K&N allows a lot more silica through the filter compared to OEM or different style filters. I did a lot of work on my Honda S2000 and did many blackstone lab reports, and when i was running the K&N filter off of the turbo, I had much higher silica and wear metals compared to when i modified an OEM filter onto the intake system. At this point I don't use K&N on any of my cars as there are a lot of other options that improve flow and don't allow as much 'extra' stuff into the motor. In regards to the MINI, it was around the same time that i was noticing the increased oil consumption on my S2K as well as on my Mini, that I decided to get rid of the HAI on the Mini and go back to the stock setup. Reading similar experiences on BITOG confirmed my thoughts as well. Later I realized that much of the oil consumption on the MINI was due to leaks, and not it being burnt from worn cylinder walls. I still burn oil in the MINI, but it was not as bad as I had originally thought!

 

This is interesting. Clarification - are you talking about K&N AIR filters or OIL filters? And you were doing lab reports on your oil which showed increased wear metals, etc? What is HAI?

I've run K&N air filters on everything I own for a long time. Never done lab reports though, and I have wondered about the rumors of increased engine contamination. Maybe it's time to change. What brand / type do you use now, Soul?

 

Caveat Emptor. I am talking about the oilable air filters, and yes, I was doing blackstone oil test on every oil change for a couple years (had a turbo setup on the motor and was checking the health of the motor) I personally won't use them, but others have been fine and haven't had an issue. I haven't done any blackstone reports on my MINI, but used the info i gained from my Honda, and got rid of the HAI (Hot Air Intake), which was the old school intake, which was basically a K&N conical filter sitting directly onto the the Throttle body. Andy@rosstech did it a million years ago, as well as the bypass valve hack. I now have a JCW intake with a stock paper filter. On my Honda, I use the AEM dryflow filter which filters more than the older oiled cotton K&N filter.

 

Thx for the input.

 

Well I am about to install a K&N filter on my M7 intake, so I guess I'll see what kind of effect that has on any consumption

 

LOL. The hollow claim that all K&N allows more "extra stuff" into the engine. Let me just point out it is a very broad stroke that lumps all K&N togethers and they are crap. You can definitely make your own HAI or CAI and make a very bad choice as K&N makes just about more sizes and shapes than the world's biggest condom mfg. I can read between the lines, and the one trash K&N is because he happen to scored a JCW air box. Like in most forums read and comprehend with your mind rather than your heart.

 

I think Soul was careful to state his opinion and his experience. I asked, he answered. There were no hollow claims or broad strokes made, IMHO.

 

Start doing some testing and get back to us; or just do what you were planning on doing anyway!
No doubt you have your opinion, and disparate information will not sway it, but my own experience forms my own! I won't respond to the rest of your comments, but as you said yourself, reading comprehension informs the mind and possibly the heart too...

Good luck with whatever you end up doing.

 

Just an update for future readers:
I've driven about 1500 miles since I last topped up the oil, this driving was mostly local with a good deal of stop and go traffic. I also haven't been the easiest on the engine since sometimes I just need to get out of another car's way quickly. This morning the oil level was halfway between the high and minimum levels on the dipstick. I added 0.4 liters of Liqui-Moly 5w40 to get it back to full again.

I'm fairly happy with that amount of consumption given the mileage (136k), modifications, and driving style.

Another question, I will continue to use the Liqui-Moly 5w40 with MoS2 additive moving forward, but to top off small amounts (0.5 liters) at a time, will I be alright to use Rotella T6 5w40? The only reason I ask is because it's more readily available where I live...

Thanks!

 

So another update to keep this thread going - I've now driven the car about 1000 miles since the last oil top off and I had to add about 0.4 liters again to get it full. So it seems my oil consumption is around 1/2 quart for every 1000 miles with a mixed driving style on Liqui-Moly 5w40.

I have been doing quite a bit of reading online and have found that Motul 8100 X-Cess 5w40 is well known to basically stop oil consumption on many different forced induction cars including Porsches, Audis, VWs, Subaru, etc. I couldn't find many instances of it being used on an R53, but it seems people use it on the R56 with good results in terms of curbing oil consumption. I also like the fact that it retains the BMW LL-01 rating even though I would only run it for a 5000 mile interval.

I may try this oil out for the next change so we know how the R53 will respond to it. With ordering the oil from Amazon it actually ends up being a couple dollars cheaper than the Liqui-Moly.

Here is the link to the Motul on Amazon in case anyone wants to read up on it:
I'll keep this thread updated on which oil I pick and how my engine responds to it.

 

So I was underneath the car the other day and noticed some oil that seemed to have been weeping around the oil filter housing / oil cooler area that I had not noticed before. I was able to put my hand directly underneath the oil cooler and pulled out fresh oil! This has me a bit surprised since the bottom of the oil pan is perfectly dry.

I guess the leak must get worse as I am driving around and manages to avoid the bottom of the oil pan all together. Oh well, looks like I will be ordering the 2 oil cooler seals soon to get that replaced. With the amount of consumption I have (0.5 quarts / 1k miles) I have a feeling this could very well be the majority of the issue I was having. I also noticed a bit of oil sweating below the valve cover so I will look into that as well. I think the first step will be cleaning the area and seeing what comes back.

But the oil cooler is definitely leaking. So for future readers: Even if the bottom of your oil pan is dry, keep looking around at all the common oil leak areas. Chances are if you are loosing oil, you might have a seal leaking somewhere unexpected.

Hopefully this slows my oil consumption

 

Good find. Are there two seals or three there? I thought somebody said 3. I definitely need to do this on mine

 

From the reading and searching I've done, there appears to be 2 seals between the oil cooler and the oil filter stand. Then I believe there is one seal between the oil filter stand and the block.

 

You’re finding all the “usual suspects”. Also consider inspecting the cam sensor o-ring. If you are replacing the valve cover and spark plug well gaskets, might as well do this one too.

 

Yep! Funny thing is this car had the head changed out around 100k miles due to a blown out spark plug. Way Motor Works did the work and also did the oil filter stand gasket then, but not the oil cooler seals. The crank sensor o-ring was changed about 30k miles ago and I recently had the car in front end service mode and saw no oil at all near the crank sensor.

The valve cover gasket was also changed, but that was likely 40-50k miles ago, so it probably is due for another. The oil pan gasket was done at the same time as the crank sensor and seems to be holding up fine for now.

I'll probably just end up doing the oil cooler seals for now and see how that goes.

When I bought the car it came with a spare valve cover gasket, but it is very hard and not really pliable at all. Does that seem normal, or should I order a new valve cover gasket and throw this spare away?

 

Thought I should give this thread an update -
I replaced the oil filter housing gasket, oil cooler seals, and the camshaft position sensor o-ring (not crankshaft, that was not leaking). All that is left is the valve cover gasket as I can see it slowly seeping near the exhaust manifold and can smell oil burning after a longer drive. Since then I changed the oil with Liqui Moly 5w40. So far it has been ~400 miles since the oil change and the level on the dipstick is still full where I left it after changing. I'm not sure if that was most of my issue or not, but I have the valve cover gasket so I'll changing it soon when I find a bit more time.

 

I would replace the crank sensor 0-ring anyway, as they always leak, so while you have it apart, Do It! I think I have replaced them every time I can get to them. They are dirt cheap!
Save yourself the pain later on!

 

That makes sense it was changed out before and wasn't leaking now. I'll change it out during my next planned front end service mode, probably when I service the supercharger in about 20k miles. But there is probably a good chance I'll be going to service mode again

 

Where's the cam position sensor, and how hard it is to get to? Thx

 

The cam position sensor is behind the upper passenger side motor mount. You'll see it near the plugs for the bolts that hold the timing chain guides in on the head. Changing the o-ring required removing that passenger side upper motor mount to get access.

 

Just an update for anyone that is still following this-
I changed out all the major oil leakers: vcg, ofhg, oil cooler seals, and cam sensor ring. The bottom of the engine is dry, I don’t smell any oil after harder drives now either.

Now I haven’t been driving it the easiest (15 psi is addicting), but my oil consumption has seem to leveled off around 0.5 liters every 1 thousand miles.

I’ve been using Liqui-Moly 5w40, but I think I’ll try Liqui-Moly molygen 5w40 on the next change in about 500 miles.

 

Good news! What is "ofhg"? Assume VCG is valve cover gasket?

Thanks!

 

I think he means the oil filter housing gasket.

https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...=0&SVSVSI=6319

 

Yep, vcg is valve cover gasket and ofhg is oil filter housing gasket.

 

Mine was using a decent amount of oil too. It has 204k miles and it modded . I put in a new pcv valve and it has made a huge change in oil consumption . It now has needed none and I'm 2.5k into this oil change . I also sealed up a few vacuum leaks and installed an oil catch can ,which has been catching some blow by. 2.5k miles I had a measurable amount in it.