I've searched about oil consumption on the R53s but all the threads seemed to be fairly old by now. I just recently purchased my 2005 MCS with ~134k miles on it. I changed the oil with Liqui-Moly 5w40 and added a can of MoS2 as well. I've got about ~650 miles on the oil change and have just had to add about half a quart of oil to get the dipstick to show full again (I made sure it was showing full right after the oil change). The car has no major visible oil leaks that would cause this kind of consumption either. The typical issues have been taken care of already (oil filter housing, cps o-ring, oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, etc). Also the car does not smoke on startup (had a recent head rebuilt) or under acceleration.

Is this about normal for an R53 of this age? Or is there anything I can do to slow the rate of consumption? I did notice that none of the extensive records that came with the car indicate that the PCV valve was replaced so I will be changing that out soon.

Any other advice? Thanks!

 

When you had the head rebuilt, did they replace the valve guides and check the valve stems, to make sure they are still in spec?
This is the easiest place for non-leak related oil consumption. The synthetic oil, does not make much in the way of smoke, and a rebuilt head is not rebuilt unless this is done. You may have told him not to do this because of price, but I assure you, this should have been done.

 

Yep, Way Motor Works did the head rebuild. They did a full valve job while it was out.

 

Ok, there is a short break in period, so don't panic yet! Did you glaze bust the cylinders?if so you will definitely use oil for a short while.

 

I probably should have mentioned that the head work was done about 40k miles ago, so it's likely not related to that.

 

Can you do a compression test on it? That may be worth a 1000 words.

 

I don't have access to a compression tester but will definitely see about renting one next time I do the spark plugs. I thought the bottom ends on these R53s were known to run up to 200k plus miles?

I'll start with the PCV valve and see where that takes me. Since the engine runs great I don't see a need to open up the bottom end especially when it's not smoking.

Not sure if this is related to higher than normal crankcase pressure but I have been hearing a squeal/whistle under acceleration but always chalked it up to the M7 intake on the car. Could the PCV valve be causing excess pressure and make this sound? I'll try to pull the valve out tomorrow and see if it rattles or is stuck.

 

We have seen these engine run 650K miles without a rebuild. But the man bought it new. Do you have the complete history on your R53?
Has the timing been advanced? maybe too much? Are spark plugs tight? Are you using NGK iridium spark plugs (BKR6EIX, or BKR7EIX), if not you should! (7 is cooler heat range)
My car is tested at 215 HP and I only use the 6 models, with no pinging, or knocks.

 

I see. I have many records for the car over its life from the original owner. The timing is stock and I just checked the spark plugs (and re-torqued) they are NGK BKR7EQUP. Apart from that the car has a 15% pulley and suspension mods.

 

How's the car being driven? WOT runs on a track or daily commuting with occasional spirited romps? Forced induction engines tend to burn more oil than a N/A motor (mostly).

I've tried different oil brands over the last 3 years and Mobil 1 0w-40 seemed to burn the most (1qt / 1500 miles) while Shell Rotella T6 5w-40 the least (1/4 qt. / 1500 miles). Liqui-Moly is a great quality brand oil so I'm surprised you're seeing that consumption rate.

What has the oil change interval been done by the PO? What do you plan to do oil changes? 5K seems to be a good interval we use for the kid's car (and my E46).

 

I plan to do 3-5k changes depending on how much oil the car continues to burn. I ran Liqui-Moly in my E46 (~250k miles) and saw no burning whatsoever but I do understand that forced induction motors will burn a bit more.

On older cars we've also had good luck with Rotella T6 5w40 reducing the amount burned. If the Liqui-Moly continues to burn off at this rate I might try the Rotella T6 on the next change and see if that helps at all. If I do the T6 I'll likely add a can of MoS2 for extra protection.

The R53 is a daily driver for me (about 50 miles a day) and sees the occasional spirited pull, but may have been a little more spirited than usual since I just got the car a few weeks ago :D

I'll keep the driving conservative for the next few hundred miles and monitor the oil level every time I fill up for gas. I'll also replace the PCV valve sooner than later.

So is the general consensus that Rotella T6 seems to produce the least consumption in these higher mileage motors?

 

Your car looks like it's been well loved and the work you're doing to keep it going seems to be spot on.

The PCV valve can be cleaned out with some brake clean as an initial test. If it's clogged to hell, then yeah, replace it since it's cheap, but you can clean it and keep on rolling.

I did add a can of Ceratec to the motor the previous oil change. Snake oil? Not sure, though I hear good things about the ceramic coating it allegedly creates. Didn't really notice any changes. Motor has almost 240K so oil change coming up in a month or so...

 

Okay will do, thanks! I'm not going to worry too much if it still consumes oil even after switching to Rotella but I'll do everything I can to reduce it.

Wow 240k on the R53? That's impressive. What have you done to it?

 

It's a project car so I could teach my kid what and how a car needs to work and for him to learn what it takes to keep it reliable. We did all the usual repair and maintenance items and a few upgrades along the ways.

All the gory details in the signature link.

 

That's awesome! We did something similar and rebuilt a Thunderbird Turbo Coupe as my first car in high school (needed head rebuilt and new turbo). Then I got the E46 for a few years (super reliable more safety features for new driver like airbags, DSC, etc). I've always dreamt of an R53 and this one came up locally for a great deal with all the specs I wanted so it was a no brainier.

 

1/2 quart usage in 650 miles does not seem out of line based on my experience. My '03 Cooper S, at 160 K miles, uses about a quart per 1000 miles putting around town on short trips but that is extended to 2000-2500 miles on long road trips and that's been the norm for quite a few years. I think your Mini dealer would say (maybe in their own defense) that's in the range of acceptable usage.

 

Okay, thanks for the data point, good to know. What kind of oil do you use? If this amount of usage is normal I won't stress about it. But I will still change the PCV valve and pull the intercooler to clean it out and change some old vacuum lines (just more maintenance).

 

My '05 MCS has 167k miles on it, I have oil change data from day one, owner one, like clockwork every 5k mile. I rarely go through a quart per oil change, it's used as a DD in the summer along with 7-10 AX, and some hard pushes more often than not.
Chili Pepper Red, 15% pulley, 2% crank pulley, JCW CAI, single mass flywheel, Bilstein coilovers, Swift Springs, Vorschlag camber plates, 25mm RSB, Turns me into a Hoonigan

 

My 06 MCS JCW, really does not use much oil and rarely needs any between changes, but I would not worry about a little oil loss. Everyone drives a little differently and that can be the cause. In my case, I do not use the engine to slow it down very often and I do know, when you back it down like that, it likes to suck oil from around the rings a bit. Again, no big deal! One thing about synthetic oils, are they can get past anything!
My car has 160K on it now and still runs, as good or better, then when I got it! These engines are good! and nothing like the Peugeot engines in the gen 2 cars!

 

Thanks guys, it's good to hear that these motors can go high miles without having consumption. I've put ~500 miles on the car since I topped off the oil to full on the dipstick and it's still completely full.

At this point I'm thinking I either didn't get it completely full after I changed the oil or I must have checked the oil in a different location/situation. I've been checking it after the car has sat overnight parked on a level driveway.

I ordered a PCV valve and will change it since it is most likely original. I'll update the thread as I get more miles on the car and keep monitoring the oil level.

 

Just a quick update - It has now been about 800 miles since I last topped it off with oil and the dipstick still reads full when checked under the same conditions. I'm guessing I didn't get it all the way full when I changed it.

I did change the PCV valve (old one still looked good) so that is done now as well. Thanks for all the input, hopefully this thread helps someone in the future wondering about oil consumption (or thinks they have consumption :D )

 

Good news! Our MCS, 160k miles, uses a quart every 4k or so. But our Xterra with the same mileage uses a qt in 1000-1500 miles. My motorcycle uses a qt in 2k miles. They are all a little different. I consider anything over 1000 miles per qt to be in the realm of normal.

 

Awesome! Thanks for the data point!

 

My '03 used over 1.5 Qt of oil per 1k miles (i had used a K&N for many years, which definitely didn't filter as well, and chaulked it up to that). Last summer i rebuilt the whole car, replacing all the leaking gaskets and the consumption dropped to .5 qts per 1k miles, so I didn't have as bad of consumption as I had initially thought. Car currently has 81k miles, and a lot of those miles are hard!

 

So on what basis do you attribute your bad oil consumption to the K&N? I am very curious.