Hi guys. First time poster here.

I am trying to float an issue I'm having here with daughters R55 Clubman where the engine begins to idle wildly/buck when the dipstick is removed.

I recently completed a repair on the car for a P0301 issue that developed suddenly during traffic. I replaced the cam cover, all spark plugs, and the coils. The car is now running smoothly and the P0301 cleared itself after a day or two. Today we went to change the oil, and after driving it around the block to check the level, the car started idling very rough and in a pulsing fashion. Prior to making the repairs I did note that there was a lot of vacuum sucking down on the oil fill cap. Do Mini's pull that much vacuum? Thanks for help.

 

For sure, you should be checking the oil level with the car off and on level ground. It is absolutely normal for the car to idle rough when the engine crankcase is open to atmosphere.

 

Yep, don't remove the oil cap or dipstick when the car is running on a Gen 2 MINI.

 

...because it becomes a big air leak...

t