While BMW seemed to top the list, amazingly Mini Cooper was not mentioned as an offender.


http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/resea...=HPCDHP#page=1

 

I have owned an '08S, a '12S, and currently, a 15S. My '08 used a half quart during break in. Other than the '08's breakin, my MINIs haven't used a drop of oil. I think a lot of problem cars are talked about on this and other forums and some problems will appear more widespread than reality.

 

My first gen 06 JCW uses a quart every 900 to 1000 miles. BR Racing in Los Gatos (they know and race Minis) says that's common. They stated two main reasons for the consumption.


1. BMW's oil control rings aren't the best at controlling oil. Same is true for a lot of BMW's.


2. With the supercharger and they way the crank case is vented, oil can collect in the bottom of the intake manifold and small amounts of oil then make its way into the combustion chambers where it's burned.


Just a way of life for a lot of Minis. They have one customer who has to put a quart in every 500 miles. And the engine is healthy with good compression.

 

Yes, I believe from all I've read, that it is not at all unusual for Mini Coopers to use oil.
Most all cases that I've read about are not related to "worn out engines but rather just a design flaw that results in oil being lost due to such things as poor crank case ventilation.
A pain in the butt to be sure but not a catastrophic failure issue as long as you understand and are diligent in keeping you oil toped off.
Should this be considered normal for an otherwise healthy engine to use so much oil? Not at all, a properly designed engine will not start using oil until after many, many miles are put on.
But it is what it is and should you be one of the less fortunate Mini owners who use excessive oil the only recourse is to keep it toped off and constant attention to those oil levels.