I was reading a post on Edmunds.com in which a gentleman spoke of turbo problems resulting from in improper oil line design. He states that it isn't a case of "if" but "when" all turbos will eventually have problems if the oil line isn't changed. The cure listed was a replacement of the stock line w/ one like those used in aviation, which I would guess to have a braided covering, but no specifics were given.There was also mention made of a heat shield.

Are any of you familiar w/ this problem and or a fix as I've not been able to find any detailed information?

JH in OH

 

Have not heard of any problems in this regard. The oil feed line is a hard line, a braided line would look nice but I don't think you need it.
More important would be changing oil on a schedule a little more lenient than what is suggested by BMW, say 5,000 - 7,500 miles.
There is a heat shield on the turbo, in what regard Edmonds may have to mentioning it, I have no idea, it's just there. Good luck.

 

I was surprised that, if it were as big a problem as the person who posted it on Edmunds would lead you to believe, that some enterprising aftermarket manufacturer wouldn't have jumped on the bandwagon and produced a kit or there doesn't seem to be mention of it elsewhere. I've not yet taken delivery of our's and wasn't aware the factory line has a heat shield - thanks for your input.

 

Hi bluesman, the line, per se itself, doesn't have a shield on it, the shield basically covers the exhaust side of the turbo.
Need pics of your MINI when you get it, good luck.

 

could you post a link to the edmunds story? all the line does is transfer oil from point a to b, not much there to cause it to fail unless the line is deteriorating to the point of releasing contents into the oil going into the turbo. The two major things that would cause a turbo to fail is contamination in the oil and heat. Both of which are unaffected by a simple oil line.

Like mentioned above, id say its more important to keep your oil fresh then worrying about oil lines.

 

As it turns out, I mistakenly reported the post on Edmunds.com when it was on Consumeraffairs.com - first post on the Mini Cooper page. Sorry for the confusion - reading too many Mini articles!
-jh

"2008 Mini Cooper 56,000 miles Turbocharger failer due to blocked oil supply line, caused from poor design. Car is 5600 mile out of waranty and BMW of Dallas wonldn't cover and was going to charge 4200.00 to repair. I'm repairing this for my friend due to HIGH cost.
If you own a Mini Cooper you should take your car to a repair shop to have the oil supply line changed, it will plug it's a matter of time. I modified the new oil supply line, I work on aircraft and all engine compartment flamable supply lines have a flame resistane sleeve over the line.
I used this same theory and put this protective sleeve to protect the oil supply line from the heat that will cause coking of engine oil inside the line. Looks great and will last forever.
John of Dallas, TX Nov. 15, 2010"

 

More likely the pipe was blocked because the owner was trusting the OBC for his/her oil change intervals. I've done one oil change so far at 5000 (currently at 6300), and bought my oil and filter at the MINI of St. Louis parts dept... the tech on duty lauded my decision, and mentioned that the cars that get regular oil changes are the ones they never see back for service; the ones that come in with lunched turbos - usually caused by sludge in the pipe - are almost always running old oil.

Spridget

 

Changing the type of line feeding/draining the turbo (usually turbos are fed from the block and drain via a line, but I haven't looked at the MINI turbo) isn't going to do squat to stop coking/sludging.

The heat is coming directly from the turbo, not engine heat soaking the feed/drain line.

 

I have the exact same problem w/my 2008 mini S... Dealer in San Antonio won't warranty it because it's 5K outside of warranty. Wanting to charge me $4,200. Will taking the car to the shop and having the oil supply line fix the problem? Or, do I still need a new supercharger?

 

Baac1, I believe you mean a new turbo, and if your current turbo is history, you will need a new one.
It is my opinion that the oil line problems are due to the incredibly long intervals of oil changes suggested by BMW, allowing a certain degree of coking to occur in the oil supply line, resulting in turbo failures. Modifing the oil line by shielding it will help, but more frequent oil changes would be more prudent.
I started off by thinking I would change my oil every 5,000 to 7,500 miles, but I finally decided to change every 3,000. I use Mobil 0W40.
Quite a few others will disagree with me on oil change frequency, but turbos can and do get red hot on the exhaust side, and when they are spinning in the neighborhood of 100,000 RPM I tend to think I would like to give the turbo all the help I can. Good luck.


Or, do I still need a new supercharger?


"2008 Mini Cooper 56,000 miles Turbocharger failer due to blocked oil supply line, caused from poor design. Car is 5600 mile out of waranty and BMW of Dallas wonldn't cover and was going to charge 4200.00 to repair. I'm repairing this for my friend due to HIGH cost.
If you own a Mini Cooper you should take your car to a repair shop to have the oil supply line changed, it will plug it's a matter of time. I modified the new oil supply line, I work on aircraft and all engine compartment flamable supply lines have a flame resistane sleeve over the line.
I used this same theory and put this protective sleeve to protect the oil supply line from the heat that will cause coking of engine oil inside the line. Looks great and will last forever.
John of Dallas, TX Nov. 15, 2010"

 

I've seen several people report this failure. The heat shield over the turbo exhaust housing is shaped such that it does not block the radiated heat from reaching the oil line. See this thread for more details an a pic of one shielding solution. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...o-failure.html

-JL

 

FWIW, and as pointed out in the thread linked by jlevy, the R56 N18 comes standard with a small shield protecting the oil line fitting on the top side of the turbo housing. The fact that MINI went to the trouble of making this design change suggests that unprotected oil lines may be vulnerable to coking...and it's probably exacerbated by turbo shields like the M7 that trap and route the heat off to the sides.

Here's a pic of the turbo on my '11 MCS with the oil line fitting shield in place:

 

+1

It's amazing how controversial the thought of more frequent oil change intervals is on this forum. I posted what I thought was a benign reply to a post (can't even remember the theme of the thread) and mentioned I thought MINI / BMW's recommendation of 15K between oil changes was just asking for trouble. Wow, that reply hijacked the entire thread to be one about oil change intervals. Yes, the newer synthetic oils are great and the newer engines are great, and the engineers that design all this improved technology are brilliant, but I still change my oil every 5K miles. Yes it costs a few extra $$s per year and yes I am sending more used oil to the recycling facility and no I don't have any data to support my gut feeling, but I tend to agree the best thing you can do to ensure longer engine life and potentially prevent oil related mechanical failures such as is the theme of this thread is change the oil and filter more frequently, as opposed to less frequently. I just completed my second oil change at home this past weekend and the oil looked pretty black and used up, even if it might have still been fine. Just the thoughts of an old school guy.