:iagree:

What kind of 10 year old cars are you talking about? :confused:

Even my 1984 325e managed nearly 50k on brake pads and way more than that on valve cover gaskets.

Ford Fiesta, Ford Escort, Vauxhall Nova, Vauxhall Corsa, E36 BMW M3, BMW big block straight 6, Volkswagen Golf, Honda Civic...........etc

All had adjustable tappetts that needed doing at service time with service intervals of between 6000-12000m. New rocker cover gasket each time. FWD cars were always tearing up CV gaiters, vauxhalls anually!

If you can do 50k on a set of pads, you either drive like a granny or you must chuck an anchor out the boot to stop. Mind you, with the US roads you probably use brakes much less anyway.

Here in Europe, average pad life is 15000-20000m with discs every 2-3 sets of pads. Rear pads last 50% longer.

Crazy, out of all the cars my family has owned over the years, 3 e30's, 2 e36's, an e39, a 1989 750il, 1991 850i, WV Passat, Pontiac Sunfire and an e53 I have never seen any of the items you mentioned needeing serviced that often.

I drive the absolute piss out of my e36 and my front Axxis pads last me 40k+ miles. The rears last much longer. Same with all the e30's I have owned. Keep in mind that my e36 is 15 years old. I have owned it since 90k miles and it now has 293k miles and I have changed the valve cover gaskets twice max and they are not currently leaking. If you aren't getting 35K miles plus out of your brake pads and 45k+/- miles out of valve cover gaskets in normal driving conditions, even on a somewhat older car, something is wrong, IMO. I did have to replace the valve cover itself once.

IMO, none of the BMW's or any of the other cars you listed should have required rocker cover gaskets (or any other gaskets for that matter) at 6,000 to 12,000 miles. That is just WAY too frequently. Nobody changes those gaskets every second or third oil change.

Those gaskets should be replaced on every E30 inspection service, (and the others listed) because the valve clearances should be done on those services and I never reuse an old gasket. Maybe, like most, your valves were not being done according to the service schedule, but only when they got rattly?

Both my E34 V8, and E39 V8 had leaking gaskets and I am ready for the same on the E53, but not at that low mileage but at 40000m+, absolutely.
Could your pad and disc longevity be due to most US cars being auto transmission whereas UK cars are 80%+ manuals. I thought autos were heavier on brakes. Or because our roads are narrower, bendier and shorter? :D

Maybe our bad road conditions cause the cv gaiter failures, or we drive over too many barbed wire fences here! :rofl:

Anyway, facts are facts, and I cannot explain it. Maybe you should not bring your car over here, it may be a Euro thang!

I know that I wasn't adjusting my vales that often on the e30's. I know we did it, but not every 6,000 - 12,000 miles. I am pretty sure every 15,000 is what is recommended for our 325e, but I would often go three times that long if not more and all of our e30's had close to 300,000 miles on them by the end of their life. I agree that I wouldn't reuse an old valve cover gasket either.

My e30's were manuals and my e36 is an auto and I have never changed front pads with less than 35k miles in those cars or any of the cars we have had. The rears have been good for nearly 55k miles or so on average. I never drove around on bad brakes either. If they were worn out, then they were replaced ASAP. Maybe it has to do with our roads being straighter or something.

I know driving style can drastically change how long your brakes last, but I never babied any of mine by any means and I do a lot of stop and go driving as well. :dunno:

Without having to open up the cover to adjust valves these days, I consider anything less than 40k miles unacceptable for valve cover replacement. Even on BMW V8's, which are known for oil leaks and gasket issues.

well I'm back on the road again with a new valve cover gasket. and I'm putting a stake in the ground as this will be the last repair before dump the car. :(

So the cover itself wasn't cracked after all? Did they change any of the other gaskets while they were in there?

We can certainly source the parts for you, so feel free to send over a PM if you are in need of anything.

Well I'm back at it again. Looks like the valve cover gasket went again today. It's un-believable to me that the gasket would leak again. I have the same problem as before with the smoke/burning oil smell in the car cabin.

Going looking for a new car tomorrow. Sadly, I'm done with the BMW brand.