Hi All,

I took my MINI COOPER S into service as suddenly it once again developed engine rattle (first time around 13K). Car has 26K on it - 2 years old. I had my last service done around 5K ago at MINI and now they tell me i'm running low on engine oil. In fact I'm being told that with this turbo engine i need to top up engine oil every 1700 miles. I've never heard of anything like this and neither anyone I know that owns a car with turbo engine. Should I be worried?

Thanks,
Marcin

 

You should not be worried but these cars DO consume/burn oil. Its in the manual, its on the web(here in many places as well), and its being told to some people in sales(I think your sale predates this last one). In fact MINI will not do anything unless your car consumes more than a quart of oil in 1500 miles.

You need to get in a habit of checking the oil every time you fill up with fuel or something. I carry a quart of oil and funnel with me even though my car only burns about 1/4th a quart every few thousand miles.Also DO NOT OVERFILL YOUR OIL LEVEL. Its as bad to have too little oil to have too much.

 

Exactly as stated above. Turbo engines typically do consume oil, especially those of the performance variety. It's not as bad as say, a Mazda RX-8, but it will need to be checked regularly.

 

heh, Chrysler thinks it is normal for their engines to burn a quart every 1,000 miles. And that's non-turbo.

 

I too had noticed when checking the oil, that it was VERY low. I had some trouble reading the dip stick for an accurate reading, so I took it to my dealer and asked them to instruct me fully on how to read the dipstick. Turns out the engine oil was so low, it wasn't reading on the stick!

The service tech gladly topped off the car with oil and helped me understand how to read the MINI dipstick properly. It was at this point, I was told that I need to check the oil regularly as these engines eat oil. I had never heard of that, nor was I ever told this when I picked the car up new. MINI really needs to inform new owners of Cooper S models to be vigilant with adding oil before people start having their engines seize up!

 

You are right, MINI should be more up front with this "issue". However this is not just a MINI thing, or for that matter, a BMW thing. All cars will consume oil-albeit some more that others. It should be a habit to check your oil level every time you fill up, with all your vehicles. I mean, it's not like you're going to be doing much else except just waiting.

Lately when someone comes in and buys an oil and filter kit I'll offer to throw in an extra quart half off. Hopefully that is a good enough incentive to keep it around for top off down the road.

Cheers!

 

Sorry to say this, but, yes I would be worried if the car started to rattle because of low engine oil. I would double check with the dealer to understand what the rattle was. With low oil levels the oil can overheat and breakdown and won't lubricate as well. Also, the rattle means that the oil wasn't getting to some place that is needed. That could have been a bearing which could be a problem or it could have been a lifter or other part that needs to be pressurized with oil to function properly which may not be a problem. This may or may not be a problem, but I would check.

An issue with BMW in general is that they believe they know better than the car owner as to what is going on in the car. So they don't put in gages and in the BMWs they don't put in a dip stick so you can't check the oil. This has been an on-going issue discussed in the BMW club magazine. In the Minis the Gen 1s had a temperature gage but they took that away with the Gen 2s. My personal opinion is that this is just wrong for a car of this caliber not to have a complete set of gages. An oil pressure gage or oil temperature gage would tell you if you are getting low on oil, even if you don’t check it too often. And these will tell you before some idiot warning light comes on. Don’t get me wrong, I believe in checking the oil regularly.

As a matter of note my 2007 S burns no oil, even with several track days on it. This just shows the variations between the cars. With that said, there are a lot of posts about how often to change oil. The general conscious is that the Mini/BMW intervals are way too long, even for the synthetic and this is especially true for the turbo which does a pretty good job of cooking the oil. No other car on the market goes as long between oil changes as BMW recommends. On my car the oil gets changed every 2 track days and our other Mini (just-a-Cooper) has the oil changed every 4000 - 6000 miles depending on how much it is driven in a year. But a time proven practice to extend the life of an engine is to change the oil at about that interval (once per year or every 5000 miles whichever comes first). This is one of those things that can only help and can do no harm. But don't cheap out on the oil, buy the stock filter and a quality oil and change them both at the same time.

 

Our 2010 S used 1/2 qrt in the first 5,000 miles and was just topped off that amount per the dealer invoice. Going to do the first oil change now at 5 months. Future changes will be every 6 months which will be around 6,000-7,000 miles.

 

My 07' with 45K miles is undergoing the oil consumption test now for 1000 miles as it burns 1qt. of oil every 1000 miles. Where can I find that manual or information on the web you are referring to?

 

I just got back from the dealer yesterday brought the car in for the cold start issue and I find out I had my third oil leak and was 2.5 quarts low on oil. My mini has 24,000 miles and the service adviser said mini's burn 1 quart every 3 to 4 thousand miles.

 

I got my oil changed about three weeks ago. I recently checked my oil after hearing about this and driving about 1500 miles. I was about 1/4 of a quart low. Geesh.

 

I just bought some OEM mini oil from outmotoring.

 

Turbo cars tend to be very hard on oil...some desgins from some companies use a bit...it varies quite a bit. Another variation seems to be how folks break in the motor initially when brand new...
Anyone who has taken a motor appart will note that turbo/SC motor's have rings that are sized different than a normally asperated motor...the rings on a forced induction motor are much heavier...
And this affects break-in...
Some folks advocate the drive it like you stole it mentality...even with 2 miles on the odometer...it has a price. A motor generally burns a bit of oil when new, then it tappers off as the rings/valves seat....then will gradually go up with age.

 

Interesting thread. My 2010 R56 is just now coming up on a year since purchase, (12/21) and I've noticed no excessive oil use. I check the level pretty regularly, so I'd surely notice if it was getting low - and so far, the level has stayed to spec with no problems. FYI, I broke the engine in according to the book.

I changed the oil recently at 5000 miles, by the way. synthetic or not, I wouldn't think of using the same oil for 15K miles, especially with a turbocharged engine. Also, the fact that I've only put about 5100 miles on the car in a year illustrates my short commute (.8 mile each way - and I'd walk if I didn't have to have the car available for occasional service runs during the day), and since most of this driving is here in town, I'm doubly cautious about avoiding oil sludging. I deliberately take the car out on the highway for vigorous runs now and then just to clear out carbon, and if my wife and I need to make trips over the weekend, we usually take the MINI just so it can stretch its legs a bit.

I guess it's silly to wish you had a longer commute, but I've found myself thinking that during the last year!

Spridget

 

Yup...I have had many mechanics tell me to never buy a used turbo/SC car...way to much temptation to beat on it before a propper break-in...and a long life, good power, and low oil consumption depends on a good break-in...
Folks keeping a car for 1 to maybe 3 years don't care if the rings are spent from a hard break-in...it runs fine for them. A gentle break-in to seat the valves, and let the rings mate with the honeing/cross-hatching of the walls are time tested....IMO it leaves a better longterm result....
But who wants to not put their foot into it, and keep the rpm's down for the first few thousand miles....unless they plan on keeping the car...so many folks are into the live fast/hard now, instant gratification thing...
End Rant....you may now change the channel/return to your regularly scheduled programming!!

 

The Mini is such a fine machine and it is hard to believe that people wouldn't follow the book for the break-in period. I followed the book and have no oil usage. Even during track days of really hard driving I don't see any usage. I figure oil is cheap and so is a filter. Plus the oil is recycled, so I don't hesitate to change it. Cheap insurance against damage. Alot cheaper than an new engine

As that goes, there is another thread about changing the transmission oil in the standard. BMW (like their crazy engine oil change recommendations) says that it is life time (who's, I don't know) and doesn't need to be changed. But there is a lot of discussion about changing that after 60k miles https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...l-gearbox.html. Something a lot of people don't think about that. But a tranny is about as expensive as an engine to replace and changing that oil is probably a good idea too. So something else to think about.

And changing spark plug...I know, off topic... but do that too after about 30k miles

 

VW has been Using the "Life time" term for awhile now, and they tell you a Life time fluided is good for 8 years

 

LOL, I completely understand. I usually work from home and only commute into the office on Mondays, so the majority of my trips in the MINI are to the grocery store which is only 1.5 miles away. I end up taking "the long way" which extends to trip to 5 miles each way, just to get a little more MINI-me time and hopefully help burn off some junk.

As far as oil consumption, I bought my 2008 MCS with 18,000 miles and now at 20,000 I have gone from being a little over the "full" blob on the dipstick, to right on the blob, so what's that, about 1/2 quart?

I remember my VW R32 (non-turbo) and the wife's New Beetle turbo both burning about 1 quart / 1,000 miles.

 

Heck, our old Dodge Neon "Leaked" a quart of oil a week since new.

 

Mine uses no oil. I had it changed in July and it's still in the middle of the stick when hot. I never added any. You should change it about every 7500 miles based on the dudes who sent their in for analysis in the past. It's still good then.

 

Is it too full when the oil level is at the top bump on the dipstick?