how's that workin for ya?

 

Post ***** . just messing with ya. Mine is a late 04 build, is it direct bolt on our is there drilling required?

Jack

 

Does anyone know if drilling these holes will weaken the strut tower's integrity and potentially cause Mini to void any future warranty work?

It really looks stock and I'm itching to order it.

Best,
T.

 

it's only one hole and it's low enough to be a non-issue. warranty is not gonna be an issue unless this mod cause a problem (which I wouldn't see it doing)

 

Pretty well it seems.

Yea, I can't see the drilling causing any issues either, considering how low, and small the hole is.

Now what I want to know is, if the wierd, oil filled engine mount bushing on the passenger side, can be replaced with someting stiffer. Plus, what exactly is that dampening? It isn't connected to the body as to reduce movement...

 

engine movement. it moves quite a bit believe or not. center jack the car with the hood open and you'll see the motor wiggle and jiggle on the OEM mounts. It's quite funny

 

I understand that it dampens engine movement, but is it fore and aft movement, or up and down?
I must say, I was also surprised at how much our motors moved, when I switched to poly lower bushings, I couldn't believe how much movement was attriubuted to the lower mount, as the engine now barely moved in comparison to the stock rubber bushings.

 

I'd say both. I had the mount off at one point and it seems that in addition to damping some of the rotational torque the engine creates, it also had a small amount of ability to control some of the up/down reciprocal forces of the engine.

 

I have a Sept. 03 build 04 MCS. Looks from the pictures that you must first remove the OEM brace before installing the new engine dampener. Right?

 

I ordered one for my 04 MCS (Mar 04 build) today. Should I locktite the bolts going to the brace? Is the torque setting included in the installation manual?

 

yes &yes- encluded in instructions. doug

 

Anywhere I can down load pdf of instructions?

 

I contacted them by email and they sent a fax.

 

The installation went flawless in 10 minutes. I put a little synthetic grease to the bolts going to the bushings and locktited the bolts going to the strut tower.
First impressions:
1. No vibrations inside the cabin (if there was, it is very minimal as I did not feel it at all).
2. Less shaking during cold start up in the morning.
3. Crisper response on sudden acceleration (in straights and turns).
4. Smoother gear change.
For $100, it is well worth it and highly recommended...next is my OMP under brace.

 

Well I was just informed that VIP does not have a damper for my 10/03 build 04 S.

Anyone know if these can be modded to fit my earlier build?

 

I have a spare bracket from an early model you can try if you want. Just pay for shipping (I ordered the wrong model for my '06)

 

So the only difference is the upper mounting bracket?

This is the email I got from VIP this morning.........
Scott , we do not currently have one for your production date but we
are working on a new front bracket to fit 02/03 and 04 to production
date 11/03, we can put you on a list to keep you updated on the ETA of
this part, thanks VIP.

What is different from yours.....do you know?

 

Confused: why do you feel the need to replace the VIP's rubber bushings with poly?

 

me......?

I don't have a VIP yet.

 

the upper bracket for sure

 

Yeh, I was afraid of that. From the pictures, I couldn't see how that would fit my 9/03 build 04 MCS.

 

I'm already on the list for the new one to fit earlier years... I really prefer this design over the TSW approach.

 

Oldie but a goodie,

So I have pretty much figured out that I am getting one of these, but I have one last question before I pull the trigger. How hard is it to remove the dog bone piece after it is installed? I am going to start AXing soon and want to run in the stock class, hence I would need to disable this. You are allowed to do that right?.

 

Removing the bone should be easy. It was the last part I installed before putting the bolts. In fact, I took it out last weekend to check the bolt on the engine mount if it ever became loose after running for number of days.
So far so good and I am really pleased what it did to my car.

 

You could just replace the stock upper engine mount bushings with the Powerflex ones and it should do about the same as the VIP stabilizer. Luckily we have that option and don't have to worry about that oil filled mount.