Hmm.. Where to begin?? Just a little background on the car before I get started. I have a 2011 328i sedan, I am the second owner and have owned it since January 2015. Bought it with 33k miles, currently has 105k. NOTE: Most mileage is HWY miles as I travel a good bit on the weekends with abt a 30 mile commute to work (one way) 5 days a week. All maintenance and work preformed on car was through the BMW dealership for the remainder of warranty, then used BMW Certified mechanic at local reputable shop. I've always used synthetic oil and changed between 9-10k miles per local shop NOT BMW. Btw, BMW dealership suggests every 19k miles which I thought was absolutely absurd! So far, I've had 3 of the Engine Coils replaced and all spark plugs... up until here recently....

I'd just come home from a weekend trip to GA (550 miles roundtrip) and just got out of my mouth how good my car had been running, drove great! I obviously jinxed myself. I was driving to work the next morning and it started making this LOUD whining noise, more like a whistle but seemed to go away or lessen when I would accelerate... then come back again, so I drove straight to the shop. When I pulled up my mechanic popped the hood and immediately said it was my valve cover. He said I would definitely need to replace it sooner rather than later but I could chance it and try to make it to work, but should pull over and turn the car off and let it sit for a minute if it started whistling again. well I left there and drove to work with no noise, issues whatsoever. On my way home, however I had to stop 3 times and abt a mile before I got home, the check engine light came on. I pulled over, turned it off, let it sit, turned back on and light was still on but I drove home carefully, parked it. Drove to the shop first thing the next morning.. luckily it's abt a block away.

So, as soon as they took the valve cover off, they called me and sent pics of how bad the engine sludge was. I was mortified.. shocked.. and scared at what the damage was, bc at that point, I had no clue. So they suggested to do an engine flush, change the oil/filter and use Amzoil to help break it down naturally without risking clogging something else up trying to remove it etc.. Said to come by weekly, let him check the oil filter, (change if necessary) and do another oil change in 4 weeks, reassess then go from there. I agreed. They put the car back together, and as soon as they cranked it up, it threw a VANOS code, 002A7C. From what I've read, on the intake side? At that point, my mechanic suggested having it towed over to the BMW Dealership due to the recent VANOS warranty/recall thinking it may be tied to that. After a $160 diagnostic fee from BMW, it was determined that my bolts weren't loose or sheared off therefore not applicable per the warranty replacement/recall. In fact, BMW suggested that my problem was Engine sludge and suggested I buy a new motor for 19k. It was obvious they didn't want to fool with it so I had it towed back to my local shop.

At this point, they cleaned the intake solenoid valve, and the same code was still present so the next option was to replace the vanos unit on the intake side. Did that, no more code! They did tell me that when they took the old unit off, which he did show me, that it was full of sludge. Here's where I'm concerned. When I got to the shop my mechanic had a real talk convo with me and suggested that if he were me, he'd get rid of it, that if it were his wife or daughter, he wouldn't let me drive it risking being stranded on side of the road or out another thousand(s) dollars -/+. Obviously he couldn't tell me that it wouldn't happen again or that we even fixed the root of the problem etc, then discussing other potential issues that could go wrong, ie sludge etc in the oil pan, the screen on the oil pick could be or might get clogged and cause my oil pressure to be off then end up with a blown motor etc etc.. IDK! I've read dozens of threads etc I'm just curious to hear what other BMW enthusiasts suggest or have experienced. I'm nervous to drive my car, which btw drives great now, but I'm terrified that something else is wrong or if theres some underlying long term damage etc.

I picked it up yesterday afternoon and I'm going back by this afternoon to let him look at my filter to see if looks ok and that its getting enough oil etc..

Anyone else experience this or have any suggestions?!?