I have an '03 Cooper S with just over 29,000 miles, and recently had it serviced at the dealership I work at (not MINI). The technician had worked on several MINI's before, and had done similar work before.

Long story short, I had the oil, coolant, and brake fluid changed (not knowing how the previous owner took care of the car), and within a week, there was a fair amount of oil on my garage floor, which continues still. I keep a close watch on the oil level.

I took the car back in, had it on the rack. I looked underneath of it myself. The filter is dry, as well as the drain plug. It appears there is a leak coming from the oil/water cooler (that's what it was explained to me as)... any ideas?

I trust this technician, and quite frankly he has nothing to gain by making me spend more $. Just a bit curious as to why it occurred right after an oil/coolant change and if anyone else has had similar experiences???

P.S. I did many searches on this to see if this is a known issue... so forgive me if this has already been posted!!

 

Is it possible oil was spilled during the oil change? Over the course of a few days it then dripped onto you garage floor?

 

Nope... the tech sprayed some cleaner on it... continued to drip as we stood there.

And this was two weeks ago... it's still going.

 

If it is coming from the oil filter housing, the O ring did not seat properly. I had to do 3 trials just to get it right when I did my own oil change being really careful to follow the thread and pushed the paper filter snugged. Be careful and gentle and I used a small mirror just to make sure the ends aligned properly before torqeuing.

 

I would bet the o-ring has broken and needs to be replaced. i have done quite a few oil changes and so far twice the o-rings have failed. you would need to get this fixed soon. the longer you drive the car with the leak, the more risk you take on having engine damage. it could shift a bit and really start to pump oil out quickly. running out of oil is a very bad idea.

 

I agree

 

Ok. The tech was thinking about changing out the oil/water (or oil/coolant cooler... I can't remember what he called it) and replacing the o-rings inside of it... but it sounds to be much simpler. Good!