We own a 2013 Roadster (non-S) with 36K miles. We've hardly driven the car for the last few years because the oil turns black after just a few days of driving. No smoke yet and it runs okay, but the oil contaminates very quickly. I discussed with my local shop and he says this is very common with this generation of Mini and suggested I sell the car to Carvana or CarMax rather than waste anymore money on a failed design. The car looks great and only has 36K miles on it. We've owned the car since about 7K miles and always changed the oil ahead of schedule, but no matter the piston rings are trash. My wife wants to keep it, but the costs to rebuild the engine is way more than the car is worth and there is no guarantee it will last any longer. Are there electric conversion options? Such a shame Mini put out such a bad design.

 

Just because the oil is black doesn’t mean it’s not doing its job…

With only 36k miles, it actually has plenty of life left in the engine. My car has 187k miles, oil changed every 5000 miles. I just had an oil analysis done by Blackstone labs, and the engine had less contaminants than the last oil analysis showed at 90k miles. Take care of the engine, and it will take care of you.

 

What njaremka said.

You think the oil turns dark quickly... I'd drain the oil from my VW Golf TDi engine (diesel). Black as the ace of spades. (Oh 5K miles.) Replace the filter. Fill engine with fresh oil. Start engine let it idle while I checked for leaks and cleaned up. Then turn off the engine and check the oil level after a few minutes. Oil on the dipstick was as black as the oil I drained from the engine.

In the case of your car and its engine: No smoking. No severe oil consumption. No CEL. I think the engine is ok. Use the car more.