In about 9 months, I'll have to pass a rolling road (dyno) smog test here in San Diego. For those who haven't seen it, it's not unlike a real dyno run, but they do that while measuring particulates. Our 2007 R56 has ~89k and burns oil (maybe a quart every 1000 miles.) Particularly noticeable as black puff during startup. Car had one episode of extremely low oil once, about 20k ago (no oil pressure light comes up, but car begins to seize...nice design). This was when we became aware of unusual oil consumption. I realize a compression test and leakdown test (don't yet have the equipment for the latter) are in my future.

So here are my questions:
1) Is there a general consensus on the R56 motor about excessive oil use being caused by rings/cyl wear or valves seals?

2) If it is ring/cyl wear, any folks experience rebuilds on these motors for that yet? Looks like MINI has cast iron liners cast into the aluminum block. "A further sign of distinction is that the cast-in grey-cast iron liners end flush at the top with the cylinder head gasket (open liner design)."

I'm trying to prepare in case I need to take this car off the road for a few weeks to rebuild the motor if I do fail smog.

 

If your consumption is truly 1-qt/1000 miles, I doubt you'll fail the test for oil consumption reasons - that is within "normal" parameters for most new cars. If the car runs Okay, I'd closely monitor oil consumption and keep driving. Good luck.

- Mark

 

Black smoke is usually a rich mix, not oil. Blue is usually oil. Cold start oil puffs in the past were usually valve stem seals, not that bad of a job on an old V-8, but not sure if it is the same symptom/fix for coopers.

You might just want to take the test early if you are really worried. I am not sure if it counts, or just for fun etc, but it may be best knowing what's what with 9 months to plan.

 

Jeesh and I though we had stringent state inspections.....

HRM hit it on the nose.

And like Mark stated, your MINI is within the "acceptable industry standards" for oil consumption. Even brand new my 93' GTi 16V burned about that much oil.

I would consider changing your spark plugs as a measure for your concern - if not done in the last 18 months and a Sea Foam treatment for your engine (Thru vac system )

Run premuim fuel and make sure your MINI is nicely warmed up before the test. You should do just fine.

 

Thanks guys. As I wrote it, I realized that 1 qt/1000 miles isn't even enough consumption for MINI to panic under warranty (which I'm not). It is however enough to run it dry if you've lost the instinct to check oil level often, thus my feeling that this thing is burning lots of oil. We rack up 500 miles a week, and when you consider the long range of a MINI, we really should check every fuel up, but my wife is the primary driver of the car and she's not yet taken that to heart.

HRM, I suppose I haven't seen a modern fuel injected car run rich enough to blow black smoke, nor have I experienced excessive oil burning with full synthetic. So maybe my color-of-smoke-diagnosis skills are rusty and unstrustworthy at this point.

I think at 1000 miles per quart, my 1973 Suzuki GT550 2 stroke is getting a run for its money as the family's most polluting vehicle. I wonder if the cat is capable of breaking down that burned synthetic?

 

I found out that the 1 qt oil per 1000 miles is most likely due to the poor design of the valve cover allowing too much oil to pass through the PCV system instead.

It's suppose to allow H2O vapor only to pass but it allows excessive oil to pass also.

The valve cover has had some design revisions to help eliminate this problem.

The lesson here is to check your oil level and check it often.