From what i sense the R56 has quite a lot of issues and the most important one is probably the oil burning issue. I say why don't we make a petition on a website from all us owners that are disappointed, so that this is known to BMW. Iam aware that in the manual BMW advises to check the oil level every second time the fuel tank is filled, but this doesn't justify the issue. I was not aware and not informed by BMW before purchase of this oil level comment they had!
What do you think guys?

 

Agreed. I'm on board.

 

Of all the things to petition, burning oil? There are TONS of motors that will consume some oil between oil changes and need to be monitored. While I agree these are unreliable pieces of **** and should NOT have the number of major, common issues that they do, it's not a base model Civic. It's not a Tercel. The engine is performance oriented and has a modern PCV system and turbo. It will consume oil. That is not, in any way, a BMW or MINI specific thing in the least.

 

My MINI, with the N14 engine, doesn't burn oil. Most people in my MINI club, including N18 engines, don't have a problem with burning oil either. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, it just isn't a widespread problem.

Dave

 

Maybe in a smaller amount than some people complain of, but your MINI does consume oil. It does.

 

At 50K miles my 2009 S burns less than a quarter quart per 7500 mile oil change, just FYI.


They say changing to the newer valve cover cures the oil consumption problem. If you really wanted BMW to be aware of something, maybe buy the new valve cover and see if it fixes your problem....if it does you have legitimate claim and proof, especially if you have documented your oil usage.

 

If that cured the oil burning issue then wouldn't BMW call back the cars to make a replacement? That would certainly fix her image, wouldn't it?

 

I think it is a multifactorial issue and some things you do or fail to do will exacerbate it. My car burns oil, but less oil than it did when I first got it. I'm (at least) the second owner it burned 2-2.5 quarts in 6K miles. It now burns only about 1-1.5 quarts in 6K miles. Maybe it's because I'm using synthetic and the previous owner did not? I can only speculate. The dealers seem to commonly overfill by .5 quart because people don't check it.

I wouldn't sign a petition. I just buy the 5 quart oil change and a 1 quart to top off in 3K and I pull out 3.5-4.5 quarts at 6K. Not a big deal. Makes me wonder about my previous cars that used. This is the first car that's ALL mine, so I'm as hands on as I can be without spending a lot of money on new tools.

 

It can also be the driving style that can make a difference in the oil burning!

 

Haha. Probably, although I don't drive my car like a little old lady. =D I don't redline though...

 

If the issue is widespread as you imply, then I'm sure BMW is aware. What are you going to ask for in the petition?

- Mark

 

I think people that buy Mini Cooper S models are aware of checking their oil but don't expect much to be burned off into the combustion chamber. People are used to reliable cars (ie. Toyota, Honda etc..) and don't expect to be a quart low after the 10k intervals, after 10k I would be 2 quarts low and it's this that catch consumers off guard! Of course Mini/BMW aren't going to mention this when buying a new model, it would scare business away.

I'm onboard.

 

First of all we must create awareness, see how many of us are there, and also see how many of use have the issue, after that we will see what we will do. Its gonna be a noble thing, not anything to lie about. We all love our Minis and respect BMW, lets see how many of us are there and if BMW respects us too!

 

You're being way too generous. BMW/MINI have a history of refusing to acknowledge issues until they lose a class action lawsuit. If it is a widespread issue, BMW absolutely knows about it. They have their worldwide network of dealers reporting problems and customer complaints, and everything goes into a database.

Have you complained to the dealer about oil consumption? There might be a service bulletin (e.g. the new valve cover mentioned by MINIdave). The way it works is that you must complain. Even if something is a known issue, they don't proactively reach out to customers but will wait for your complaint before they take any action.

 

How about asking for lifetime oil changes as long as we own the car. At least for original owners. Those of us that were duped by the dealer. Shame on me for not researching enough on the front need before I bought it. The excuse that this is a performance engine and that is why it burns oil doesn't hold up. I traded in my Carrera for
the mini and didn't burn oil like the mini does. The Porsche was 14 years old and was certainly a "performance" engine.

 

If all you're after is data gathering, then I'd start a poll on this very forum. But design it carefully - I'd do a prototype and show it to a few people to see if it covers all the bases and is data neutral. Many polls don't work because they're just someone wanting to grind their axe.

I wouldn't have high hopes though. Oil consumption is a very tough one to get much traction on as it is an accepted thing that all engines consume some oil. So you're left trying to prove that oil consumption on a particular model is excessive and everybody has their own definition of excessive. A second problem is that Mini can't afford to be generous with something like this as fixing high oil consumption on any given engine usually is extremely expensive and non-cost-effective compared to simply adding makeup oil between oil changes. They'll really dig in their heels on something like this. Historically speaking, I don't think there has ever been a case where a mfg has recalled an entire engine line and repaired/replaced engines to fix oil consumption issues. About the best I've seen is where they extend the warranty for a few years and more miles in cases where oil consumption rises above a threshold. But this threshold is the same one they have for a new engine and very, very high - usually a liter/qt every 1K miles or even every 1K km. According to generally-accepted engine standards of the industry at large, you can have a new car that requires a liter of oil every 2-3 times you fill the car with gasoline and this is considered acceptable.

Just trying to set your expectations. BMW's "respect" begins and ends with their bottom line.

- Mark

 

Well written.

 

Hi genik, I got your PM but can't reply because your inbox is full. I'll make a response here.

No, I'm not anything more than just an owner. I do go on multiple MINI forums and as an engineer I like to follow technical issues, what causes them and how they are resolved. I've been fairly active since 2005 as you can see from my post count.

Maybe I've grown cynical over the years, but my earlier post was based on my observations. BMW (and the auto industry as a whole) try to keep a very low profile about any problems that come up. They have entire departments devoted to collecting and analyzing issues and complaints. If something comes up more than a few times, they have records of it.

How they react comes from careful cost/benefit analysis. Oil consumption probably has low priority. First, it isn't a safety issue (unlike the power steering pump failures on 1st gens that they recently acknowledged). If oil consumption is causing engine failures that BMW must fix at their expense, it would certainly get more attention.

I firmly believe that BMW engineers care about how well their products work. They have probably analyzed what causes oil consumption in their engines and know how to improve it. However, what goes out to the public is a matter of what is cost effective for the company. They can quietly do an update in the factory without acknowledging a problem with earlier builds, or issue a service bulletin to dealers but instruct them to do it only when a customer complains. Or they can simply claim that your oil consumption is normal and within specifications and you should just keep adding more oil. All of these are standard practices in the auto industry.

 

Thanx for the thorough and interesting brief rkw!
I just want to say that i have a feeling that we've got something starting here! Shall we take it to the next level?
(also i think it would be most interesting -if possible- to have a notification at certain periods of time, by any of the moderators, about the number of views that this thread has!)

 

If you are going to complain to BMW, point out the R56 N14 eating timing chains. Point out that same engine and its oil coked intake valves issues. Those two combined with oil usage almost kept me from buying our current 2011 N18 Cooper S. But, my wife wanted a MINI. My best friend of 30 years is the original owner of a 2006 Cooper S, and even though he loves it dearly, he tells everyone who will listen that it is the worst quality car by far that he has ever owned.

I'm hoping that since the 2014 finally has an engine built by BMW instead of Chrysler and Peugeot, we might finally get a reliable engine.

 

Any poll posted here will have skewed results.....people spend a lot of time complaining online and if you compare the number of folks complaining on a make's internet forum to the number of cars sold, the numbers are statistically insignificant.


IOW, a waste of time.....


As I wrote before, if you want them to do something you need facts. If changing the valve cover to the new style caused your car to go from using a quart every 1000 to a quart every 3000, you'd have a case for getting them to replace at least YOUR valve cover (not saying this would fix your car, just using an example here). If enough other folks experienced the same thing, then they might issue a service bulletin to replace those covers when a customer complains of high oil usage, but before they did that they'd want to see records and proof that the car was actually using that much oil.


Documentation. Facts. That sort of thing.


Polls on internet forums? No real world value whatsoever.


Just how I see it, that's all. Anecdotal evidence is no evidence.....

 

In the 5 years I have had my JCW I have added a total of 2 quarts of oil. I have the oil changed every 5000 miles or 6 months which ever comes first. I do not have many miles, just 37000. Burning oil is not an issue for me.

My clutch totally going out at 28,000 miles and leaving me stranded on the highway at 2 in the morning was more of an issue for me.

I have been pretty lucky with my car but I have have low miles. I keep saying this... OK to lease for 3 years but I would NEVER tell anyone to buy one of these cars.

And yes I love my car. See all the mods in my sig.