Can anyone help me to decode/figure this problem out?
I was out today and while driving infotainment told me that the oil level was at minimum and I needed to add 1qt ASAP. I stopped and grabbed some, put it in, and measure (via infotainment). Error didn't clear, but I figured, it was still settling into the engine. I got to my first scheduled destination and car sat for about 30 minutes. didn't see any noticeable oil marks on the ground. Measured again, and still says low. Stopped at store again, added 2 qts, error went away, but as I was pulling away, I noticed a decent size fresh dirty oil mark (not oil straight from the jug). I took it to a local pepboys ( i know, but they're the only ones open on a Saturday afternoon around me).

They said at first I was missing a dipstick and that was the cause of the leak - I'm pretty sure this car doesn't have a dipstick. After I pushed for a little clarification, they said there's an open orifice at the bottom of the engine that the oil is coming out of and I guess they assume it's supposed to be a dipstick.
I asked for a photo to help clarify it, but does anyone here have any ideas? -

Car is 2017 Cooper S with about 107,000 miles on it. besides this issue, the car has run great since I bought it new.

 

Needs to go back to where the last oil change was done. Dealer? And how long ago?

 

last oil change was ~10k miles ago / 6months

 

Did they provide you a photo of the issue? That would certainly be helpful.

 

this is what they sent.

 

I would get the opinion of a mechanic that is familiar with these cars.

 

They are obviously incompetent. It's so obvious from just this picture that your oil level sensor is present. The B38/B48 motors on the F56 DOES NOT have a dipstick oil checker; The picture provides a very vague indication of where the leak comes from. But from the way that looks, plenty of sources that oil can come from:
1. oil pan gasket
2. oil filter housing seal
3. turbo-plumbing/seal failure, less likely, because this picture only shows oil on the intake side of the valley.
4. front or rear main seal, less likely because these seals usually do not leave a large footprint like this. But if it's any of these two seals, I see rear main seal more likely because of the oil footprint between the engine and the transmission.

You'll probably best the spray some carb cleaner and clean it all up; then check it every week to see if you can follow the trail and identify the leak.

 

@erikmatey for what it's worth, it appears from the picture that there's a possibility the drain plug for the oil filter housing isn't properly seated. It appears to me that there are oil drops around the filter housing drain plug and if that's the case, it would cause some splatter like what you're seeing.

 

I have a 2017 Cooper S, and yeah, what other people have said: no traditional dipstick, it uses an oil sensor assembly, looks like you may have oil coming from the filter housing somehow (whether the wraparound housing seal or the drain plug at its bottom).

When I did my first oil change hands-on I ended up with a lot of oil on that black plastic elbow and black wire covers shown -- looked a lot like yours -- except for mine was from loosening the filter and letting oil drain from the wraparound housing seal before/without opening the filter housing's drain plug (rookie mistake). Whether the wraparound housing seal or the housing drain plug (or both), I agree with @Banner28 that it looks like something is going on there. Good news is that's an easy fix even if the lower housing has to be replaced entirely -- many F56 oil change kits include a replacement bottom-half housing and drain plug along with the associated seals.

I won't rule out other leak possibilities for your situation, the guidance to clean it all up and then figure out where it is coming from over periodic rehcecks is spot-on. I would do that as well. As far as root cause, my immediate guess would be either overtightening (and thread stripping) or undertightening of the drain plug seal 1st, and something up at the wraparound seal 2nd.

Hope this helps.