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      09-08-2023, 06:15 PM   #14
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Drives: 128i, F-350, Cooper SE
Join Date: Mar 2017
Location: CT

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Another vote for DIYing the Oil Filter Housing Gasket. Great way to get familiar with the car, and quite easy.

Same with anything lighting related.

The valve cover gasket isn't too bad if you have some experienced help. Otherwise, have a highly recommended independent shop w/ BMW experience do that plus the oil pan gasket.

The oil pan gasket is expensive even at an indy shop, but probably around half what the dealer quoted worst case.

These cars leak oil from 3 spots. You have all 3. So the good news is once these are corrected, you're probably good for another 67k miles, if not more.

The mickey mouse flange is a good suggestion. 67k miles is probably way in advance of it going bad, but could be cheap insurance. The coolant leak when it does break can be enough to leave you stranded.
Also a good excuse to do a coolant drain/fill. Your water pump will like that.

If it wasn't mentioned already, get a BMW-specific OBD2 scanner.
It will let you scan all the modules and interpret BMW-specific codes, plus do a few things that a generic scanner can't, like registering a new battery and resetting the service reminders.
I have the older version of this cheapo amazon one and its pretty great. I know some people are using smartphone connected ones, I just never looked into it.
https://www.amazon.com/FOXWELL-Autom...zcF9hdGY&psc=1

Speaking of the battery, they tend to last a long time because the car does a great job of adjusting to how the battery degrades over time. However if its taking longer to crank, replace the battery. It will save your starter.

I wouldn't pay too much attention to the typical "BMW's are costly to maintain" comments that people will throw at you. That's a generic statement. The 128i is a simple machine. This is not an V10 M5, or even a V8 M3. Parts are plentiful and inexpensive, particularly since so much is shared with the 3 series (and the engine is found in numerous other models).

This forum is a great resource. The problems on these cars are quite predictable. If something's off, chances are numerous people have the same experience.
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09 128i 6MT Base N51|147k
BMWP and M parts mashup, plus some E36 wheels.
97 F-350 460ci Big Block 5MT 4x4
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