Hello, all! I've had my mini for about a year and a half, sitting at 89,000 miles. I've had some issues with losing a significant amount of oil, however it's a quart about every 1200 miles, which falls under the range of normal for an engine not properly broken in.
I brought it to the dealer for my first oil change at about 50000 miles. I've since decided I would rather do my own work whenever possible.
I had them do a check over, and they determined I should replace my oil housing gaskets, however I have never seen visible drips under my car so my step-dad (professional mechanic, specializing in American vehicles) suggested that it wasn't worth the $950 they wanted to charge me.
With my last oil change, I did some snooping around and am convinced that there is likely a very slow leak dripping oil down the front of the engine, to the oil pan... So I would like to start planning the replacement of the gasket in the spring.
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https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/forums/how-to/260258-oil-cooler-filter-housing-gasket-replacement.html

I found this tutorial on changing it for the r56s model, but I can't find any videos or tutorials for changing out the housing gasket without taking off the whole front end. This seems superfluous, from what I can tell. How might this job differ without having to deal with the turbo?

Thank you, in advance, for any advice or tips sent my way

 

On my wife's 2013 Justa, it looks like a much easier job than on my 2011 S model. Way less stuff in the way. But, if I were you, I would invest in a Bentley repair manual, especially if you plan on keeping the MINI for a while.