Our R56 has left drops of oil on the garage floor the past several months. It's recently left a drizzle after parking the car each time. The oil drops on the exhaust downtube before hitting the ground. Reading through this forum and elsewhere, it seems a probable cause might be the turbo oil lines.

My oil line kit from Detroit Tuned should arrive tomorrow. I already took the car apart in preparation. What I see does not appear to be due to the turbo oil supply line. It's dry at both ends. There is a lot of oil from the area under the 3rd shield that came off. Attached is a picture.

I'd guess the oil supply line was previously replaced by previous owner. There were a couple of nuts missing which secure the exhaust bracket to the horizontal studs of the engine. Plus the oil supply line is tight and looking good at both ends. I tried to move the line at the crimps but no budge.

I also inspected around the oil filter housing and oil cooler the best I could. They do not appear to be leaking. Best I can tell, the turbo oil return line is leaking the oil. Not quite positive.

Questions:
1. What's your opinion where the leak is coming from? Pic is attached.
2. Maybe I should not replace the turbo supply line?
3. To replace the turbo oil return line, how to remove the factory clamp (lower end) and detach the top?
4. I did not disconnect the battery before attempting to remove shields. Should have. Sparks flew when the down tube shield touched the wire to the alternator. A few more sparks as I quickly disconnected the cable terminals to the battery. How probable is it that I damaged something electrical and caused another problem?

Thank you. I know many of you have done this repair.

 

Hard to tell from the pic but it looks like the oil filter housing where it mounts to the block.

 

And as far as the short circuit you should be fine. I've seen it many times.

 

The gasket kit for the oil filter housing is about $25, and another $20 for the oil cooler gaskets (assuming that you have an MCS, no oil cooler on the MC). All of these are accessable with the work that you have done. The hardest part of the job is removing the heat shields.

The common leak on the turbo oil line is at the turbo side, not the block.

If the turbo oil line has been replaced, there is a chance that the replacement was not installed properly (or new crush washers were not used), and the oil line could be leaking at the block.

The turbo drain line is connected by a flanged o-ring joint at the turbo. There is a small bolt (I don't remember the size, maybe 8mm head?), once removed, wiggle the turbo line down off of the turbo. Remove the bottom clamp first so that you have more freedom of movement and can use the hose as a handle. A few twists while pulling down and the hose should come free.

The leak on my car was on the top of the oil filter housing. It was hard to see what the source of the leak was, so I just assumed that I would replace the gaskets while I was in there. The oil filter gasket was actually cracked. I have heard that this type of leak is common in BMW engines after 4-5 years, not just on MINI.

Have fun,
Mike

 

Thank you.
I'm thinking to not replace the turbo oil supply line since it's not leaking. I could risk creating a new leak if I did.

I'll go for the oil filter housing gasket, and I guess the cooler gasket since it will all be out.

 

Do you know if the turbo line is an aftermarket one, or a factory made piece? The aftermarket ones won't leak, but the factory ones eventually will. It may be 3 years or 50k miles, but it will leak. The factory ones have a crimp behind the hard line, the aftermarket ones have the braided line going right into a fitting. There is a small heat shield that is put on newer MINI's around the turbo end of the line. If you are ordering parts, this one is only a few more $$ and would make sense to install.


http://www.detroittuned.com/mini-gen...e-heat-sheild/


Have fun,
Mike