Recently, I started hearing a noise on my '10 JCW. If I had to put it in words, it sounds like a heat shield vibrating against the exhaust. Sort of a buzzing vibration noise. It happened when the car was cold, and at around 2700-4000 RPM. It went away after the car warmed up. I can't confirm this 100% as it is hard to reproduce, but I think it happened more if I cornered to the right. Every once in a while, when the car was warm, a hard turn to the right would briefly cause the noise.

OK, so I bring it to the dealer. They drive it. No noise. I leave the car so they can drive it when it is cold. The call and tell me they heard the noise, and thought it was near the timing chain area (at least that's what I think they said - left a voice mail on my cell and it was hard to hear).

I was away on business, but when I came back, I called and they said that there was no problem - but that my oil was low and that's what was causing the noise. I picked up the car last night, and there was no noise. There was no noise this morning either.

So, my concerns are:

1) Why was the oil low? Dealer explanation: "Mini says that the cars can loose x amount of oil per y amount of time/distance blah blah".

2) Why was there no oil light on? Dealer explanation: "It was low, but just above the trigger point for the light to come on"

3) Why was there a noise? One would suspect that if the oil is low, and there is a noise because of that, it would mean something is not getting lubricated and being damaged. Dealer explanation: None.

4) What was the noise, and what damage could have been done?

Basically, it seems that the tolerances for oil level are tighter than the sensor settings - something I would not have expected on a modern car.

I'd love to hear opinions on this...

Thanks,

/greg

 

Interesting... Not sure I would classify my sound as "cold start chatter" (which implies something like a valve tape I would think), but this link talks about the chatter and the oil level.

 

I had exactly the same issue. I had checked the oil as the car only had 200 miles on it. Mine sounded like a heat shield vibration.

I added the NM Engineering Torque Arm bushing and have never heard it again. http://www.waymotorworks.com/nm-engi...nt-insert.html

 

Disappointingly, there is no low oil-level sensor in the Cooper. There is only a low oil pressure sensor. Which doesn't come on until you are completely out of oil or your oil pump has failed.

 

Wow. That is good to know!

Oh - tell me, is there a dipstick in the Mini? There is none on my X3...

 

Yes, there is a dipstick. Front and center. I believe it is bright yellow.

Since you never really lost oil pressure (no indicator) the damage is probably very minimal.

 

I've had the oil pressure light on the R56 come on twice in three years and in both instances it was two quarts low. If you've ever seen the amount of oil/blowby vapor flowing through the pcv on these engines it's no surprise topping off the oil on a regular basis is a must.

 

all cars burn some oil, some faster than others. Has a lot to do with how the engine was broken in and how the rings seated (this is a very, very hotly debated topic that never ends, but just accept the fact that oil consumption rates vary all over the place on new cars.)

Like someone else posted, there is no "level" at with the light comes on, it's pressure related. hard turning tends to make it come on earlier, as the oil pick up can come out of the oil because all the oil moves to one end or the other of the pan during hard cornering.

Even though the change intervals are very long (rediculously long by the service computer), it's up to the owner to check oil levels (every month is a good idea) to make sure that normal consumption doesn't drop the oil level too much. you will have to top it up periodically. And yes, there are those that don't have to top up much or at all cause of the variation in oil consumption across engines.

BMW/MINI (all car manufacturers in fact) have rediculously high allowable oil consumption rates. If they didn't, they'd be rebuilding tons of engines that were poorly broken in! They don't want to do that so they say it's fine.

For those coming to MINI from newer BMW ownership, the absence of a dip stick and the use of a level sensor is the exception, not the rule, in cars. Most cars still have dipsticks and DON'T have level sensors.

On the newere cars, this is all made a bit more complicated by the "oil on demand" oil pump. Older cars (like the Gen 1 MINIs) have an oil pump that spins proportional to whatever the crank speed is. The new one has some way of deciding how fast to pump oil, and appearantly, it's not based on oil pressure!

Anyway, hope this help. Just remember to check your oil every month, and top up as needed.

Matt

 

This is exactly what my car sounds like... like a heat shield is vibrating (metal on metal). I only notice the noise at low RPM though - was this the same for you? I checked the oil as well, and the level seems fine).

How was install of the NM torque arm bushings? Is there a lot more vibration on idle with these installed?

 

To add to Dr. Obnxs' post, oil consumption is further impeded by the use of a boost adder, at least with R53s having the supercharger. The oil comes through the PCV hose. That's why there is an oil film inside the intercooler.

Even with a small oil leak (old '02 MCS was oil pan gasket, current '06 MCS is O-ring at crankshaft sensor), I have typically added about 1/3 quart every 2,000 miles or so. The threshold for an engine repair/rebuild on old-school Chevrolets was 1 quart every 700 miles (whether leaked or burned).

Some manuals say to check your oil once a week. Certainly don't wait more than a month.

 

I didn't install as it was part of the installation of a whole list of goodies when I bought the car.

However I have looked at the part in question. Maybe 30 minutes total to put on jack stands, crawl under car, install part, and put back on ground. I could have done it while changing the oil for and extra 5 minutes maybe.

 

Subaru boxer engines also can consume up to 1qt. per 1,000 miles. I would check most MINI's 1x week. Just added 1/2 qt. to the wife's JCW after 3k since dealer change.

 

Thanks for all this info - it is very helpful.

However... :-)

I'm sort of surprised by this. I've owned many cars and motorcycles for long periods and while I've had some that needed more oil than others, I've never had one make such a noise when it was only a quart low on oil. I mean, we're talking a noise that sounds like metal on metal here. Like dry metal on metal! I could understand a valve tap when cold / low on oil, but a sound like a heat shield vibrating on the exhaust? Wow.

I will definitely check my oil often knowing all this. One has to wonder if Mini knows about this and if so, why they didn't put a low oil level indicator in the car? Heh... or maybe the noise is the low oil level indicator! :-)

Cheers,

/greg

 

I don't think it was an internal engine noise. I think it was like my sound and is a heat shield vibrating.

 

At which point your engine is potentially ruined too... This leads me to rhetorically ask: other than that they can charge extra money for it, why doesn't MINI provide a basic gauge package (oil pressure, coolant temperature, battery voltage) on their vehicles? They promote these vehicles as members of the sports/performance class, and even my 1997 GMC Jimmy came standard with a gauge package...

I have to say that I'm a bit skeptical of that statement. But since I don't own an X3, so I can't say that with any real authority. Some engines have the dipstick integrated into the oil filler cap. Perhaps that's where it's located on the X3...?

"gmarch:" At the risk of hijacking the thread, any comments or advice you could offer me about the X3? Been considering the purchase of one (model year 2007 or later) for a while now (to replace the aforementioned GMC Jimmy). Feel free to reply via private message.

 

Definitely no dipstick. It's a button on the dash that has an electronic display that shows the level.

My CPO'ed X3 is nice. It was a replacement for my CPO'ed X5. My two complaints are that I am totally amazed at how bad the BMW nav is, and that you can't put a trailer hitch on without cutting the rear bumper. I opted for a roof rack for my bikes instead.

Anyway, to keep this Mini-centric, I, too, wonder why they don't have better gauge selection for these sporty little cars. And, even with the available extra gauges, who needs % power, lateral G and how long the top's been down? How about boost, oil/water temp, etc....

 

You all know, the oil light measures the pressure in the line, not the oil level? When the light comes on you are sucking air. It is just there to tell you you already totally destroyed the engine and should pull over for a tow.

My first 5ooo miles used a quart. My next 10K used none. The dipsticks are really hard to read, and getting it filled correctly is difficult as it takes time to drain from the head into the sump.

 

Huh! What'll they think of next...?

Thanks for the quick low-down on the X3, "gmarch"! I've heard similar reviews about the BMW navigation systems; I'm pretty handy with Google Maps, so no worries either way with navigation systems. The X3 I'm currently considering is something of a "stripper" -- 6-speed with Sport Package & leather interior as the only options. I have a trailer hitch on the Jimmy, which I think I've only used once in 13+ years, so I guess I wouldn't particularly miss having one of those either...

We now return you to your regularly-scheduled thread, already in progress...

 

Speaking of which... The Mini dipstick is one of the hardest dipsticks to read I've ever seen!

 

I agree. Especially when the oil is new and almost a clear fluid...

I'm not sure who came up with that design idea, but they need some remedial training...

 

I don't understand why so many folks have a hard time reading the MINI dipstick, seems simple and easy to see to me.....I change my own oil twice a year or about every 7500, so I do wind up checking it regularly.

I'm in on the lack of gauges discussion tho - criminal in a sports/performance car like this. Maybe they can leave them out or make them optional on a Justa, but they should be both standard and complete in an MCS IMHO.

I also find it interesting how often I hear the "the car should have told me something was wrong" agrument......

 

in the sense that they know about bulbs being bad, allert people about service intervals and the like. I think that when you combine a partial implemmentation of tech like that with an absence of any type of indicator for what's not automatically sensed (like temp or oil pressure gauges), it invites this type of complaint. not to say it's right, but it's very understandable.

when I was in the latest GTI, I loved the fact that there was a REAL temp gauge right at the bottom of either the speedo or tach. I don't know what MINI is smoking on this one. It's not like it's a new complaint. And the outrageous prices that they charge for aux gauging... Craap, they can do a stupid "openometer" for the cabrio but no real temp readings? Heck, they could put that in the digital display for those that care. THAT would only be software....

Bad MINI....

Matt

 

I check mine pretty regularly too. Speaking solely for myself, it may be partly just me being used to the flat, incremented dipsticks that you find in American cars. Besides being a bit difficult for me to personally see the actual oil level indicated on the pebbled "bob" of the MINI dipstick, I'm never entirely sure whether I'm reading the level correctly without pulling out the manual. And it's a bit difficult to track oil consumption; or how close you are to the "oil low" point, which (to me) isn't really intuitively obvious on the MINI dipstick (Is the top or the bottom of the pebbled region the "oil low" mark...? Drat, better pull out the manual to be sure...). On the flat, incremented sticks, they are conveniently labeled "LOW" or "ADD" or something like that.

If MINI wants to continue using the dipstick design they have now, I would just suggest a minor improvement, such as a distinctive "LOW" mark (raised ring or indentation in the "bob") to indicate when you're down a quart.

 

For me, the problem is that the dipstick is so long and the path so convoluted that the act of putting it in (after wiping it) and pulling it out gets oil all over the dipstick and you can't easily tell where the residual oil ends and the actual oil begins.

That, and the silly piece of plastic at the end with no labels on it.

/greg

 

It's very simple to me..........down at the bottom of the stick there is an indentation and another about 1 inch above that, the oil level should be between them, preferably at the top of the notch.



On newer engines there's a cross hatch area , the oil should always be in that hatched area, and again preferably at the top.