What are cam sensor symptoms?
 

Probably been covered before, but search didn't turn up anything.

What is the symtoms of a bad cam sensor(s)?
I have leaking valve cover gasket and will be opening it up.
My car starts kinda hard, not overly smooth.

I have 186,000 miles, I'm original owner - 2001 X5 3.0L sport pkg

If oil gets on the coil boot + plug from a leaking Valve Cover Gasket, the car can run rough.

See if there is oil in the hole when you do the V-gasket. The coils will need to come out in order to change it.

got it. Thanks!
 

I'll pull it in next few days and figure out what's going on.

thanks!

Bad cam sensors will usually throw a code. Do a search on "cam sensor" on this site and you should get lots of info.

As Ray said the cam sensors will trow a code. When was the last time you changed your plugs? The earliest symptom of weak plugs is hard starting; however, if you had a misfire that would throw a code too.

If you have an oil leak from your valve cover replace the gasket. Not too hard probably a 2 out of 10. It really is remove everything to get the valve cover of, take it off, clean the gasket area, put on the new gasket, installation is the reverse of removal.

valve cover gasket done
 

I posted some pix of my diy valve cover gasket replacement. That
old gasket was the consistency of hard plastic! It was leaking in
mutiple places. Just a little in spark plug wells.

I changed plugs at 100,000 and again at 170,000

I'm still wondering about the transmission fluid. I looked into getting
it done and was quoted $700 by a top tranny shop. So far so good,
no transmission issues. However I did lose the transfer case. I went
reman for $900 rather than BMW OEM for $2200. My indie shop guy
rolled his eyes, well its been 40,000 miles and 1.5 years, looking good.
I still payed $500 for the labor on topof the $900.

I've never run a car into this high a mileage. I'm getting a 2008 Toyota
Tundra 5.7L as additional vehicle to take the "pressure" off the X5.

I have a 250hp super charged and intercooled Kawasaki Jetski. It was
good to see the results of using Mobil 1, 15w50 in the BMW. I use it in
my Jetski, if I get 4000+ hours like the car I'll be happy! Now that's a little
bit of a joke, most jetskis never see 500 hours without major work. We'll
see on the Kawasaki.