Okay, so I have on 08 Cooper S with a lovely oil leak.

At first it looked as if it was the oil pan, but I pulled wheel and had it running and noticed the oil seemed to be coming from where the pulleys are. Of course you cannot see up there to what it actually is, but I am assuming the crank pulley seal is leaking. My question is, is this an engine out kind of job? I really can't stand my local Mini dealer (than again, who can?). However, my father and I are very mechanically inclined, we do a lot of work with formula cars we race, so we aren't completely useless with cars. Basically, my question is, how hard would the job be and how would we do it?

 

It can definitely be done at home. The big hold up is that you'll have to remove the timing chain cover, timing chain, and hopefully you can install a new seal without a $500 BMW special tool. I don't know how to set timing on this engine but I'm sure someone else does on this forum.

I would make sure that the timing chain tensioner bolt is not leaking and seeping down the timing chain cover. That's a more common place where big leaks occur on the R56 MCS engine.

 

Better get that fixed ASAP. I got lazy after having the timing chain and tensioner replaced in late 2010. The crank seal leaked a little behind the pulley. The oil softened the serpentine which broke and got sucked into the oil seal and consequently into the crank case. The belt pieces went all up into the valve cover and jumped timing. I have a tensioner seal leaking now which must be replaced next Friday.