Careful, don't want to give any ideas to the nit wit developer of the auto-parallel park feature option.

 

Not mini specific, but a problem that mini owners have to deal possibly with. You'd think things have changed in 12 years since your VW.

 

check oil before road trip, check oil at destination.

if you are burning a noticeable amount of oil in the distance you can reasonably travel in 1 day, you have other issues and shouldnt be driving the car anyways.

if you are doing a multi-day road trip.....check the oil in the morning before you leave your hotel......hell, stop and take an hour break at a road stop and check it before you head out...

the motor doesnt need to be stone cold....but you shouldnt be checking it right after you get out of the car.


i really dont see how many people can find fault with this......unless you are planning on driving clear across america without stopping, i dont see how this would be so difficult to accomplish.

 

The Non S R56 doesn't seem to have the same coking or consumption rate as the Turbo but yeah I guess one would think it should not be such a huge issue for any car these days. The 1981 eight valve GTi I before the 93' burned no oil whatsoever, so made no sense to me 12 years later either, like a step in the wrong direction.

To some extent, the 15K mile MINI oil services recommendation gave new MINI family members a false impression as to proper maintenance for their new MINI thus checking the oil level every couple of fill ups as one would do normally was not on their minds. Like it possessed some sort of MINI magical powers against oil consumption/contaminants.

I have also heard but not personally confirmed the Prince Engine has higher than expected gap numbers with respect to the pistons/piston rings and cylinder walls. While it may be good for gas mileage, it makes for higher oil consumption than one would expect, while also preventing the ability to achieve high hp numbers due to purported piston slap.

 

Guess it's the old trade-off reality of cars. Since mileage is such a main concern now they have to take from other areas, to an 'acceptable amount' to get it. Then they have the dealers overfill the oil since they expect it to drop.

 

Good point...
But they simply eliminated it....so you can check your oil on an electronic guage in the cabin....
And we all know how reliable electronics get with age....especially on older European cars....
Back to the op...
Unless you are burning more than a quart per 1000 miles, check it when you leave....then at the start of each subsquent day....few folks drive much more than 1000 perday on a sustained basis....sure...sometimes 1100 or even though 1500...but at that burn rate of 1 per 1000, you might get slightly low...likely not cause highway use Burns less oil than local hard driving....
Cars get Dirty....dipsticks get hot....that is why gas stations once checked your oil FOR YOU when you bought gas, then cleaned your windows.....get the dead bugs off....then they would check your tires for air....for FREE!!!

 

Yeah, I sure wasn't ready for it. This is my 42nd car (I'm not young) and it's the first time I almost got burnt grabbing the handle of a dipstick. It's also the first time I ever had an aftermarket dipstick. I guess that tells you something right there.

 

You make some valid points, my 1980 Datsun 200SX never burned a single drop of oil. I have also heard of that the Prince Engine has tolerances issues, I heard that sometimes factory engines were examined by oem engine rebuilders and the cause of a single cylinder going bad early in its life was because of tolerance issues.

Mini was advertising eco friendly cars with lifetime manual transmission oil service intervals, timing chains (failed tensioner via bad tolerances) that would last the life of the engine and lengthy oil services intervals. The latter two would soon create serious problems for Mini, you wouldn't expect to go through 1 quart of oil every 1000-1500 miles based of the long service intervals.

I can see the new F56 running low on oil burning up the engine because of faulty oil sensors, since there's no dipstick to check Mini can't blame the consumer for not checking the oil every so often.

 

[QUOTE=Systemlord;3922535

I can see the new F56 running low on oil burning up the engine because of faulty oil sensors, since there's no dipstick to check Mini can't blame the consumer for not checking the oil every so often.[/QUOTE]


That also has been a concern of mine with these new engines, if manufacturers are considering 1 qt useage per 5K miles "normal" then you certainly would expect the need to add oil from time to time as normal also. When and how much oil would be the next logical question.

 

[QUOTE=pokeyjoe;3921508]...and I'm going to check the oil every time I get gas.../QUOTE]

This is probably the best bit of information/advice for anyone who wants to keep their MINI's engine in top running shape and avoid costly repairs!