valve cover oil leak repair opinion

[bkearney]

Alright, so i bought a 2007 4.8 with 80k miles on it a couple months knowing the valve cover gasket and possibly the upper timing chain cover gasket needed to be replaced. The seller wrote me a check for the work and im just getting around to taking it in.

Question is, im faced with a difficult decision. My mechanic, (Indy BMW factory trained master mechanic who always end up being right) has advised that i should just let him pull the engine and he can replace the oil cooler line o rings, and a couple other various gaskets that are prone to wearing out and causing leaks, rather than just doing the upper timing chain and valve cover gaskets which are currently leaking.

Im meeting with him in the morning to take another look and get his final opinion, but it sounds like im looking at about 1200 for the Non removal fix, or probably closer to 3500 to pull the engine, which in his opinion will cost less in the long run...

SO,... based on your experience, am i better off in the long run to do some preventative maintenance now, or should I hold off and take the risk of needing to do it in the near future and spending more money overall....

one side note... the decision to pull the engine is predicated on the assumption that he can't get to the oil cooler o-rings without doing so, but he hasn't tried to do one on an x-5, only on a 6 series with same engine. SO, if its possibly for him to do o-ring down the road without pulling engine, then maybe i wait,.. but from what I've read, you have to drop the subframe, and at that point, you might as well just pull the engine.

Any input is greatly appreciated!