ok well im new to mini's in general, ive got a 2002 r53 with a 17% pulley and a unichip ecu upgrade. i bought it like this and have noticed im starting to leak oil out of my oil pan. im getting that fixed here at a local shop but ive noticed that my oil pressure on a cold start will be about 50-60psi and after it warms up it goes down to 20-25psi. while warm it will peak at 60 and than go back down at a slow rate. being this is my first forced induction car and my first time having to worry of my car detonating im a bit worried. can anyone tell me what normal oil pressures are in a r53 and what i should expect? thanks

 

You're worrying about the wrong things....

Your oil pressure is fine, however just to be safe - change your oil and filter. be sure to use MINI oil and filter from the dealer. The reason I'm suggesting this is that way you'll know for sure that the proper oil and filter have been used. The oil pan leakage is common, and not related to oil pressure - unless you've run low on oil because of the leakage - just check your oil level every week or so till you establish the pattern for your car. You may find the pan leakage is more cosmetic than a problem.

The only reason you'd have to worry about detonation is if you use poor gasoline. Buy the best top tier premium you can find, and if you can find ethanol free gas, all the better, espcially with a 17% pulley.

 

thank you. like i said this is my first forced induction car, being that i bought it used im trying to be extra careful. i do only put in 93 or higher with no ethanol in it, very hard to find where im at only 3 gas stations carry it and only 2 of them i trust to keep there tanks clean. i did have an oil change the first day i got it, they told me they just did an oil change but couldn't tell me what weight oil they used so i replaced it with a 0-30 synthetic per the recommendations of another posting i saw thanks again