Hey everyone,

First post here, even though I've been viewing for a while. I got my first oil change in my used, new to me Mini Cooper S earlier this week on Monday. I went to one of those quick-lube like places...I did this knowing I should probably take the car elsewhere and am already regretting it.

Last night I noticed that my exhaust was emitting a noticeable amount of smoke at idle that seemed to increase the more I let the car sit. It was a white smoke that almost looked like dust. Smelled like crap too. After I drove the car a little bit the problem seemed to go away entirely. This morning, same thing smoking out of the exhaust.

Now my Mini didn't do this pre-oil change. Could it be possible that it's just burning some old stuff in the system?

Checked the dipstick and oil level looks correct and there's no sign of any 'milkshake' like substance so I'm pretty sure it's not coolant getting in the engine. I opened the oil cap and there seemed to be a little smoke in there but otherwise everything looked normal....anyone have this happen in the past?

 

Yea, I would not advise on quick oil change places, they tend to mess things up. Either do it yourself in the future or find a local garage or independent shop and have them do it.

On the fumes, Is it only coming from the exhaust or the oil spilled on the exhaust or engine bay and is burning out and smoking coming from behind the car when driving ?

Or they touched the exhaust with greasy dirty hands and its burning off ?


Also when you start your MINI up in cooler weather , you will get moisture from the exhaust that is normal and then once warm it will disappear.


Gen 2 MINI Cooper 2007+ R56 R55 R57 R58 R59 & R60 R61 ( Oil filter housing on the driver side front of the engine )

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/ES2497576__ES2581327__ES2581338__ES2582017/




And the socket for the Oil filter cap housing.


http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/ES240947/


Good DIY here:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-pictures.html

 

Thanks for the link!


Unfortunately I live in a city in a busy area with street parking...so doing oil changes myself wouldn't be easy. I will for sure take it to an independent shop the next time around.


As far as I can tell the smoke is exclusively coming out of the exhaust. No smoke in the engine bay....hopefully that's a good sign?

 

Any oil or grease would have burned off pretty quickly and would not return the next time you started the car. A white, sweet-smelling exhaust is coolant burning. If the exhaust is bluish, then it's oil. If it's coolant, that could be bad, but it wouldn't have been precipitated by an oil change (unless they forgot to re-fill the oil). Are you 100% sure that it began after the oil change?

 

I had this happen to me. Except I did the oil change. Come to find out, the valve cover started to leak into the spark plug wells. It started happening the day I changed my oil. I'm not sure if draining the oil changed the pressures within the engine enough to push the valve cover to the limit or what, but once I replaced the valve cover the cold start smoke is gone. I still get some idle smoke, but thats a different story all together.

 

+1

 

If you are able to I would suggest removing the spark plugs and checking to see what if any residue (fouling) is present. If it is coolant you may see a greyish build up if it is oil you will see a thicker deposit around the electrode. A quick check of the coolant level would indicate if you had a leak in the system also. I would also suggest re-checking the oil level just to make sure that it is not overfilled. Hope this helps.

 

Not sure if this is the answer, but the wrong oil can often lead to trouble. I've had issues on other cars that began after getting synthetic put into a car that used conventional. Different chemistry can often move gunk around, open up seals, cause weeping etc. Not sure if that could happen so fast however.

 

Sounds like I better check the spark plugs today after work...thanks for the help guys.


It didn't even dawn on me that the shop could have NOT used full-synthetic oil as I paid for/requested. If I don't see anything on the plugs I might drive back there and demand they double check and change the oil again. Is there any way I could determine if it was full-synthetic just by looking a the oil? (I'm not overly car savvy here...)


The odd part of it is at idle my drivers side mirror would shake a bit (I've read on a few forums that this is pretty typical of some Minis). After the oil change the car hasn't been shaking nearly as much. After leaving the shop I thought I had solved one problem....but now I'm thinking I have another one..

 

I would re-change the oil and filter using only MINI oil and filter. I'd know it was done properly and all torques were perfect. I'd know the level was perfect. I'd save $ and worry. I'd watch to see if the smoke issue persisted. Then worry if it's there, or relax that you figured it out.

 

what is your oil level ??? Could have over filled and it's being expelled thru PCV valve, that is bad. Is your oil clean ? Milky ? I would check oil ASAP.

And to reiterate, NEVER ever take a MINI to Jiffy Lube etc.

 

Yeah...I knew better than to take it to Jiffy Lube in the first place, so I'm mad at myself for taking it there to safe a few $$...not worth it.


Oil level seems to be spot on, and the color is a reddish-brown. So it looks clean and that they didn't overfill.

 

get the oil change in the dealership and see if it still happens. Oil change the only thing they do in a competitive price.. A friend of mine did once took a E90 325i to those oil change place and the second day CEL came on. After switch back to LL01 oil from the dealer, everything is fine again

 

Seems rather odd. Did you leave your Mini at their shop?
Whenever possible i do the work myself, failing that i arrange a time when i can wait on the vehicle. Only exception is for example the Mini dealership. I just never feel comfortable leaving any vehicle of mine at random oil/brake type places unattended.