Hello, I have been trying to stay ahead of some issues I’ve been having with my ‘07 R56 Mini Cooper S.

It it is currently out of commission due to no compression in cylinder number 3. I am in the process of removing the head to take a closer look. So far, I’ve noticed that the exhaust portion of cylinder 3 is much more oily than the others.

I’m wondering what the best approach might be since this car has encountered a similar issue in cylinder 3 just 2 years or 20k miles ago.

Two years ago, when it was taken to the shop they replaced the cylinder 3 exhaust valves and seals to resolve this issue. This seemed to work fine until now.

I find it peculiar that I am running across the same issue in the same cylinder.

As I continue with the disassembly I’m looking for some advice on where to focus my energy. I’m going to replace the seals in the head along with the exhaust valve. I’m curious if maybe the rings within cylinder number 3 maybe contributing to the issue.

Any advice is much appreciated. Please let me know if I can provide more information.
Thank you