Yes, to the best of my knowledge, the spring is part of the unit. I don't believe spring replacement will ever be a possibility. Send MINI an email for the details.

 

The spring is a separate part number to the shock absorber. They can replace one or the other. However, chances are they just replace the whole unit, shock asbsorber, spring, top hat etc just bacause it is easier.

I also seriously doubt there is a problem with the shock itself. Bilsteins are known to be absolutely bulletproof and can take a hammering. I did 40,000km of racing and rallying on one set of PSS9's. They never needed rebuilding. The shocks in the GP are rebadged bilstein B14 (PSS) which is a high quality and tough product.

I also actually think that the rattle everyone reports is not actually a product failure, ie it is not as if a wheel is about to fall off. It is just a NVH issue

 

Spring replacement is a possibility, and has been done separately from damper replacement, and also has worked for other GP2 owners looking for a way to eliminate the 'clunk.'

 

Not to worry. On the Facebook discussion, they have ordered new springs for a GP2 in the UK. They have also ordered new springs for mine. They are coming from Germany so it will be a few weeks before they are installed. I'm hoping the knock is resolved by new springs alone...... mostly so I don't have to leave it in the shop for a second round. Fingers crossed.

 

Looking forward to your impressions.

 

Have just put my car into the dealer. The tyre deflation warning came on due to degree of wheel movement. They put the car on the ramps and the wheel wobbled at the top. The front left damper had failed with movement between damper rod and strut body, leaking oil and they took the car off the road. Front right damper also leaking. They will be speaking to BMW to see what to do. Have posted on UK GP forum and will post outcome. BMW techs suggested replacing the shocks with KW as they think the quality is poor on the fitted items. Car has done 20K Kms, 18 months old.

 

Hey guys. I wanted to throw something on the table.....Is the GP coilover -exactly- the same as the B14? Right off the shelf?

OR---

Did MINI start with the B14, but have Bilstein give it a custom valving change?

I would THINK that MINI would want some minor changes from the "off the shelf" B14. If that is indeed the case, I wonder if something went wrong when making those changes?

Again, fellas, just wondering out loud here. I have also had GREAT luck with Bilstein, and find it hard to grasp that so many would be having issues so soon on an off the shelf Bilstein......

Good luck--

 

I posted this on the GP2 FB page.

i sent my front shocks to the local bilstein motorsport dealer and had them put them on the shock dyno and pull them apart and rebuild them.

In a nutshell these are bilstein B14 shocks. The internal components are standard bilstein components. The valving is specific to the shock, and matched to the stock springs.

 

ROBBO, So, to clarify........

If I go down to my local speed shop and buy a Bilstein B14 shock absorber, it will have valving that is DIFFERENT from the one that I would buy at the MINI parts counter for the GP2????

Thank you for this information!

 

Hi,

Can't answer that question, because I have only dynoed the GP2 version.

The GP2 fronts come with 7kg/mm linear springs (400lbs). The B14 / PSS kit that bilstein sells for the mini comes with progressive springs, that are hard to directly compare, but are much softer in the range of 5-6kg, and logically I would expect the valving to be different. However, without putting them on the shock dyno back to back it is just speculation.

What I can confirm is that they both use the standard bilstein internals, and are both able to be rebuilt or revalved to whatever specs you desire. I have just had my GP2 fronts revalved to a different spring rate.

 

Robbo, that is very valuable information, and I'll bet people will reference your post for years to come. Thank you for sharing!

 

For now from a warranty standpoint since the assembly comes all pressed together from the factory, just makes more sense to replace the whole unit, less labor time.

And if the springs are the fix, who's to say the ones coming from Germany are any better than the ones you had.....same part no.

 

take it in, mine are down as well, its warrantied.

 

I went in for the knocking noise and the dealer installed a new set of front springs. It seemed quieter at first but the knocking quickly returned. When I took it back, I learned that the tech had discovered some slight play in the strut assembly when installing the springs and had ordered new struts and top mounts so they would be ready to go when I returned. I just got it back last night and will be testing it out over the next few days.

PS: He also checked the front brakes and found that the pistons were going bad so he ordered up a rebuild kit (covered under warrantee). I know, a better solution would be more durable Pistons.

 

Appreciate the followup.

Regarding the pistons - you've tracked your GP2?

 

I'm not sure I should answer that on the grounds that it may incriminate me.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ck-the-gp.html

 

Lolz 😈

 

is there a TSB on this strut issue, my front rt has started a noise that happened 7x yesterday alone....

 

It's a known issue, whether it's an official TSB yet, I don't know.

I'm at 10k, no noises yet.

 

hahaha tell that to my dealer who thinks its not..lol

 

Might want to show them the several Facebook GP Owner's group discussions on people who have had entire front coilover assemblies replaced, springs replaced, strut mounts replaced, etc.

There are revised part numbers for updated springs, as well.

 

Just had KW Clubsports fitted. The top mounts on the new GP2 suspension replaced 5000 miles ago was worn out and had play. The Clubsports transform the car. There is something wrong with the original setup. I will be taking the parts back to BMW as there's clearly a problem. With the new setup the car starts to feel like my old R53 - got back to being a usable roller skate!

 

have a link to the site? (I know FB, but which group)

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/292016867587147/