I bought my used 2002 MCS with 45K back in October from a non-MINI dealer. Since then I have put just a little over 5K on the car. Although the car tells me I can go another 10K or so I will get the oil changed pretty soon.

So today I thought I would just check the oil to see what the level was. Well, I took out the dipstick and cleaned it well so that it would be easy to see the oil level. Put it back in, pulled it out and there was nothing on the dipstick. Repeated a few times to make sure and still no oil level reading. So I stopped by the local NAPA and bought a couple quarts. Poured in the first quart, let it drain in for a couple minutes, checked the oil and had no reading. Tried again a few times with the same result. Started the engine, ran it for a minute, shut it down, repeated the checking oil routine with the same no oil results. So I put in the second quart. Repeated the entire routine with the same result. Well, I figured at this point that I was driving around previously with pretty low oil and adding two quarts should have made that situation better. So I drive the couple miles to work and now I sit here and type out this thread asking for the thoughts and experiences of others. I just find it hard to believe that the car was running with no noticeable problems down by at least 2+ quarts of oil. No oil pressure warning light or other idiot light came on, no excessive temperature reading on the temp gauge.

Now, anticipating a couple of questions or suggestions. I know that new oil is clear and sometimes hard to see. However, I was very, very careful reading the oil level on the dipstick and I also made sure I cleaned the dipstick very well and when I checked it after adding the two quarts there wasn't even a hint of oil on the bottom of the dipstick. The exhaust tips are the normal black from running rich as other people have described theirs. But I see no evidence of burning oil at start-up or while driving, no tell tale puffs of blue smoke. I have seen no evidence of a leak, no oil spots, etc.

I figure I can always have the mechanic see how much oil is removed when the oil is changed. That would give me an idea of how much was in the sump.

Has anyone else had any similar experiences? I now engines sometime use a bit of oil over time between oil changes but this is excessive. I am thinking that the selling dealer might not have filled the oil to the correct level.

Thanks in advance for your time

 

Unless you checked the level when you bought it, there's no way of knowing if they filled it properly or not. That said, some engines are 'loose' some are 'tight'. There has been at least one instance reported on NAM where a person cooked their engine by running it near dry between oil changes.
At this point, just check it bi-weekly or every 1,000 miles and get a feel for the oil consumption rate.
The oil idiot light just tells you that it's too late.
Personally, I'd do an oil change ASAP, as you don't know how long that 3 qts of oil has been doing the job of 5.
MINI calls for the car being at operating temp to check the oil - though I can't see that thermal expansion would make a significant difference in teh level.

 

I see an oil change in your near future!!
For me, this problem needs an answer now.
There are two possible problems (1) the oil was 2 qts low, needs to be checked every 500 miles.
(2) dip stick was not all the way in although that seems unlikely from your description or the dip stick is not the right length.

Personally I would do this.
Jack up car and drain oil. If you only get 2 or three qts out question answered, low oil.
If you get about the right amount out, install drain plug and refill 1 qt at a time and check for level after each qt to see where it starts showing up.
If your put in 4 qts and nothing shows dip stick must be to short

 

Does this mean that there are actually two different length dipsticks for the car? One length for MC and one for MCS? I would rather not drive around with the car low on oil but I also dont want to add too much oil either.

 

This afternoon I went out and before heading home from work I checked the oil and could see the oil level about a half inch or so up from the bottom of the dipstick. This makes me feel quite a bit better. I will buy another quart of oil tomorrow, after I find a second job to pay for it, and put about another half quart in then check the oil frequently to monitor if it is dropping or not. I did get some paperwork from the selling dealership about what service they performed and I will check out the paperwork to see if there is an amount of oil they used. I will also probably call the dealership to register a complaint about filling the oil properly. Thanks for the responses up to this point.

 

Good luck with the dealer. It will be hard to prove any misconduct by them with not filling the oil after you have added oil. Worth a try.

However, you need to change the oil ASAP to get whatever is in there out. If you needed to add two qts you don't know how hard the oil in there has had to work.

Change the oil and start monitoring the level to see if you got the car with low oil or if it is using oil.
Good luck.

 

I agree with the oil change. I will do that soon but want to monitor the level for a short while to make sure that I dont have a consumption problem or leak that should be taken care of before I change the oil. At about $8 a quart I certainly dont want to change the oil and then have to take it back it to fix a problem and have to pay for another 5 quarts all over again.

I doubt that I would receive anything from the dealer other than a non-response or a denial but I think its important to pass along feedback on their work.

Thanks for your response.

 

My MINI dealer told me that MINIs burn a significant amount of oil and they told me to add a quart every other month. So far I think there are right. Otherwise, I end up 2 quarts low in four months.

 

my question is in regards to this statement, is this true? i have been concerned about how often i should be refilling my oil. i added a quart 3 months ago (~1000 miles) and just checked my dipstick. it is again at the minimum and was about to refill again when i decided to come on here to double check that this is "normal" and not a leakage of some sort. any input or advice would help greatly, thanks!

 

I haven't had any issues and normally go a full 6k+ miles between changes without top ups.

 

^^I also don't add oil between changes, 5,000 miles.
This is over about 35k.

 

I turned a corner sharply today and my oil light came on. Time to add at least a quart.