u/Evening_Pop_3733

2005 545I 4.4Long story short: my buddy took this to a reputable shop and spent an astronomical amount of money to get the valley pan & water pipe done, this was early 2025. He drives it for a few months when of course it develops a new coolant leak. He buys a new car, parks the 545i for 6 months, then sells it to me (dirt cheap) two weeks ago.

I did a UV dye test and confirmed this is the ONLY coolant leak, believe me I checked everywhere. It took me an eternity to find the valley pan leak.

Can y'all think of any reason why the valley pan gasket would start to leak so soon, well other than incompetence on the shops part? Thermostat failure?

I have two risky propositions for this repair:

1: this valley pan is essentially brand new, less than 1500 miles. I'm inclined to just replace the gasket instead of the whole pan. DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE I CAN BUY JUST THE GASKET WITHOUT THE PAN?

2: the water pipe seems to have stuck pretty well since the original shops repair, there are no leaks from the weep hole. Normally I would be inclined to replace the water pipe but considering this unique situation I'm likely going to skip it.

Thoughts or help would be appreciated.

2005 545i 6 speed manual. Runs and drives, of course it pours oil. Got it for $800 so I cant complain too much. It's my first BMW car, although I've been riding their motorcycles forever. Putting together a list of seals to order and replace this week. So far I've got a puddle of oil under the front of the car and smoke coming from the rear of the engine.

My plan is to start with the more obvious culprits and move onto the more innocuous stuff. So far I have: oil filter mount gasket, front crank seal, rear main seal, and the valve cover gaskets. Any other suggestions before I put in my order?

Hoping to take this guy down to the dragon next week.