Hey everyone.

First things first: My F56 is out of warranty.

It has a B46A20A engine with about 30k on it and is reporting low oil pressure, usually after engine is warmed up, after driving it for about 15-20 minutes or so. On some (usually cold) startups it has an unsettling rattle coming from the engine bay, something akin to loose timing chain slapping on something, may be just my imagination though. The car has been parked for over a year while I was away (started only a handful of times), and the little fuel that remained in the tank (1/4) was stabilized during that time. I topped it off with fresh fuel from Shell.

I did the oil change, gave it 5qt (4.7L) of Castrol GTX MAGNATEC 5W-30 Full Synthetic (which is slightly more that the TIS recommended 4.4L) + fresh Mahle filter. The car won't complete the oil level measurement, so I'm stuck clinging to hope that 5qt is just the right amount. In any case this is about the amount of oil that came out of it when I drained it.

When I was changing the filter, I noticed some brown goo in the oil filter housing cap. Some of it seemed vaguely magnetic when I did the magnet test. Oil filter had a little bit of metal shavings embedded in its surface, however when I looked into the old oil in the sun, I didn't notice any sparkling or anything like that... I know, I should probably send it to some lab for testing. In fact when I was pouring the fresh oil in I noticed some rust(!) on the camshaft, especially around the camshaft lobes... Now this really made me start worrying.

All this oil changing didn't really help with the oil pressure light issue.

So to summarize, I think I have 4 issues with the car:
1. Low oil pressure after warm-up
2. Startup rattle
3. Some rust on the camshafts
4. Oil level measuring system not working

I'm thinking that I'd like to first somehow verify that the actual low oil pressure condition exists, although there is probably no reason not to trust the computer.

I saw that Mini makes their own special tool (2 289 603) to measure the oil pressure, which essentially replaces the oil filter cap and connects to some $1000 IMIB tool that does the measuring. None of which I have.




I was thinking of making my own tool which would consist of a digital oil pressure gauge with pressure sensor that would screw into the oil filter housing drain plug. The drain plug already has a 5/16 hole in it, which after drilling out and threading would serve as the installation point for the oil pressure sensor (if I can find one with that size thread). It's made out of pretty tough plastic, so I think it would withstand the oil pressure while testing it for like half an hour. Let me know if you think this is a recipe for disaster.



Anyway, that's all I have for now, I have to get some sleep and clear my mind.

I would appreciate any sort of input or constructive criticism from you guys.

Thanks,
min00b

 

How long have you been running 5W-30?
Post some pictures of the rust color you see on the cam if you can!
Now, it's been my understanding that the F cars take 0W-20 oil, but threads on NAM are saying 5W-30.
As I understand the VANOS expects a specific oil to function properly, and I bet the oil measurement operation might do the same.

Thoughts? I'd be curious to see what happens if you swapped the 5W-30 for the 0W-20.

 

I've been running 5W-30 since day 1, no problems.

Here's the photo of camshaft section visible through the oil fill hole. Eh, it's not looking good.

 

That pitting is a little concerning, and very unexpected.
It would seem as though there is VERY little oil flowing through your motor.
I'd entertain the idea of switching to the 0W-20 oil even just to see if it helps flow.
@Chedder2017 what do you make of this?

 

I actually have to inspect that cam lobe surface up close. Not sure if that's pitting or just the way the photo came out because I was shining at it with a flashlight. Could you possibly take a photo of your cam lobes?

I think this engine might be toast. It looks like the cam follower scraped whatever rust was in the center of the lobes. The oil pump is probably worn out from pumping all that rust contaminated oil... And if any of it got pumped through the oil filter and into crankshaft and rod bearings, they are very likely shot. Which would explain the low oil pressure issue... I guess I'm pulling the oil pan on this car to inspect the pump and bearings...

 

Of course!

20k on 0W-20