Your '07 MCS owner's manual may (and probably does) vary, but, according to the owner's manual for our '06 MC, the oil volume between the MIN and MAX marks is about 1.1 quarts. It doesn't say anything to suggest how much over-fill would be indicated by an oil level about 1" above the MAX mark, but it does warn not to fill beyond the upper mark, as excess oil will damage the engine.

It also says to check the oil with the engine at normal operating temperature (after uninterrupted driving for at least 6 miles); check the oil level about 5 minutes after switching off the engine. Wonder how many owners do it that precisely.

"As with fuel economy, oil consumption is directly influenced by your driving style and vehicle operating conditions." This suggests that spirited driving and a lot of city driving may be implicated in your higher than average oil consumption.

 

When you take it to the dealer, I hope you can ask them to show you how they check the oil and if what they show you agrees with your results. Please report back on that.

As far as the consumption, while I wouldn't be happy about 2 qts in 5k miles, that sounds like it is going to be in what MINI considers to be an acceptable range. Especially if driving style is factored in, things like severe duty, etc.

 

Sounds like a very bad service writer that needs to be looked at.

I must admit that while working at the dealer for a number of years I did see instances of this sort of thing going on. I can only say that information is your strongest weapon against this type of thing.

 

We ended up taking the car to another dealer and they confirmed it had been overfilled by over a quart. In the short drive to the dealer the oil was already starting to foam, but everything was inspected and the car is fine. We also addressed burning oil and as others have posted it is normal and within spec, so we purchased extra oil and will be monitoring the levels so this doesn't happen again.

Thanks everyone for your input! Definitely a lessons learned not to rely on the manufactures service intervals.

 

The service interval is NOT how often to check your oil level.

You can trust service intervals, many do which proves the MINI can last many, many miles when maintained per the CBS. Several cars come to mind, one with 250,000 miles another with 400,000 miles!

The key is to CHECK YOUR OIL LEVEL REGULARLY! The dealer added 4qrts, and apparantly overfilled by 1 qrt, so your MINI was 3qts low leaving only 1.4qrts! I find it easiest to read the oil level on the dip stick with the engine cold, at least every 1,000 miles.

400,000+ MINI that follows the CBS:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...le-mini-3.html

250,000+ MINI that follows the CBS:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-analysis.html

 

Its all explained in the thead.

 

Slinger - can you show documentation of where that is within spec? I have a 1984 Toyota Land Cruiser with 200K miles on the motor that doesn't burn or leak even 1/2 qt in 5K miles...