Was driving my 2007 MCS(has 41,000mi on it) to work on Thursday morning. Went to accelerate onto the highway and the car lost most of it's power. It would not accelerate at all and was only moving at approximately 40 mph. The half yellow engine light came on so I drove into a gas station and called MINI Service. They advised to have the car towed to the dealership.

The previous weekend I had driven the car to AMVIV and back from Colorado Springs, CO. Not a problem either way except I did notice the car sounded like it was a Harley when starting it in the AM but quickly passed after driving for 2 miles or so.

I am told that the oil lines to the turbo had sluge in them and essentially the Turbo wasn't able to cool and the turbo fried. I am also concerned that the engine is damaged. They said once it gets taken apart they will check for engine damage.

It has been at the dealership (Ralph Schomp) sinceThursday (04/01) and I am told they have to report the problem to MINI along with pictures before it can be fixed. So I am looking at at least a week I think before it is fixed.

My dilemma: Should I keep the car and get an extended warranty? I'm afraid this could happen again and it would likely be out of regular warranty. If I keep it should I change the oil more often than recommended say every 5,000 miles?
or
Sell the car and either buy another MCS or if my husband has his way some other brand of car.

Opinions welcome....

 

if your oil turned to sludge, I think the place it collects the most is your valves... unlikely to have damaged the engine itself, or nearly as quickly. can of that sea foam should clear out some gunk.

How often did you change the oil filter?

 

I changed the oil and filter at dealership at the recommended time MINI tells you to change it. However I intend to change it much more often if we keep it.

 

There's your problem.

I wouldn't go any longer than 7500 miles. We're talking about a turbocharged car that runs very hot, has a relatively small (4.4q) oil capacity, and uses direct injection and a crappy PCV system, both of which dump more crap into your oil than in most cars (fuel dilution and PCV blow-by gunk). If you go by the car's recommendation, it's INSANELY long.

VW had a HUGE problem with the 1.8T and sludge, to the point that they had to extend the warranties for all owners and revise the oil change schedule and specified oil (they weren't even requiring synthetic, shockingly, before the revision). They have an even smaller oil capacity (<4 qts IIRC).

 

Unfortunately I have learned my lesson...the hard way.

I will most definately change the oil much more often, than recommended by MINI.

But looking on the somewhat bright side... they gave me a 2010 JCW clubman as a loaner

 

plain and simple. I can see 10k-12k for a good synthetic for normal drivers, but my wife's clubman wanted to go over 20k, and I've heard of others going this long as well. The PCV system takes stuff OUT of the crankcase, so it's not contributing to the problem of sludge in the engine and lines, but it does cause problems with build up on the valves of the DI (Turbo) engine.

I think Mini is going to eat a lot of money on the conservative settings for the maintenance calculator.

Matt

 

You'll also want to check your oil level in between changes. I've kept to my traditional 5k oil changes with the Mini. I also check the oil level at least every 1k miles. My Mini uses less than 1 qt per oil change, but still, running it almost a quart low for a 1000 miles seems like a really bad idea.

 

Stop the madness!
I think it safe to say that one of the reasons folks subscribe to a forum like NAM is because they care about their cars. So let's agree that, while you might not need to change oil/filter in a turbo-charged sports car every 2, 3, or 5k miles, you shouldn't expect the manufacturer's overly optimistic maintenance minder (which also helps showroom sales) to protect your motor.
For those that don't like messing with their cars but also don't want to rely on the maintenance minder,10k mile oil/filter changes would be the very least I'd recommend to keep you and your car from being one of these sad stories we read about.
And if anybody seriously thinks that non-synthetic oil can protect this motor after reading the owner's manual and these forums, I'm reminded of the old saying,"Dumb oughtta hurt."

Personally, I sleep fine at night on 5k intervals. I'm just saying...

 

I change my oil at 7500 and also have added the BSH catch can which is baffled and the dual boost port plug. Sush at BSH is extremely helpful should you have any questions on his product. Here is a link to the forum discussing these products. Additionally with 32000 miles I will be doing the sea foam treatment in the next 1000 miles and then changing my oil at the same time.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...t-install.html

 

Gees I hate to say it because it will make you feel bad but the dealer oil change interval is total garbage. At least it's going to be covered under warranty. Every 5000-7500 miles dude!

 

I agree - let's not go overboard here. Not everyone here thinks the short oil change intervals so many posters are recommending are the way to go.

 

Compared to the R53 the oil filter size has been decreased on the R56. The engine runs about 30-40 degrees hotter and the recommended service interval was extended. On the R53 it was set at 15,500 miles where as my first "recommended" oil change on my R56 was at 20,000 miles. Something does not add up in my book, however we can each make our own determinations on when we want to do the change /service. This picture was taken right after I picked up my R56 and with my oldest daughter now looking at a Mini that would be four in the family. The nice part is lots of history from 2004-2008 and three very different platforms.

 

about 20k miles a change, the "free" maintenance does one oil change in the 36k mile window. At 15k miles it's 2, and at less than 12k miles, it would be three. Seems to me MINI is going to save some money on free oil changes, and pay a bunch for cooked engines.

Matt

 

Why do you think the engine runs 30-40* hotter?

I can't imagine that's true, I expect both engines run pretty much the same water temp.....

I do my oil and filter every 7,500 and I think that'll do fine.....but waiting till 15 or 20K doesn't make sense to me either......

 

Lots of threads and speculation on the water temps being higher, however it was not until people started to install gauges that the facts started to come out.

 

Schomp MINI customers get a free annual oil change. I have never gone longer than 5-8K between mine. had my first at 2300 miles on my dime tho just for caution's sake. OP did they not tell you about that?

so, not to derail the thread from rec oil interval change opinions, and there are PLENTY of those, but OP was there a funky burning smell coming from near the turbo area, and in the rear out the exhaust, when your car was at op temps, before the cel lite?

 

With a 3 month trip with the Navy and my better half driving my car I decided that I should check on the contents of my new second generation BSH catch can.



When I installed this catch can I also installed the dual port plug and recorded the milage. Now with just over 32,000 miles total and 897 since install here is the results



BSH will tell you that for more money they could make a product that looks better, however when it works why mess with perfection. I plan on checking this again after I get back as it will only be driven once or twice a week as she really enjoys her cabrio better

 

I'm sold! Where can we get that BSH catch can? Got a link?

 

Contact SRTech (aka. Steve) at Custom Mini Shop 559-320-0004. He's a vendor here on NAM and he has them in stock. Tell him John sent you.

This is the same catch can contents pictured above after setting for 18 hours. I'm sure that given more time that I will have at least 1/4 inch of oil on top of the solution.

 

minmor719:

Just curious after reading your post, what did you decided to do and did Mini cover it under warrantee for you?

Cheers

 

More proof that the factory oil change intervals are ridiculous.

Mine gets changed every 5k, with a fresh filter and 0W-40.

 

Um, BACK ON TOPIC? Fried Turbos? Please??? there are already enough oil change interval threads/opinions we don't need to jack this one.

Update on mine: the aux oil line between the block and turbo ruptured. after fixing it and cleaning up all the oil it sprayed (causing the smell), dealer kept car in shop 3 days to do thorough turbo testing. And here I thought all was well...

but yesterday when I was cleaning the car, and attempted to clean the engine, the bonnet pull latch broke off from the cable

I tell ya: these small shitte annoyances add up, and they continue on my 09, buh bye MINI for good. After my 05 MCS shop queen, I have a short tolerance leash here.

 

 

This EXACT thing happened to me just last week.. Started off with the noisy startup (Also mentioned somewhere on this forum), then last week as I was about to overtake, the car lost all power and went into limp mode.. I was also told that the oil feed line was clogged and the turbo ran dry.. . My car has 32000km/19888miles..

Luckily the dealer had stock and replaced the turbo within one day.. Car is fine now and no noisy startup in the mornings..

But it is worrying that the service intervals are that far apart..

 

Im beginning to think MINIs rec oil interval changes are eventually going to reach up and bite them in the **** big-time....