I feel ya! I have a 2013 535i M-sport and it’s had a leaking oil pan since 2019 which in 2020 was $2200 to repair. The car has an active suspension so the entire rear end has to dropped! Also, it had a leaking oil filter housing that was about $850 which I had fixed.
Currently, after driving it when I get out I smell some type of fluid burning. I’m sure that’ll be an astronomical cost! I’ll more than likely get it all of fixed…somehow! Selling it is out of the question. My wife will be needing a car in the next couple months. We’ve done 2 car payments at the same time several times while married, 30 years, but we’re older now, mid 50’s, and that’s not where we want our money going nowadays.
Only you can determine whether you should sell the car or not. Just like we’ve assessed our situation and concluded…nope gotta keep it! Lastly, I have 2 other cars that HAVE NOT increased in maintenance cost since ownership…2005 Toyota Sequoia that we’ve owned for 17 years and a 2005 Toyota Tundra that I’ve owned for 5 years. My BMW though “newer” has had some type of leak off and on since I’ve had it almost 6 years. The Toyotas…ZERO! BMW’s are certainly more fun to drive and nice to look at but damn it why can’t BMW make a car that doesn’t leak??? It not impossible! I have 2 examples in my driveway!
Picked up the car today. I did get a pre-purchase inspection, thankfully all’s it showed was just normal stuff for 10 year old car with 95k miles. I drove it 2 hours back home and didn’t notice anything unusual. The glovebox is full of maintenance docs that I haven’t had a chance to look at and I just scanned the report looking for a gotcha but there weren’t any. I do worry about the timing chain tho.