Alright, So I have started this post to create a formal complaint against the Corporation and Manufacturing Company, MINI. Now, let it be known, that I have been a long standing MINI fan and have always admired the quality and product created by BMW. I am not pursuing this on any bias, I am pursuing this action because I feel totally, that MINI is withholding information to hold their name in good standing and to reduce their financial loss in an action which they know must be done.

This started with a friend of mine whose car, a 2007 MINI Cooper S with just over 60,000 miles, has suffered damage ranging over $10,000 in damage due to ‘No Oil in the Vehicle.’ To bring everyone up to speed on that situation, to see where I am coming from, her car did receive an oil change at the odometer reading of 57,216. The car DID receive synthetic oil of 5W30 at that time. This was also done at another dealership, a Dodge dealership, to be exact. Those people go through certifications for extensive work and an oil change is nothing for a person of their qualifications. The car then drove approximately 3,000 miles which at that time suffered damage where the gaskets must be replaced, the timing chain must be replaced and it’s still undetermined what other damage can be found. The estimate of the repairs is, at the moment, around $13,500.

Now doing research and hunting down more information about other possible cases, I started finding that this case is actually not a rare find for a MINI Cooper. I have found cases from many different years. It seems that the issue begins with the mileage of the vehicle being around 45-55,000 miles. So if you have a MINI, you should really start checking your oil and keeping a close eye on its levels. Apparently synthetic oil does not last what service technicians say, which ranges from 5-10,000 miles depending on who services your vehicle. Of course, with MINI, it’s expected that with their oil, it’s should be good for up 15,000 miles. Favorable limits for consumption of oil, under many manufacturers, is 1 Qt every 1,000miles.

So, in saying all this, I am making a formal complaint against MINI and am doing this blog to help protect those who have not had issues yet with their cars. MINI will do nothing for you once your car is out of warrantee and if your car has been getting service at another place, other then MINI, they will also do nothing for you, regardless of how well they have done it and how regimented you have been with the service. NOTHING! I also got in touch with BMW and they said that all will do is add a 15% discount to repairs. From there, they will do nothing more.

Now, again, I am not doing this because I hate MINI or am another entity from another company against them. I am doing this to protect other MINI and BMW aficionados, before you are left with a $10,000 (or more) bill on top of your car. Now, for those of you who may ask, who am I. I am a car salesman. I sell used cars. My experience is with domestic and foreign from all ranges. I have sold Dodges, Hondas, Toyotas, VWs, BMWs, Fords, Chevrolet. In all my experience and that shared by my family (my father being in the business for over 30yrs) have I ever heard of or seen so many issues with a single model car to this extent.

So, for you who are reading this, if you have encountered a problem of High Oil Consumption, please leave me information of your vehicle on this blog with the same circumstantial issues. Factors of this would be that you may have driven your car over 1500 miles from your last oil change and you have experienced a ‘No Oil Situation.’ If your car is in the shop somewhere and they say your problem was caused because your car is ‘Bone dry’ or ‘No Oil’ was found or you know a friend or someone else who has experienced a similar issue, please bring to this blog that information. Again, I am not doing this because I hate or am an entity against MINI or BMW, I am doing this to inform people and to show people there is a legitimate problem and to empower motorist of MINI Coopers everywhere with protection. So please, leave information such as Year, Model, If you are the only owner or second or third and the mileage of your vehicle.

Thank you and I hope this posting was informative and helpful to you!

- Ace -

http://www.minicooperforums.com/foru...ead.php?t=1671

http://www.mini2.com/forum/second-ge...nsumption.html

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...aler-help.html

These links are just a few. I have found many more. Again, I am doing this to help. Please post if you have experienced, ever, an issue. This includes if they purchase back your car due to High Oil Consumption.

 

I would like to understand more about her situation. Did her car previously suffer from oil starvation? If oil consumption is the issue, how was she able to make it to 57k miles without a problem? Did the mechanic verify that this was an oil consumption issue or did they check for leaks? It's very possible that the dodge dealership screwed up the oil change.

 

All very notable points and I will answer each one.

No, her car did not suffer from this situation before. She is the original owner of the vehicle and has all service receipts on the vehicle for every oil change she had done.

I can't explain why at 57k or so that a problem would start arising but all I know is that for other MINIs, that has been the common mileage range before an issue ever did arose. Must be something with the engineering of the vehicle and increase demand for power from aging, which is the course of any car really, but never to the level of repercussions that was faced here.

The people who checked and diagnosed the entire car was a MINI dealership. They inspected the entire vehicle, they said the plug was in and no signs of leakage. Leakage can be seen as dark stains under the vehicle and when they lifted the vehicle, they said there were none. There conclusion was one of 2 things. Either it has been a very long long time since an oil change or the person before this did not put oil in the vehicle. Mind you, MINI was the second diagnostics. Another shop came up with the same conclusion before hand with the 2 same possible outcome. MINI was post to be the second opinion coming out with the same result.

Now, assessing then that oil was not put in the car, it really would only have driven a couple of hundred miles until the same results occurred. You cannot run an engine without oil for 3,000 miles without something happening before then. My guess is it must of been deprived for about 200 miles at most.