also. Is there any special procedure on bleeding the system? What I did is had a funnel attached to the rad cap spout partially filled with coolant and after the engine warmed up the bubbles started coming. I talked to the owner and to his knowledge the engine has never been over heated. Someone did mention to me about some oil cooler lines, we do live in a cooler climate. If this is an issue are there pictures or information that I can access?

That would be a key piece of data. Oily residue doesn't sound good.

Put the heater on high. Remove the bleed screw. Fill the cooling system. Run it until no air comes out the bleed screw.

If that doesn't work, it is time to pressure test the cooling system.