Now 8 mos since all the repairs. The X5 is still totally clean. I do not miss the old oil mess underneath. I did use about 3/4 quart of oil in 5,000 miles but I am OK with that. When I get bored I will pull off the valve cover vent hose and look for oil in the tubes. It should be dry but you never know. Now at 106,000 miles.

We're at 9 months, but less than 5k miles since the repair. But from checking the oil level, I think we're on pace for a quart in 5k miles. I think it's normal consumption for these engines.

I'm about 8 months from the repair and no leaks. However, I consume a quart every 2k miles. No smoke, though.

You might check the crankcase ventilation tubes where they come from the valve covers and plug into the intake at the throttle body.
Those tubes should be clean inside. If they are coated or dripping oil you have your oil leak. If they have oil in them there is an air leak somewhere in the upper engine. Could be as simple as your dip stick O ring or the Valve cover cap where you add oil. These engines need to be sealed tight or they start sucking oil into the intake.

Glad you guys are having similar luck with a dry engine.
This week it looks like my AC idler pulley is failing and my wife has the car 500 miles away! I hope it makes it home ok.

I'll check again. I replaced the diaphragms about a year ago. Good call on the dip stick o-ring.

Also, it's possible that the bearing that's going bad for you is actually the A/C compressor pulley bearing. I just replaced mine. $15 fix. https://youtu.be/5qd0e-vVxQA?list=FL...47Ua4QMSSZxMww

I just installed a new AC compressor in January. I hope it is still good. It was blowing cold when she left.

Update
 

I did do it with a friend which does help. The customers car is a 2007 BMW X5 4.8i. This one had the oil cooler. It took us about an hour and a half to take it out, and I'm estimating 2 hours to put it in. We are currently waiting for the parts.

It wasn't that hard. Removed fan, belt, alternator, slid out ps pump, removed upper radiator hose, removed the 2 oil cooler lines, and then removed oil cooler thermostat. We removed the e torx bolts by removing driver side wheel, using an extension and a u joint.

We plan on replacing the seal as well as 4 oil line o rings. I'll update to see if it works

Update

Yep. No signs of oil leak. Definitely wouldn't have wanted to attempt the one with no oil cooler. That looks like a pain in the butt. Valve cover gasket job also big pain in the butt. If I had to do it again, I'd definitely remove intake manifold and fuel rails. It was just so much harder to maneuver and make sure the gasket was seated properly. This car was poorly designed.

100% agreed.

it looks like I might have this dreaded leak on my 2007 4.8i again. I checked my service records and BMW replaced my oil cooler thermostat and gasket at 74,000 miles when I still had an extended warranty. I'm at 140,000 miles now.

Those that had this leak, at what mileage did it start?

I'm wondering if the gasket only last 70k ??

I'd have to check my records but our leak was somewhere around 135k. We've only owned it from 120k or so. I have dealer records but there's no record of any of the common oil leak repairs but I have to imagine it leaked and was fixed before we got it. So yeah, wouldn't surprise me if they only last 70k or so.

Which is great because that probably means other things are about to go since we're at 147k now.

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk