[Coi]

Hey, so I have a recently-acquired Z4M with ~75k miles and was getting a bunch of Vanos work done (as well as having the cracked timing chain guide replaced and a bunch of worn pulleys/belts changed out and having some oil leaks addressed). My mechanic, who is excellent and extremely through, decided to quickly check the intake valve clearances since the cover was off with the thickest feeler gauge and found several out of spec. I had him do a full valve adjustment as a result and he found that 9 of the 24 needed adjustment.

A valve adjustment was done about a year ago at ~65k miles at a BMW dealership in the Midwest; I have the service record. So the car has done just under 10k miles since then. I've heard some dealers just listen to the engine and if there's no excessive valvetrain noise then they don't even check the clearances. I don't believe this was the case because the record shows a new valve cover gasket at that time. Also they charged the previous owner a pretty high cost: total for that service was $2000. The cam bearing caps also oddly have little X's scratched into them but that could've been done at 30k miles for the first adjustment instead.

Additionally, the dealer used some sort of strange sealant on the valve cover gasket instead of the normal RTV. It permanently adhered to the gasket, ruining it, and was apparently a pain to clean up. Strange that a dealer would use the wrong stuff. I also had to get a new gasket as a result.

Anyone else heard of a dealer messing up a valve adjustment this badly? My mechanic suspects either they didn't do the adjustment and just replaced the gasket or they did it when the engine was hot. I guess most dealerships probably don't have someone who's skilled with working on S54s these days but it still boggles the mind. I thought I did my due diligence but buying a car with recent dealer service history but now that the car is so old that may not be the best.