Thank you all for your insights and inputs on this freak show of a leak that had me worried like crazy.
Got my car back after two days... valve cover gaskets replaced, spark plugs changed, oil and filter changed, and the oil drenched area by the gaskets foam cleaned.
It turns out, two of the bolts holding the gasket were broken; they had to extract the lower end by drilling. Darn the aluminum bolts...
Here are the AFTER pictures:
Thank you kindly allllll of you who took the time to post in this thread... had it not been for you guys, I would've freaked out and felt remorsed in buying this car. Now I can finally enjoy it worry free. Hope the gaskets last for a while now...
NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW....
That surrounding mess is rust protection. Which I think is redundant on a BMW, or any other car for that matter. How do you guys feel about washing the engine bay? The detailers, when they say engine bay cleaning/shampooing; is that safe? No risk to any components is there?