Would there be a possibility of a group buy of M7 plates?

 

Just installed some M7 shock tower plates. When I set them on the towers I only had 1/16 - 1/8 inch worth of deflection. When I tightened all the bolts down, everything went right.

 

You're fortunate that your mushrooming was so lite. It also doesn't speak well to the design and quailty (thickness) of the steel used to make the towers that they can be deflected so easily by tightening those bolts.
But at least you are back to normal, more or less.

And your car, too. Just kidding.

 

Geez, to read these horror stories it certainly seems to me that this should be a warranty issue. Seriously.

 

UPDATE:
Just got SF back from the dealer. Originally the dealer said they would fix the mushrooming, after they had it for a couple of days, they said they WILL NOT fix the mushrooming. I was suprised that they said they would and didn't really fight to have it fixed. I became friends with one of the techs @ the dealer and asked how I could fix it. He told me that he would fix it for me and that he would put on the M7STB as well I was also in there for a noisy clutch, back up light not working, and getting one of my R105's fixed after NTB scratched it up. I picked up SF about 10 days later and everything is good.

Moral of the story: Become friends with a tech @ your dealership and you get things done. Everytime I am there for service, warranty work or not, I slip him a $20. Not much, but gets you remembered. Oh yea, he also installed my UniChip about 3 months ago.

 

I have both the mushrooming and cracked strut mounts. It is visually noticable on both sides. I am not suprised after looking at the nasty impacts on my wheels. I'm sure it was from those impacts and my wife flying over some speed bumps. It also nearly destroyed the ball joints and ruined a set of tires from being severely out of alignment.

Does anyone know of a good reinforcement in addition to the M7 plates? I thought of getting camber plates, but I am only a spirited street driver. Camber plates are EXTREME overkill! If I was going to get a track suspension, I would do it. But if I take her to the track, it will only be for a weekend here and there and not for competition. I also don't want to simply replace the strut mounts with oem mounts because if it happened once, it will happen again. I don't think the M7 plates could possibly provide any kind of protection for stock strut mounts.

Does anyone know of some stronger reinforced strut mounts? There has to be another way that does not cost $400+. I want a permanent fix (ie. under and on top of the strut tower). But since I will likely have to replace the front shocks, I can't afford to also buy camber plates that I will not reap the track benefits from. Strut mounts are $40 each side. That is 5 replacements before I exceed the cost of the camber plates.

 

Have you considered Ireland Engineering fixed strut mounts? They are less than $400, and the negative camber is not too aggressive. Plus they are a more robust solution to mushrooming and failure of the strut mount.

But, the Ireland Engineering strut mounts will not stop the wheel damage. I don't know of any cure for operator error....

 

Operator error is not the issue when it comes to the relatively small impacts that it takes to mushroom the towers. Now if I hit a 6" curb going 50 mph, I expect extreme damage to the entire suspension. Any impact that would cause wheel damage or strut damage would likely mess up a tower. The problem is the impacts that are ONLY messing up the towers and not damaging the other suspension parts and wheels.

MINI and BMW need to step up to the plate and create a reinforced strut mount. This would not cost that much money to mass produce a stronger part.

This would at least save 1 more thing to fix after an impact. No more hammering the towers back into place.

 

Don't hold your breath waiting for MINI/BMW to release a fix to the issue on the R52/53 MINI. There may be a fix for the problem on the R56 MINI, but that will only become apparent once actual production reaches the market.

In the absence of a fix from MINI, there are solutions presently available in the aftermarket. If I were looking for a cost-benefit justification, I would look at the Ireland Engineering fixed camber plates as a robust solution to both the mushrooming and strut mount failure issues with the added benefit of improved handling with minimal adverse tire wear issues.

 

I am going with the IEFCP as well. It is deffinately worth the $ and from what I have read, the camber doesn't promote excessive wear on the tires.

 

I just purchased a Mini Cooper non supercharged with 16" wheels and no sign of mushrooming. If this problem arises how does a shade tree mechanic fix the problem? Ron

 

Not trying to sidestep your question, but there are numerous threads here on NAM that answer your very question. Look in the suspension section, pop open a cool one (or more), and read away. =o)

 

I picked up Jerome on Sat and this was been my fear since driving him. He's got the 17's with the runflats add that with living in LA. *sigh* This should be fun. I guess I should start looking into preventative measures.

Do you think I will get flak from BMW/MINI for installing reinforcements to prevent this?

 

Like not driving in LA . . .

 

Unfortunately, L.A. does not have the exclusive on crappy roads. I would argue that the S.F. Bay Area gets the award for the worst roads; some on NAM would even agree with me. The bottom line is that if you have 17 inch or larger wheels and runflat tires, you have a higher risk of failure of the strut mount(s) and/or mushrooming of the shock tower(s).

There are preventive measures that can be taken, so it really is a question of where you are on the risk scale and what your tolerance for risk is.

 

I seem to remember your posting almost the exact same comment on another thread . . . after I complained about potholes . . .

Further evidence that nothing has improved and that we're witnessing the decline of western civilization.

 

Once the definitive history of the 20th century is written, I imagine the role of potholes will take up a majority of the document....

 

Man now you guys have me worried. My MCS has the Sports Pkg (17" wheels), and I live in Kodiak, Alaska. There's quite a few roads out here (including my neighborhood) that are dirt/gravel roads. They tend to develop potholes when it rains, or in the winter. Ugh.

 

I sense . . . that for whatever shortcomings may or may not exist in the Mini's construction . . . that most of this boils down to the driver.

I can't think of a single sports car on my wish list that I'd be running over potholes or bad irregularities in the road surface with blatant disregard. So . . . even if there was no such question with the Mini struts, I wouldn't be just slamming my S around with little regard for the surface conditions.

Anyway, I've found that darting and managing my approach over these obtacles on a daily basis is making me a better driver . . . I'm certainly practiced now at seeing far and near at the same time, and paying closer attention to what I'm doing.

 

I just did this last night...

And it's the second time they've been "fixed..."

For the first time we went down to Helix and I watched Eric do it... Not too hard... but not pretty either... Fortunately, the rubber mounts are not cracked.

I went to install the M7 plates last night and found mushroomed towers... again... So, out with the tools:

1. Put car on jack stands.
2. Remove wheels
3. remove brake line and wiring from strut brackets
4. unbolt sway bar link (16mm off-set box wrench and 5mm hex wrench)
5. unbolt clamp bolt attaching carrier to strut (18mm socket)
6. push down on lower suspension assembly to free carrier from strut.
7. unbolt three upper mount to tower nuts (13mm) and remove strut
8. I used a combination of a dead-blow hammer and a block of wood to hammer the tower flat, using the M7 plate as a guide.
9. using a bench vise, straighten the strut mount flange as required. Some need more than others. Ours seemed to spring back flat for the most part so little straightening was needed.
10. loosely install strut to tower with the three nuts.
11. line up the strut in the carrier (make sure the link and lines are in proper orientation) and press the carrier on to the strut with a floor jack, going slowly and making sure the rear flange slots into the carrier. Some light grease on the strut helps a bit.
12. Install carrier bolt and torque to 60 ft lbs.
13. Install reinforcement plates (if you have them) and torque to 25 ft lbs (tighten each nut progressively).
14. Install sway bar link nut and torque to 41 ft lbs (have fun with that one... ).
15. Attach brake line/wires to caliper.
16. Install wheels and torque to 85 ft lbs.

If you need to replace the mounts it will add a couple of steps and you'll need a spring compressor. It took me about an hour of wrenching time to do the above on both sides although I did use air tools and have replaced the struts on a MINI before. It took Eric about 30 minutes with air tools and a lift while gabbing with us at the same time.

 

You say this now, but wait till you check your towers to find that you also have Mushroomism. I live in an area that has pretty good roads and I can't avoid all potholes all of the time. The ones that really **** me off are the grade changes that happen when they are re-paving the road and they forget/don't put a smooth lip on the additional pavement they just put on and here I come enjoying my day an BAM! If they put up a f#$%*ng sign, I could slow down and perhaps reduce the spleen punching somewhat.

PS- I am talking about when they go across the road, not parallel to the road.

 

Shouldn't you be able to file a claim against the paving company for negligence (for failing to exercise due care in the re-paving process)?

 

I'm just trying to be optimistic. If the problem is so bad that this is occurring on good roads with good drivers, then BMW should definitely be called into account.

Here's the deal . . . I'm not too keen on the possibility that I will have to become some overnight mechanic and disassemble my car to address a problem . . . which shouldn't even exist. Mini's are reasonable, but they are far from cheap.

Personally, I am not good enough with a wrench to execute the repair or installation of preventive parts myself . . . the only thing that I can do is try to drive with some respect for the issue.

I would much rather put my money toward having mods installed on the car that would provide return in performance.

Simply put, if this problem is vast, then there should be some method upon which these very popular message boards should be used to ultimately force a factory solution.

 

I live in SF, drive a lot in the city and have 17" runflats. I'm sorry but I just can't buy this poll. 17" runflats are standard with the MCS with sports package. I bet that this setup is the most common. I bet that people with 17" runflats who didn't mushroom are just as disproportionate as those who did. This poll needs what amounts to a control group. Non mushrooming voices that will offset what is being quoted as gospel in a well meaning but flawed experiment. I'm not trying to be a di*k but reading through this thread made me upset because the data is so skewed. I realize that this is trying to solve a bad problem with this car which I luckily haven"t experienced (yet). I just don't think that this is comprehensive enough to draw any conclusions from it. It will take a much more detailed database. There are factor such as local temperature, detailed spring rates, etc to really pinpoint the problem. Also the prevalence of stock 17" runflat vs modded needs to be reconciled. As it stands This survey is about as scientific as asking people around the country if they get water up their nose when swimming. Obviously, those who live by lakes and the ocean, or who have a pool will have a stronger showing

 

I agree there has to be other factors involved in what is causing the mushrooming. However, anyone who has experience with past BMW's (mainly the E36) knows they have a history for weak upper shock mounts.

FWIW, we are pretty sure we know when the "big hit" happened that caused most of the damage. And at the time, the MCS was fitted with 15" holies and winter tires instead of the 16" non-RFs it normally wears. I also agree the procedure I described above may seem daunting to somebody with less wrenching experience. I would not have attempted it a couple of years ago, but have since built up the experience and tool collection to do so.