Our new 56 has 400 miles on it and I just checked the oil level mainly due to a recent post here.

Its down 1/4" from the full mark. I was shocked. I checked it when we brought it home and it was right at the full mark. At the tip of the dipstick it had that silvery oil engines get during break in.

Anyone else experience this?

Should I just get Syn Castrol to top it off? Or does the factory use a different brand? Eventually after the first oil change I'll go to Mobile 1.

 

I had to add 3/4 of a quart to my wife's car at about 3500 miles, but it didn't burn any more between then and the first scheduled oil change, which came up at about 11,500 miles.

On my car, it was down about 1/3-quart by the time the first scheduled change came due, but nothing since.

 

It's fairly normal to experience oil consumption during the break-in. It will not be an issue after the first one or two thousand miles. If you see it smoking out the tailpipe (blue smoke, not white vapor) when you first start it up, you actually have a problem.

 

I saw a brief plume of smoke during the first 20 miles on my car, but my MA said it shouldn't be anything to worry about. I only have about 100 miles on it so far, but the exhaust is still coating the bumper with a thin layer of black dust, which I can only assume is burnt oil. The dipstick still seems to read full so far, but it's got me a little nervous

 

It's not unusual for new engines to burn a little oil. Your oil doesn't have to be at the full mark. If it's between the full and add indicators... there's no reason to add any oil. You obviously check your oil regularly, since you noticed this in the first place. You'll similarly discover when (more like if) the level gets to the bottom of the indicators, at which point you should add a quart.

 

I've also noticed that some cars have an oil level that they "like", for want of a better word.

On my 1972 Mercedes, if I tried to keep the oil level at the "full" mark, I would have to top off almost weekly. But, if I let the level drop to the halfway point between "add" and "full", it would sit there happily until the next oil change. So, I stopped trying to keep the level at the "full" mark.

As dneal said, you don't need to add oil until you reach the lower mark on the dipstick.

 

I'm well aware of that I was just concerned that my brand new car (now with over 200 miles on it) is still leaving black dust all over my rear bumper!

 

Sorry, I missed that part of your post the first time around. The black dust/specks all over your rear bumper probably aren't oil - they're likely just generic road grime. The MINI is notorious for collecting dirt on the boot and rear bumper. Ask any owner, whether they've got a first-gen car or second-gen car, coupe or convertible - they're all the same.

The rear of your car will forever be getting dirty faster than the rest of the car. Bad news perhaps, but at least it's not oil!

 

Interesting, I'll continue to keep an eye on it and I hope that's what it is, it just seems much, much blacker than anything any of my previous cars would pick up from the road and the only time I've seen anything on a car that looks like this it was oil.

Thanks for the advice, though, I really do hope that it is just road grime! I'll just have to wait and see now that I'm out of town and have to leave my mini in the garage for the next 3 weeks

 

FWIW, I took ours in at 500-600 miles because it burned a 1/3 of a quart of oil. They inspected everything and added the missing oil. I check it now (these dipsticks are the worst for readings) and it hasn't burned any that I can see in the last 600 miles.

 

My oil is down about 1/4" from the top ball after 1000miles. Sounds normal to me for an engine that is seating its rings.

 

Black dust is around the tailpipe incomplete combustion (burning rich). Greasy film is burning oil. As dneal says, if its all over the rear bumper, it's road grime.

 

Wait till you get the pleasure of driving down a gravel or worse yet, dirt road. Then you'll see just how much dirt can coat the back of yor MINI! By the way, I wonder if installing those little mudflaps does anything for this???

 

Those little mudflaps. Not a chance !! Just live with it.

 

My 06 MCS has about 67k miles on it now & it's burning oil like crazy! I put 2 quarts of Castrol Syntec in it every 3-4 weeks, or about every other tank of gas. The guy at the dealer told me about a year ago that it's normal to burn a quart of oil every 750 - 1000 miles (which I don't believe), but I'm burning a lot more than that. Does anyone have any suggestions, or should I just go raise hell with the dealer, as it's still under the 100k mile warranty?

 

That sounds *really* excessive. Does the car blow out a plume of smoke when you start it for the first time after it's been sitting a while? If so, your valve guide seals may be leaking, allowing oil to pool in the combustion chamber while the car sits.

If you're burning a quart every 300-400 miles, though, I would expect the car to be smoking almost constantly. I once had an old Honda that burned almost that much, and it looked like a mosquito-fogging truck driving down the street.

I would definitely ping the dealer about it, especially if you have an extended warranty.

 

Do what someone else recommended and check it. Wipe your fingers through it and rub them together. If it's greasy, it's some oil but at 400 miles nothing to worry about unless you get to the "add" mark very quickly. If it's dry, it's soot from fuel. Been doing any full throttle runs? Turbo'ed cars already dump more fuel in on boost and all cars pretty much go to open loop when you floor it and dump a lot of fuel which can cause sooting. If you have one that the recall has been done on, it's going to more pronounced since the exhaust tips now sit under the bumper.

You mentioned not seeing anything that dark on your previous cars. If you have an S, have you owned a turbo before now? You should've seen my Stage II Subaru Legacy GT tailpipes. Also, my supercharged S10 has a fuel management unit to increase fuel pressure with boost and it pours black smoke on full throttle even with a tune.

Also, some cars are just way more finicky about how you check the oil and will give different readings depending on how it's parked or how long after shutting down you check it. I'd say park it in the garage and check it in the morning, then drive it a few hundred miles and do the same thing. Someone correct me, but the S sounds like it has a turbo timer and that would affect the oil level reading if it circulates oil through the turbo after shutting down and you checked while the timer was running.