I have a new to me clubman S. Last week when I took it to the dealer for some warranty work the SA said I was 2 qts low on oil. He said this is normal The car just had an oil change by Mini by the previous owner. Anyway, I decided to look under the hood this am and take a better look at the motor. Seems there is is seeping around the head gasket on top of the motor, it is wet. I looked under the car and two drips are forming (they probably drop when I drive) on the front and back of the engine case. I know this car had the chain tensioner fixed recently because I questioned the SA about why the car was so noisy. He said it was already fixed and the noise I'm hearing is normal like the being two quarts low after an oil change I'm taking it back and lucky for me it is still under warranty. I'm looking for ammo to throw back at the SA's BS story that all this is somehow normal. It seems to me they've messed up the motor.

Waiting for your replies......

 

Search through the other models for this problem because if there is some sort of frequency to this, it wouldn't be exclusive to the Clubman. All of the engines are the same within their grouping. For example, all Gen 2 cars with the S engine are the same except for when they added the full Valvetronic adjustable valve timing system. That's when the power figure went from 172hp to 181hp (2 years ago?). Similarly all of the engines in the Gen 2 Justas are the same, except for when the also had the valvetronic upgrade. However, the factory JCW engines like the one in my car did not get the Valvetronic system through 2012. So, the power rating for those has not changed through this model year.

Anyway, the point is that potential problems like you mention usually are not model specific. That said, the Countryman may be an exception. It uses the same families of engines, but there may be some differences to accomodate the ALL4 option.

 

Seeping gaskets and leaks aren't normal, they're signs of something needing repair.

"Two quarts low" isn't normal, either. They hold a touch over 4; driving around with 1/2 the oil supply isn't a good idea, needless to say.

That you have to *check* the oil regularly, and some of these cars *use* oil between changes: that's normal

 

They're saying it's the valve cover gasket....

 

Warranty time!