Question on Oil Consumption Diagnosis

I have a 2008 S model and I can easily hear when the engine is low 1/4 quart of oil. I use at least 1 quart per 1000 miles at minimum and have just started logging it. On the last two oil changes I added BG 109 EPR engine flush and the oil was extremely black with carbon. The engine sounded a lot smoother after the flush. My mechanic accuses me of using lower grade gasoline, but I run 91 octane. Perhaps I am not running the engine above the 3500 RPM very much as this may burn off any carbon deposits. The computer fuel mix is suppose to adjust for this so I'm not sure how I have so much carbon build up. I replace the spark plugs as required and I'm surprised how much wear is on them at 30K miles of driving. I have no oil leaks from the engine and I never see smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe when shifting gears. The amount of oil consumption is disturbing and I continuously check and add oil. Perhaps I'll take it if for an emissions test and see how much oil is in the exhaust. I run Castor-oil full synthetic 5W-30 year round.

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This post was auto-generated based upon a question asked on our tech article page here: MINI Cooper R56 Oil Consumption Diagnosis (2007-2011) | Pelican Parts DIY Maintenance Article

[Casey at Pelican Parts]

You should try another oil. That stuff has been known to cause issues. I have seen oil consumption greatly reduced when changing to a higher quality oil like Driven DT-40 5w-40, or Motul X-Cess 8100 5w-40.

- Casey

[Luccia at Pelican Parts]

I love BG products. Try adding in their MOA with your oil change to help quiet things down a bit. Also, be sure to keep an eye on your oil level. The timing chain guides wear from lack of lubrication and running low on engine oil. This can cause timing chain rattle at start up, noise when running and worse-case scenario a jumped timing engine. More info on that in this article here: MINI Cooper R56 Turbocharged Engine Timing Chain Guides Replacement (2007-2011) | Pelican Parts DIY Maintenance Article.

Also, give it a good Italian tune up and run it hard every now and then. Don't baby it. When was the last time you did a carbon clean up? It should be done about every 50k miles. You'll have more build up if you do shorter trips when driving your MINI. More info on that here: MINI Cooper R56 Turbocharged Engine Carbon Cleaning (2007-2011) | Pelican Parts DIY Maintenance Article.

Running Motul or Schaeffer's is what I recommend. Also, check your PCV as if it is faulty you can consume much more oil (as noted in the oil consumption article).