Hi guys,

To avoid driving everyone nuts I will cut right to the chase.

My MINI Cooper S is burning a ton of oil (litterally). Now I have taken it to mechanic after mechanic after mechanic and they are all telling me to put in different oils. They all say that the owners manual for Greece is wrong because it is based off of BMW/MINI Germany weather (even MINI Greece stated the same thing).

So here is the breakdown of what everyone is proposing. PS in Greece the weather during the day is a minimum of 35 degrees celcius.

- Authorized Mini Dealership: 0w40 (this dealership closed down)
- Replacing Mini Dealership: 5w40 (this dealership is new)
- Independent Mini Specialist 5w30 (this is the guy I trust the most out of all of them).
- Others have suggested 10w40
** Also important to note: all oils above meet BMW LL standards.

What I find peculiar though is that the owner's manual states that these oils are all indifferent to outside temperatures.

Please help me!

Thanks in advance

 

I don't recall ever seeing a recommendation for 10w40, but all the other weights could be correct depending on the brand of oil used.

I'm skeptical changing oil is really going to have a major impact on your oil consumption if it is as bad as you describe. It could change it some, but you'll probably be using quite a bit.

 

Thanks for your quick reply... I took it to the independent guy who has seen a lot of MINIs with this issue and he added teflon to a tube that sends oil to the turbine. He said it will take time to show but it will reduce the oil consumption. I trust this guy because he found stuff that the MINI dealership wasn't able to replicate when I complained about it. Anyways I'm leaning towards 5w30 but I hear 5w40 might be the better option because it is designed for higher temperatures. Any thoughts?

 

What is a ton?

A qt. every 500 miles,1000 miles,etc-.?

Seems like a compression and leakdown test should be done.

 

Sorry 1 liter every 500km

 

Wow,so that is about 33oz. every 310miles?Sorry have to convert.

I dont think it's the weight/grade of the oil.

How many miles on the engine?

 

1 lt. = 1.05 US qt.

The engine has 56000km (35500 miles) on it and its had this problem since new. I have owned it, serviced it and babied it to death and its been driving me mad. MINI dealerships have been telling me its normal, and I'm going nuts because clearly its not. It's like when I refuel I also put in 15 Euros for engine oil.

I love this car, especially since its my first car but this is ridiculous. Any ideas anyone? I have had the cold start fix BTW.

 

First, changing the oil probably won't fix your problem with burning oil. All you are doing is changing between 30 and 40 weight. The number with the "w" after it is the winter rating or how cold the oil can go before the viscosity starts to change. Being in Greece I would imagine that either 0W, 5W would be fine and you could probably run 10W as well since it doesn't get that cold.

As for the oil burning problem, it sounds like the rings aren't seated correctly and no amount of running a different oil is going to fix it. The engine needs to be rebuilt or swapped.

 

So your Mini has used about a qt. every 310 miles since new?This is crazy.

Did you bring it to the dealer after purchase?What did they say?

 

Wow 1 ltr per 500 km that is not right the MINI limit is 1 qrt every 1000 mile or to convert that and make it easy to follow 1 ltr per 1600 km

Check this thread out. it could very well be your problem.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-and-more.html

 

They said it was normal for MINIs to burn oil... I told them that the amount in question is a little bit insane. so after complaining a few times I went to an independent who has seen this a lot in Greece and he did something to my turbo and he says you won't see a big improvement till after a few thousand miles. The funny thing is whatever he seemed to have done actually worked because my consumption has dropped not by much but now I'm burning half as much so whatever he did seems to be working. He said I should see more improvement over time...

 

They are full of it, especially at that rate!

 

Even burning half as much would not be acceptable.

 

Sounds like crankcase ventilation valve (PCV valve) is stuck open. Have your mechanic remove valve cover and clean valve with brake clean or carb cleaner. Many threads on forum about this & oil consumption.

 

That is VERY bad. BMW's attitude saying it is "normal" is such horse ****. I also recommend taking the valve cover off and checking the PCV valve. That could very well be your problem.

BTW, 5w40 is better in high temperature climates but it is not going to fix your consumption problem.

It's common to hear about R56 MCSs burning 1L every 4000km or so, but the amount you're guzzling is staggering. God the quality control on these engines is terrible