No smoke, as far as noices just various tapping and clicking noises when the engine first starts. They go away quickly. Some pill lose probably due to leaks. And that amounts to about a quart in 10,000 miles.
for me i have been running either Mobil 1 or Royal Purple for most of my cars life until a few yrs ago when i switched to Motul X-MAX 5w30 with some Lucas Synth Oil Stabilizer and honestly my engine runs smoother and quieter ...no dry start issues and you feel it quickly settle down...to me it feels like my engine hasnt missed a beat at im at 170,530 miles
We have a couple of local club members who are at 170K+ and have never used anything but factory MINI oil and filters in their cars.....both run perfectly still, one a Justa and one an S. I had the pan off of the S not too long ago (Like many he was convinced the pan gasket was leaking, I maintain it's the crank sensor o-ring, not the pan gasket) and that motor looked brand spanking new inside, no sludge, no nuttin! Both guys follow the twice a year or every 7500 miles oil change interval, FWIW. I can't imagine the Long Life rating is necessary if you're going to change it this often, as long as you use a good synthetic like Mobil 1.
i am using the m1 0w40 in my cms all4 because of my good experience with the m1 oils in my 1997 gmc sonoma L35 V6 4x4 5-speed manual (still have it and intend to keep it) the sonoma has 288,000 miles since new and had m1 5w30 from the factory i had been running m1 10w40 in the winter, but switched to the m1 0w40 since i first saw it on the store shelf i run m1 15-50 in the summer the sonoma still runs 60psi-70psi oil pressure (as new) and uses no oil between changes at 5,000 miles just had the right valve cover off this spring to replace the gasket and the insides looked as new, no deposits, just shiny clean metal ... i should have taken some photos i will be using the m1 0w40 in the cms all4 hopefully for 250,000 plus miles scott