A bit OT, but if you thought that Jaguars had some unusual known failure modes, howbout this:
https://www.bimmerfest.com/threads/c...-535i.1412120/

 

You can find tales of woe on all the major makes forums !
My Son-in-Law had to have a new gearbox on his Renault Clio diesel car, yet miles were not all that high. It turns out that Renault never bothered to check if the gearbox would take the torque of a diesel engine. He's driving a Hyundai i30 diesel now !

 

A sad, cautionary tale for sure..
As our oil filter also sits atop and not under the belt, I now realize checking for oil drips is crucial there.

 

This issue is clearly happening with certain BMWs but I'm finding it very hard to visualise how anything can be drawn into the engine sump by penetrating the crankshaft front oil seal. Surely they'll be a crankshaft main bearing behind the oil seal which would stop anything going past it into the sump? Or is there some sort of highly esoteric design of this BMW engine?