Hello everyone,
I am a new member who just recently came into possession of a 2004 Mini Cooper S. I am currently doing extensive work on it and one of the things on the list was to replace the oil pan gasket. I removed the oil tonight and cleaned it up and noticed there was a lot of cracking inside and on the outside. I wanted to post some pictures and get your thoughts. There was not any metal in the pan and everything on the bottom of the crankcase looked clean and in good shape, Thanks for the help.

 

I just recently opened my oil pan, and it looked exactly like the one you posted. Lots of cracking on the inside.