We drove up a mountain in our 2009 "Just a cooper" (non turbo) R56 and a couple of times there was a burnt oil smell especially on the steeper parts of the mountain road, we also noticed when we got to the top in the car park. Elevation was 3254 ft, i have been using Mobile 0W 40, this is the first time we have driven up to the mountains and have never had this before under normal driving. It was fine coming down the mountain and all the way home.
There are no visible leaks.
Any ideas?
BTW Mini do now recommend 0W 30 so will use this in the future.
Thanks.

 

Could be an oil leak that runs to the hotter areas of the engine on inclines. I'd search for leaks as a first thing.

 

How many miles on the car? Are you using oil? If so, how much are you servicing?

 

No visible leaks only a tiny bit on the cam cover moist rather than wet, nothing dripping though.

 

150,000 miles, it does use a little oil but i have not measured the amount per miles yet, i will top it up and take a reading - any pointers where you think too many miles per quart should be a concern?
Thanks.

 

Ok so we went up the mountain a further two times both times there was only once when we smelt burning oil, as it's just a cooper maybe it does not like mountains!!
It used a quart of oil over 2000 miles and now has 152k on the clock - does this seem to be an acceptable amount to use given mileage?
Any advice would be great.
Thanks.

 

Our '07 started using oil when we passed 100K miles; I changed the valve cover (PCV valve is integrated into the valve cover), and oil consumption went down. At 128K miles I found evidence of oil residue (not much) in the coolant recovery tank, so I performed a leak-down test. The head was warped; cylinder 1 was leaking too much. She's all fixed now. I would run compression and leak down tests to find out where the oil is going.

 

Thanks, i will start with the PCV valve and go from there.

 

Update on the mini oil issue.
I took the car to the stealership for an oil change, cheaper than the local garage with a free diagnostics check as well!! they found several oil leaks, camcover + it was also leaking into #3 cylinder giving a slight hesitation under load (coil pack failing) + oil filter housing and front crank seal.
I bought a new camcover gasket and replaced it (the old one had gone hard) - no more leaks from the top or into the spark plug well so will see how that goes when we next go to the mountains.

I bought 4 new coil packs on line for under $100 delivered, these are Delphi and guaranteed for 3 years, when i called the Dealer they told me the OE coils were Delphi and that if i bought them from the dealer they come in plain white boxes - a little suspect me thinks, the Delphi ones i bought came in Delphi packaging.

 

Hello all. Just here to add some info about R56 oil consumption. 2009 Mini 95HP N12 engine. Bought with 69.000 kms back in Oct 2016, 96.400 kms now. Well, you all know how difficult is to read the oil dipstick and then the problem about monitoring the oil consumption.
I changed oil two years ago and was surprised to find that just 1 litre came out. I told my son, is his car, to carry an oil can for "just in case" even knowing you never know the amount of oil in the engine thanks to the bloody dipstick... I kept adding half a litre from time to time but don´t really knwing why... until I got tired and tried something, knowing the dipstick tube is curved at its lower side, I infered it would always show oil on the side of the dipstick touches that tube curve. So I inserted the dipstick and didn´t turn it, then take it out and it was clrealy dry all over but the side it touches the tube curve, so I thought it needed oil, and I started to add, an add... 3 litres! I was running again with 1,5 litres in the engine. But the dipstick started to show the oil level all around, and always much more in that side where the dipstick touches the tube.... Conclusion, don´t turn the dipstick when you insert it to check the level, it will clearly show the right level.
Maybe some or many folks in here know this tip and I am seem someway a fool, but I couldn´t find antyhting about this and just want others to know about it.

I also changed the PCV valve because readed that it would stop the oil consumtion and the burned oil smell when revving up the engine, mostly when up hill. Can´t say it stopped the oil consumtion, because I couldn´t monitor it before, but now it it is half a litre every 2000 kms. I find it normal after reading a lot of posts.
The burning smell has stopped, even knowing the old PCV valve looked in good condition, I changed for a new one anyway and the smell did stop, and I also think it decreased the oil consumtion but can´t really prove it.

Happy New your for you lot from Spain.

P.S.: Two pics are oil readings after 1400 kms and 2000 kms, don´t have a pic of the first 1000 kms reading, but I noticed about 5 mm.

 

Good to hear your oil usage went down.

I also recently changed PCV on N16 engine, 53K miles. Didn't keep track of how many miles/qt but was topping of frequently. The old PCV looked OK. I topped off the oil to full mark & after 500 miles it is still full, so happy here. Also, it previously would idle rough when cold & now it is smooth as silk.

BTW, If you grind off the bottom bump of the dipstick, it doesn't drag oil up tube & makes it easier to read. I used a dremel tool for that.

 

I did the crank seal last Summer. $12 part and an easy fix. Let me know if you want more info on it. We have the same car and had to do the valve cover gasket too. After the oil leak repairs we are still burning a quart about every 2000 miles.

 

That may have been what you were smelling.
When I got my R60 a couple of years ago, the oil filter housing was leaking oil. But I had no clue, as it left nothing on the ground. It was dripping oz to the exhaust and burning off, sometimes sitting at a long light or heavy traffic, I could smell it burning and see an occasional whiff of smoke from somewhere up front. It’s a cheap gasket, but they will kill you with labor if you have a shop do it. I paid about $40 for the gaskets. I was quoted $850 to do the gasket replacement! All labor! I ended up just doing it myself when I replaced my turbo. It may be a lot easier to get to in your car without the turbo in the way.

 

Just to note the consumption is stabilized at 1 litre for 4000 kms, which is not bad..., but burnt oil smell is on again. I think the replaced PCV must be stuck or something, old one looked good when I replaced it and I tend to think its spring is not hard enough although not sure what collateral effect could have if replacing for a harder one...
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