2005 Cooper S
I have oil in the cooling system after driving cross country. There are only 53,000 miles on my car. There is no water in the oil. It seems odd that the oil would go into the cooling system but not reverse the flow once the engine was shut off. I have had the head checked for cracks and there are none. The oil cooler doesn't leak and the head gasket wasn't bad. Any suggestions besides the $10,079.39 quote I just got for a new engine at the repair shop? I have never overheated the engine and have had it since it was new. Has anyone else had tis problem?

 

How much oil are we talking about?

I had some small amount in the coolant. I would flush the coolant system once every 6 months but the oil kept coming back. I changed the oil cooler and the problem went away.

 

The coolant has the consistency of pudding....

 

I'd look at the oil cooler first....
With such low miles....I'd wonder if the coolant has been drained and flushed every 3 years...failure to do so can result in corrosion issues....killing the oil cooler (causing oil/coolant to MIX), head gasket, and plugging the heater core....
Next would be the head gasket (guess you did that first???!?!???)...for a shop to suggest a $10k+ motor or do a head gasket first...I'd be made as hell......run.....you could drop a good, used motor with a warrenty in the car for less than half that without even looking at the two most common causes of it is just wrong and crazy IMO.

 

PS
THE oil psi is typically 35 psi when at speed....the radiator is 5-15 when hot...so of the oil cooler is corroded... The oil WOULD go from high to low psi....and in an area as small as the oil cooler..some coolant DOES likely get in the oil....but gets pushed back into the coolant when you start..

 

head gasket

 

If i recall, in the first edit of the post the op said it was done....and did not mention an oil cooler...pretty sure it is now different....that is why folks often quote an op...
When an op uses a backdoor edit (trick to avoid the edit tag) to change the info...makes me VERY SUSPICIOUS......two of us both said oil cooler cause it was not addressed, and the head gasket was new due to a "checked" head....
Maybe it was an honest use update, or I am mistaken (sorry if I am)but if it walks like a duck, talk like a duck...it's a duck......
To the op...
Head, oil cooler, and block....
One of those is bad....like I said...you can do a used motor with a warrenty...can be safer than a "new" engine, almost always a remanufactured one by the OEM under contract, is IMO a safer bet......remember, the core traded in for rebuilding has issues...and a few stories around about bad "new" OEM box motors....

 

I had the problem checked in this order...
Old cooler...no problems found
Had the cylinder head removed and checked the gasket for defects...none found
Sent the head to a machine shop to be checked...no problems found.
I hate to buy a new long block from Mini however that is the safest option without worrying about prior issues from a reconditioned engine. (Which I will verify as new and not manufactured, thanks for that info)

All of these were mentioned in the first post, no editing....no ducks!

The price quoted includes all new hoses and the rest of the cooling system cleaned out or replaced. I think the shop mentioned replacing the radiator and I am going in Monday to verify what the estimate all includes.

 

Ouch....sucks you have done all that and not found it...
I might just toss a new oil cooler at it...and pray...they are easy to get at, pretty cheap.....and to be 100% honest, not sure how you can "check one" if it is leaking internally......
Since there is not a oil cooler loop in the radiator (like other cars)...not sure what they hope to accomplish there...
Good to hear "no duck here", but sometimes there are quite a few posts that are done by trolls that get reedited....and once a few folks realize they have been on a wild goose chase, it just has been a waste of time....sucks though that you do have a real issue....
Best of LUCK!!