[Natemeins]

In one word...ABSO-friggin-LUTELY!! Here's the story:
So as many of us have experienced, the crappy plastic bulkhead partitions that hold the rear rain seal up against the hood rot from heat and eventually break, causing the seal to drop down and rest on top of the engine. I bought my 2011 X6 last November (my first Bimmer) and being an aircraft mechanic, the first thing I did when I got home was give it the real good look. The above was the case and it raised a red flag. So I spent some time using aluminum tape (speed tape) and made it rigid and functional again. A few weeks after this I took it to the dealer for some maintenance. Afterward getting it home (why I waited that long to look over their job I'll never know) I noticed my nice looking repair job had been ripped off and was once again laying on the engine. And there it has sat until earlier this week (got lazy).
Monday morning I go out to the car to head to work. First few miles are business as usual. Then it started sputtering, but only under load (low revs, heavy-ish on the pedal). It finally threw a code (actually 4) mainly of which was a #6 misfire. Clearing it with OBD it went back to normal unless I put my food in it. But within a few days it was all the time. So I parked it.
At 67k miles, I was pretty sure it was overdue for its spark plug change (the POs had kept up with the maintenance but I was sure the plugs had never been changed). Reading up on that I guessed my ailments were because the spark plug gap had finally worn big enough that the turbo was blowing it out. A call to ECS Tuning and I now have an ignition service kit coming, as well as the bulkhead partition kit (2 birds and such!) But curiosity got the best of me and I went digging. Here's some pics of what I found.
All this time (the year I've had it plus untold number of years prior to me owning it) water has been allowed to sneak into the engine compartment and drop right onto the #5 & #6 coil packs (N55 3.0 I6) and pool there, until finally I guess the rubber seal rotted and allowed water to pool between the coil pack and the valve cover walls. It's a pretty stark difference between #6 and #1 coil packs. When my parts arrive Monday (including the socket) I'll be able to pull the plug and see what other damage the water has caused. I'll likely do what I can to clean out the rust and grime in the cavity and vacuum it out before pulling the plug to avoid the obvious contamination of the cylinder.

Long story short: fix your seal! A lot of owners I've read say they don't need it or it's just for acoustics. IT'S NOT!