I have done some research, read many posts, and talked with experience MINI engineers, drivers, and racers. The range of opinions I am hearing on aftermarket bushings is mind boggling.

Hoping I can get some more aftermarket bushing / mount users to chime in here.

I have a 10/2003 production 2004 MCS. It has the all-rubber (not oil-filled) upper motor mount (#4) and the dogbone linkage (#6) to the stabilizer mount (#8) that mounts to the strut tower.



Some say replacing all of their motor and tranny mounts with powerflex is an awesome upgrade that improved clutch takeup, reduced wheel hop, and added little NVH. Some say the additional NVH was 'welcomed'. BSH sells a new lower mount that is poly on one end and metal on the other. This is supposed to be even stiffer than the powerflex inserts on the OEM.

One person had the same setup and said they had to remove the upper one due to the amount of NVH.

A racer with a 245hp MINI said he replaced his powerflex enforced lower mount with a stock OEM.

An experienced engineer / racer said he never uses anything other than OEM in his race MINIs.

An installer said he tried the all powerflex setup and his hands would go numb from the vibration in the steering wheel.

One user experienced the NVH and demanded his mechanic explain "What the hell happened my car"

I wish I could ride-along a few MINIs with different setups to actually feel the vibration and decide for myself. Anyone care to chime in?

 

Well I'll give you my experience with the Powerflex mount.

I have owned several cars with race motor mounts such as swapped civic rattleboxes with Hasport race mounts, 240sx with Avid race mounts ETC. Tonnes of NVH so bad that the dash rattled at idle and windows vibrated. Just so you know the tolerances for 'annoyances' in my perspective. I had no issues with the NVH in these cars.

When I got my Mini a few years ago I figured a Powerflex insert would be nothing compared to prior cars. I installed the lower and upper, the vibration at idle was extremely buffeting from inside the car. I am assuming because it is built more solid than my other cars the air does not escape as easily.

Literary after a test drive I removed the upper mount and kept the lower mount in for about 10 000km. Much more acceptable this way with almost no performance difference between both upper / lower, and just lower. Without AC on there was buffeting but it was not terrible, the NVH was more intense to the point at times it was annoying and I had 2 girls on separate occasions ask me to turn off my car at idle because the 'buffeting' made their head hurt. With AC on is when the NVH was bad, quite annoying, the back seats would rattle in their brackets and I had to add a thick foam tape around the metal loop on the seat back to insulate the rattle. I lived with it for the performance increase which was quite noticeable, however it eventually got to me in a daily driver during the winter months.

Needless to say I removed the insert, sold it, and decided to wait for a better piece of engineering to come along.


I was about to buy a BSH mount, but the reviews make it out to be more intense than a Powerflex insert with their 'street' version.

Someone needs to develop a firmer rubber mount or something similar to what Audi S4 tuners do, the poly insert mounts seem to cause too much NVH for my liking at least with the windows up, windows down in the summer it's not a big deal.

We really need a solution to the sloppy drivetrain movement, without the extreme vibrations of the current offerings (I know this is possible).

 

I have a 2003 MCS. I had powerflex bushings in the lower mount only. They did cause a lot of "buffeting" or NVH at idle. I lived with it for a couple of years, and recently removed the item and replaced it with stock.

However, I figured I'd compromise so I filled the spaces in the stock bushing with Hi temp silicone. The result is sort of a compromise. I realize I should not have filled the spaces all the way, but just a little, as I did not lose enough of the NVH. Maybe it will loosen up.

Frankly, I think filling the spaces with a flexible material like silicone is a good and first step on the way to the Powerflex bushings. Plus it is almost a no cost mod.

I have noticed that my upper stabilizer mount attached to the strut tower is torn. As a temporary measure I squeezed what I had left of my silicone into the gaps in it to extend the life of the bushing. Call me cheap.

My takeoff traction is still pretty good - no wheel hop. despite the 240 wheel hp. and light wheels

 

I've been doing a fair amount of research.

I've also replaced the stock mounts because of wear at 60k miles. During that time, I've put in a full lower mount before. While at speed, the NVH/buffeting was non-existent. However, it was at idle that this VH/buffeting bothered me so much that I couldn't stand it and had it taken out-- I didn't give it time to settle in, i just wanted it out. I had ridden on it for maybe 300 miles before it came out. (i don't know which durometer was the polyurethane bushings that had gone in there)

The mod bug has come back so now I want to give this a go again. I just picked up the yellow inserts from Ireland Engineering, the lower ones. Yellow ones are the same durometer as the yellow powerflex, and it's the softest offering as compared to the black or red ones. (i would get the upper one but my 06 has a different mount).

I plan on putting 1/2 of one of the inserts on the lower. Seeing how that goes for 500 miles. If it's bearable, then the other 1/2 of the inserts on the lower, so on so forth.

I've gotten this idea from another member here writing on another post, so i think that's the most conservative way to approach this install.

 

Right now, I only have the TSW upper engine mount. My oem one was leaking, so I decided to replace it with an aftermarket one, not wanting to have to replace it again. From my experience, I had ''pronounced'' vibrations at first, then it settled down. It's really not that bad now. I plan on getting the Powerflex gearbox bushings to try to solve a problem I have, so I'll see it it add any NVH at the same time. I live in Quebec, and even last autumn when it started to get colder, I didn't really had issue with the mount being ''stiffer''. My Mini is stored during winter, so I can't tell how it react to -20 degree celcius tho :p