I keep seeing all of these posts about oil catch cans, and other problems with oil usage. My R53 has 109,xxx miles on it.....and from fresh oil change to next change (7000 miles), it may be 1/8" or less of a difference on the dip stick.

Anyone else have an R53 that isn't drinking oil like many others seem to be?

 

I have a '03 MCS with 102000 and haven't had to add any between oil changes. but then mine has a healthy engine, I guess whoever had it prior to me took real good care of it. I am getting ready to do a 15% supercharger pulley and a PRW fluid crankshaft damper pulley so it could change but hopefully not.

 

The only time ive had to add oil to my 04 was when it was leaking thru the oil cooler, since then i havent added a drop

 

About half you miles, no burning....had since new. Broke it in LONG AND SLOW....runs like champ!! Only oil change level is from the thinner bit of oil burning off..about 1/8 of a quart after a change, the stable....heck my oil pan gasket is damp, but no leak...heck barely a weap.

 

Count me in on my 04. I rarely have to add between oil changes and I have 116k on her.

 

60,000 plus miles and mine uses oil. 'Have to top it off now and then. It's always been properly maintained and fed a diet of good synthetic. Amsoil since I bought the car at 12,000. But then I drive it hard all the time. I believe I've noticed a difference in oil burn between easy freeway driving and hard driving while commuting.

 

After replacing the oil pan gasket a while back, the oil level has been fine . 90+k miles.

 

I usually have to add a quart between changes, so between blow by & almost 210,000 miles, I figure not bad.

I did however develop my first ever engine oil leak (not counting pan gasket seepage) this w/e, filter housing started leaking, oil change in a couple of weeks, will fix it then.

 

Rarely heard of 1st gens burning oil. At least MINI got 1 thing right w/ this 1. Well, Blwn, you're over 200k, w/ just a qt between oil change, that's pretty impressive!

 

I respectfully refuse to answer this question, on the grounds that MURPHY is my co-pilot.

 

We did a cross country trip last year which included MTTS 2012.
Visited 24 states and drove 9750 miles.
Total oil usage for the trip: 4 ounces.

My previous Mini, 2003 MCS, used half a quart every 5000 miles
Guess I'm just lucky.

 

Only at 75,000 on my '04 MCS but it does not use any oil between changes.

 

70k on an '06 and don't burn a drop.

 

91k, not a drop or drip!

 

Over 75k and no oil burning issues.

 

200mls in 12,000klms of driving, and the car has 133,000kms on it 04 mcs

 

2006 MCS with 87K and the engine seems to be tight with low oil consumption. But I still keep checking it regularly, along with tire pressures.

 

2006 with 71k- have never had to add any oil between service (~8k)

 

2003 85k no oil added 'tween changes

 

1/3rd of a Qt between oil changes. Every time I look under the Mini I can see my problem. Oil Pan Gasket!

 

Reviving this thread in hopes of getting some information/opinions.

I have a 2004 R-53, bought new (delivery March 2004). At 188,000 miles a compression test showed one cylinder at 50% of the other three. Bore-scope investigation showed a burned exhaust valve that was missing a small piece at the edge where it seated. Given the 188K mileage on other wear parts (rings, bearings) it seemed reasonable to have the engine rebuilt, so that's what happened.

Prior to the rebuild, I'd burned minimal amounts of oil, even at 180,000 miles (less than a quart between 7,000 and 9,000-mile changes, that interval per recommendation of Blackstone Labs after testing of used oil).

Now, after 1,500 miles of gentle break-in to seat the rings and get all the moving surfaces on congenial terms with their neighbors, the rebuilt engine (including new valves, new valve guides, new valve seals, new rings on original pistons) is burning a quart every 1,500 miles. Bore-scope shows heavy black "wet"-looking deposits around the intake valves above the head gasket, but not on the valve faces. My mechanic says that indicates oil is leaking down the valve stem (past the new seals) and gets into the combustion chamber along with the fuel/air mixture as it flows past the intake valve - where it burns off. I have seen no oil smoke out the exhaust, but given the minute quantities burned on each ignition in each cylinder, my mechanic says it's likely any visible smoke is being reduced in quantity by the catalytic converter so that none is visible at the tailpipe.

The engine re-builder, in a lengthy phone conversation after he'd seen the bore-scope photos of the black gunky deposits, indicated that while it was possible some oil was leaking down from the head by way of leaking valve stem seals, he thought it also likely that oil was getting past the rings. He told me the block bore was slightly more than 77 mm but was still within acceptable tolerances, there was no evidence of piston scuffing, and all four cylinders were still round, so the four cylinder bores were only honed (and the cross-hatch pattern of the hone job is visible in the bore-scope photos). However, he also told me that because the piston-to-wall clearance was now perhaps 0.002 or so greater than when the engine was new, "some oil consumption is normal."

Since this problem arose a couple of weeks ago, I've found numerous reports about excessive oil consumption in new cars, along with what I consider to be a reliable source saying that BMW tells customers that burning up to a quart every 750 miles is "an acceptable level of oil consumption". Another reputable source (Consumers Reports) indicates that among new cars Audi, BMW, Porsche, and Subaru all seem prone to burning oil at a rate far in excess of a quart between recommended oil change intervals. I'm incredulous at such oil consumption being considered "normal". My experience with cars goes back more than 50 years, during which time I've owned several cars (including an Austin Healey Sprite, a Datsun 240-Z, three Hondas, a Mazda, a Toyota, and a Chevy). I put at least 90,000 miles on each of those cars (more often it was in the 140,000 - 150,000 mile range) before replacing the car, and the worst oil consumer of the bunch was the Sprite which burned about half a quart between 3,000-mile oil changes. Now, on a newly rebuilt engine that was properly broken in, I'm burning a quart in half that distance. I'm not exactly delighted at this.

I'm looking for information that will help me better understand what might be the cause of this "excessive" oil consumption, what (if any) damage it might cause, and all reasonable opinions on what can be done to mitigate the problem (short of having the head pulled and all the valve guides and seals replaced). My age is well above the national speed limit (unless Montana still has "reasonable and proper") so I have to pay to have the work done. I love the car, have invested a lot of time and effort in tuning the suspension to make it handle the way I prefer (neutral from 20 mph up to 90+, then a trace of oversteer slowly begins to develop) and the rest of the car is in great condition (no rust and just a few dings from flying debris or parking lot doors) - so I'd like to keep it until the mortuary comes to call.

Thoughts, suggestions, ideas (and even some snark if you want) all welcome.

 

Mine doesn't...

 

92k - 04 R53 since new.
No smoke/burning oil, very little carbon @ tail pipes.
Only typical oil pan & crank sensor seal leak = 3/4qt every 2-2.5k. Oil change @ every 3k - 4k.

Have you preformed a compression or leak down test?

 

Here2Go: Yes - I forgot to mention that in my original post.

Compression tested Thursday, Oct. 27, 2022: #1 = 160 psi, #2 - 155 psi, #3 - 155 psi, #4 - 155 psi.

Leak down test done at the same time: #1 = 10%, #2 = 15%, #3 = 15%, #4 - 18%.

Am not entirely positive on this (probably the only way to know for sure would be to pull the head), but #4 visually looks like it has a bit more of the black gunk that's been building up on the head around each intake valve (bore scope inspection) than the other three - perhaps some of that gunk has gotten on the valve seat and is inducing slight additional leakage relative to #1, 2, and 3.