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Ahh - thats s**t then, youd at least expect the oil lamp, mine comes in my old e46 when it needs a litre!

Sensors failed, but that does show under engine management. Get the mileage verified

Oh dear - an unhappy situation to be in

There are however many things in here that concern me that would make me believe that no sort of claim will be possible and there's an element of driver neglect, even though it’s not impossible that something had gone wrong before the sale and it patched up, filled with some oil and sold on. I could even imagine lights being tampered with..

However, never manually checking the oil since purchase nearly a year before and not having a precautionary fluid change done..
For a week the car was stalling at junctions. Something that just starts happening shouldn’t be ignored Hindsight is wonderful, but that was a big warning and can be caused by overheating, etc.

Finally a real big set of warnings that look like the car was driven in the order of 10 miles over 3 drives leading to seizure, with lights on – “Warning light came on in the morning on way to work 7 mile drive. On way home , still on and about half way home started stalling at junctions. Got it home called AA. They drive for less than a half a mile. It seizes”

All that said there are degrees of seizure and the first port of call should be to an indy or garage to check for codes, coolant levels and pull the sump off and take a look. You may have just seized a shell bearing or partially seized 1 cylinder. All repairable in degrees of work, or worst case a new engine from a breakers if a rebuild can’t fix it

Good luck with it and I really do feel for you

Waiting for an oil light is a bit dodgy.
Minis if you wait for the light to come on will probably need between 2-3 litres. Pretty much running dry at that point.

Nictrix wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2017 3:31 pm Waiting for an oil light is a bit dodgy.
Minis if you wait for the light to come on will probably need between 2-3 litres. Pretty much running dry at that point.

I can vouch for that..
Woman at work has the supercharged mini and she wanted me to take a look at it as it was making a tapping noise.

Checked the oil, nothing on the dipstick, went to buy some oil, topped up 1ltr, still nothing on the dipstick.

just under 3 ltrs later and the dipstick was reading on the max.

No oil light or oil pressure light showed in that time.. just shows that you should always check your oil.

coupedan wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2017 2:36 pm

Nictrix wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2017 3:31 pm Waiting for an oil light is a bit dodgy.
Minis if you wait for the light to come on will probably need between 2-3 litres. Pretty much running dry at that point.

I can vouch for that..
Woman at work has the supercharged mini and she wanted me to take a look at it as it was making a tapping noise.

Checked the oil, nothing on the dipstick, went to buy some oil, topped up 1ltr, still nothing on the dipstick.

just under 3 ltrs later and the dipstick was reading on the max.

No oil light or oil pressure light showed in that time.. just shows that you should always check your oil.

Yep, we have an R53 JCW.
My other half use to have a polo and it old her when it needed oil, the R53 doesn't.

I hopped in one day, she started it up and it was knocking its tits off. Made her turn it off straight away.
Put a load of oil in and its been fine since (5 years and 40k).
The oil now gets checked every 2 weeks.

This thread makes me miss having a Dipstick even more - I have no choice but to rely on electronic readouts

Marlon wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:10 pm This thread makes me miss having a Dipstick even more - I have no choice but to rely on electronic readouts

Same and my digital read out is iffy at best

Joycey wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:16 pm

Marlon wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:10 pm This thread makes me miss having a Dipstick even more - I have no choice but to rely on electronic readouts

Same and my digital read out is iffy at best

I remember getting my first 2 ltr 2006 facelift Zed and the first thing I did was pop the hood to check on oil level and colour. I searched for ages feeling like a right plumb cos I couldn't find the dipstick

VRSteve wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2017 2:53 pm

coupedan wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2017 2:36 pm

Nictrix wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2017 3:31 pm Waiting for an oil light is a bit dodgy.
Minis if you wait for the light to come on will probably need between 2-3 litres. Pretty much running dry at that point.

I can vouch for that..
Woman at work has the supercharged mini and she wanted me to take a look at it as it was making a tapping noise.

Checked the oil, nothing on the dipstick, went to buy some oil, topped up 1ltr, still nothing on the dipstick.

just under 3 ltrs later and the dipstick was reading on the max.

No oil light or oil pressure light showed in that time.. just shows that you should always check your oil.

Yep, we have an R53 JCW.
My other half use to have a polo and it old her when it needed oil, the R53 doesn't.

I hopped in one day, she started it up and it was knocking its tits off. Made her turn it off straight away.
Put a load of oil in and its been fine since (5 years and 40k).
The oil now gets checked every 2 weeks.

BMW/Mini say its normal for them to use up to 1 Litre every thousand miles.
We were lucky, ours only used half that.

Marlon wrote: ↑Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:22 pmI remember getting my first 2 ltr 2006 facelift Zed and the first thing I did was pop the hood to check on oil level and colour. I searched for ages feeling like a right plumb cos I couldn't find the dipstick

Yep, did the same with my first Z4!

So then I read the book.

In that respect at least the M54 engines are better - dipstick and low level warning light!

.....knocking it's tits off......

BMW come back to me with the following regarding issue with engine and way forward, they are not willing to pay compensation as they say I do not have a full BMW service history :-

Removed sump from vehicle and also Big End cap from cylinder five and found damage to
Crankshaft, Removed Rocker cover and Cap from cylinder Five - Found damage to Cylinder Head.

Two major components are damaged, BMW would recommend replacing Engine on vehicle.

Cannot see value of putting new engine in as they are quoting nearly the current cost of car after you add labour. Though do get two year warranty on engine.
Or
Do I source 2nd hand engine get it fitted and sell and put loss down to experience.
Or
Just write off and sell as is ?

Jimbo1 wrote: ↑Mon Jul 17, 2017 12:59 pm BMW come back to me with the following regarding issue with engine and way forward, they are not willing to pay compensation as they say I do not have a full BMW service history :-

Removed sump from vehicle and also Big End cap from cylinder five and found damage to
Crankshaft, Removed Rocker cover and Cap from cylinder Five - Found damage to Cylinder Head.

Two major components are damaged, BMW would recommend replacing Engine on vehicle.

Cannot see value of putting new engine in as they are quoting nearly the current cost of car after you add labour. Though do get two year warranty on engine.
Or
Do I source 2nd hand engine get it fitted and sell and put loss down to experience.
Or
Just write off and sell as is ?

Why don't you source a used engine & get an Indy to fit it & then hang on to the car to get some value/use from it?
Can't really see the reasoning behind spending out getting it fixed up and selling it on straight away
Whatever option you choose, don't neglect to check the oil level regularly!
Rob

As stated you should locate a local indie and see what they suggest - I assume that the BMW dealer will be charging you quite a few bob for the investigation and will likewise do the same to re-assemble the engine so it may be a case if you find an indie who wants the job to get them to collect the car as is to avoid any more expensive main dealer labour charges. A decent indie will know where to source a new engine or whether its more cost effective to rebuild what you have. I'm guessing that you arent too mechanically minded going by the lack of checks on oil level etc (excuse me if I'm wrong) so you will need to locate an indie who can be truested to do the right thing by you, ask on this forum who is recommended in your area. Bad luck though.
Keith