The SE is 18mm taller than the S model.
https://insideevs.com/reviews/433886...review-europe/

According to Car and Driver, it is achieved with the Clubman springs.
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews...ototype-drive/

My springs have a "K5" sticker on it which I'm guessing means it is for a Clubman. The F56 models have a sticker that has "F5X" on it so I know the springs are different. This makes sense too because the Clubman weighs about the same as the SE in FWD trim.

So, I'm guessing we can use lowering springs designed for the Clubman in the SE.

I've found AST Suspension and Eibach are available:
https://www.ecstuning.com/Mini-2017-...nsion/Springs/

AST claims a 1.18" drop and we are starting out at .71" taller than an S, it would only be a drop of .47" compared to a Cooper S. That seems reasonable to me.

Of course, there are coilovers that are compatible with both the Clubman and the Cooper S but I think the drop will be more than .47" and cost more money. A little lower would be nice but you still have to consider protecting the batteries.

What do you guys think?

 

When I read that a while ago, I asked my MINI dealer's parts guy if the springs for the MINI Cooper SE shared part numbers with springs for the Clubman or any other MINI Cooper. After checking he told me no, the part numbers for the MINI Cooper SE's springs are unique.

Of course, MINI could use two different part numbers for the same spring, but that seems like it would cause unnecessary parts stocking complications. I didn't think to ask if the price of the SE's springs and the Clubman's springs are different until just now and my local dealership, MINI of Ann Arbor, went out of business August 24th.

 

Would you also swap out your SE's wider black wheel-arch trim for regular, non-electric F56 wheel-arch trim?

 

I would probably just leave the stock wheel arches. The gap between the tire and the arch is pretty big right now so it should be ok with a 1" drop.

 

Those SE wheel arches will make your lowered SE look even lower.

I'm spending my customization bucks on a cosmetic, rather than a performance-oriented mod. My week-old SE is in the body shop getting a scoopless base MINI Cooper hood installed. Electric MINI Coopers don't need hood scoops.

 

I wonder if lowering would affect the 8 year battery warranty?

 

Before submitting your MINI Cooper SE for a warranty battery replacement after tearing out your battery on a random pebble, you would, of course, re-install the original springs.

 

Good point. I'll probably just leave it because of the warranty issue.

 

Only if they can prove lowering the car affected the battery.

 

The only thing I can think of that lowering would affect the battery would be a fire caused by running over something. Highly unlikely but still, not something I want to do just yet since I don't even have 500 miles on it yet.

 

Eibach seems to be selling some lowering springs for the s e

https://www.eibach-sportline.com/eib....php?pid=79803

 

Thanks Isaac! I reached out to Eibach because they aren't listed on the US site yet.

 

Hey guys... I’m a BMW/MINI Genius at West German BMW. I’m also a 2019 MINI Countryman SE ALL4 PHEV and 2021 MINI Cooper SE BEV owner. First off the one thing I’d like to stress is they raised the car based on weight but also on keeping clearance for the battery pack underneath the car... main difference being if you end up bumping your petrol MINI’s bottom you’ll end up with a dent in your exhaust... do that in an SE and you get damage to battery pack, leaking of water and general weather into the battery pack area increasing corrosion and potential failure. Not saying that WILL happen, just that that’s the reason MINI/BMW did what they did. What you CAN do without any potential downsides are sway bars!

 

The Mini Cooper S has a ground clearance of 5.63" inches and the SE is over an inch higher. There is a slight rake to the suspension with the front lower than the rear. The Tesla Model 3 also has the battery pack on the bottom of the car and the ground clearance is 5.5". So lowering my SE 1" will still provide higher ground clearance than a stock Model 3. I think a slight drop is perfectly safe.

The Eibach product listing helps a ton. I found out that Mini uses the F56 springs in the front of the SE but the Clubman springs in the back. The Car and Driver review also mentions the Clubman springs and this confirms it but only on the rear. This is exactly what the Eibach set uses too.
Details found here: https://e-katalog.intercars.com.pl/d...32233141514102

So digging into this PDF, you'll see the part numbers for the front and rear springs. In Germany, you can buy Eibach front springs only rather than an entire kit.
Eibach
Kit: E10-57-004-08-22; F/R: 1.18" & .79" (30mm & 20mm)
Front: 11-57-004-04-FA: untensioned length: 220, linear ( F56 springs)
Rear: 11-57-005-01-RA: untensioned length: 245, progressive (F54 springs)

And for comparison, the F54 and F56 kits in the US.
Eibach F54 springs: E10-57-005-02-22; F/R: 1.2" & 1.0":
Eibach F56 springs: E10-57-004-01-22; F/R: 1.2" & 1.2":

So those same F54 springs on an F54 drops the car 1" in the rear but on the SE, it drops it .79". Just 0.2" of a difference.

I contacted Eibach USA and they don't have the SE kit and are not planning on selling it. So one solution is to buy F54 and F56 kits to put it together yourself.
Results: Eibach F54 rear springs 25mm on F54 but 20mm on SE. (.2" higher on SE)
$582 from ECS.

H&R
I contacted them too and they don't have a kit for the SE. They also won't sell just the front or just the rear springs because these are made in Germany and shipped as a set to the USA.

F54 28790-1; $225.95; 1.2" front & 1.2" rear
F56 28813-1; $237.95; 1.1" front & 1.2" rear

Results on SE: 1.18" front; .79" rear
$463.90 from ECS.

AST
AST F54 springs: ASTLS-17-074; F/R: 1.18" & 1.18"
AST F56 springs: ASTLS-17-070; F/R: 1.18" & .98"

Results on SE: 1.18" front; .78" rear (same as Eibach)
$517 from ECS.

KW and ST
KW and ST now list specific coilovers for the SE and ECS updated their site to reflect this. They also show some others but they are NOT designed specifically for the SE.

https://www.ecstuning.com/Mini-2020-...ion/Coilovers/

I ordered a set of ST coilovers from ECS but it will be March before I can get them. If for some reason they can't get it in the US, I will probably buy the H&R combo.

BC Racing
They sell coilovers for both the F54 and F56 but the minimum drop is 2". That concerns me because it lowers it a bit too far. But, I'm sure you could contact them and get them to build you a set with the higher spring rate from the F54 rear and matched to the F56 front.

 

Have you considered the JCW Pro Suspension? MINI lists it as being compatible with the SE and it would eliminate any warranty concerns. It's made by KW.

This was my plan if I went through with my SE reservation.

 

I don't think you are correct. The JCW Pro Suspension is not compatible with the SE and this is most likely because of the added weight in the rear.

 

I haven't attempted it, of course, however the shopmini official site says it's compatible with the 2021 Cooper SE. I also asked ECS about it, and they checked with MINI and confirmed that it would work.

My concern was the method used to "lift" the Cooper SE vs the Cooper S. If it's all in the springs, then the JCW Pro Suspension may actually lower it not just ~1" from stock SE height, but ~1" from stock Cooper S height, perhaps more due to weight.

 

I was also concerned about how Mini raised the car up but I suspected they did it just like Subaru does for the Outback versions of their cars. They put in spacers in the subframes. I did the research and found that it looks as though Mini is doing this too.

2020 Cooper S vs 2020 SE
--Parts that are the same
Front wishbone: 31126879841
Front wishbone bracket: 31126882843
Front carrier
Front guide support (strut bearing) (same as SE according to ECS)
Front spring pad lower: 31336860789
Rear trailing arm: 33326851575
Rear lower wishbone: 33326851569
Rear upper wishbone: 33326884693
Rear shock guide support (top of strut): 33506791706
Rear shock tube cover with bump stop: 33536852452
Rear upper spring pad: 33536869316
Rear lower spring pad: 33536852467

--Parts that are different
Front bump stop: 31336859766 (Different from SE)
Front subframe is different but expected
Rear axle carrier (subframe): 33306851559 but expected
Front and rear struts are different
Rear trailing arm bracket: 33326851581 (Different from SE but this might be because the rear subframe is different)
Front sway bar: 31301543147 (SE only) (this makes sense because the electric motor is different)
Rear sway bar: 33506853917 (SE and convertible) (I'm guessing the convertible has a thicker bar than the hard top?)

Other Springs
I had also considered using the H&R F57 springs. The convertible weighs a little more than the hard top and the drop is supposed to be 20mm instead of 30mm. I also read reviews stating the rear springs sit higher with the F57 H&R springs.

Craven is also another consideration. The front springs are linear just like Eibach with the same drop. The rear springs sit higher on the JCW models so maybe these have a little higher spring rate than Eibach and H&R? I'm not sure. Oh, I also found out that Craven are actually Vogtland springs.

 

I've seen a couple Cooper SEs with lowering springs / coilovers on FB/Instagram. Perhaps they can confirm the level of drop to figure out if it's just in the springs or if there's a hardware/subframe differences that add the SE's height.

If it's just in the springs, then the JCW Pro suspension may be too low. If not, it should work. Yeah, it's on the heavy side, but not that much heavier than a loaded up, automatic F57 or something.

 

FB is evil.

 

Can't disagree there. For more important reasons, but also because it basically killed car enthusiast forums like this one, which is better than most, but a wasteland compared to the ~2009 timeframe when we got our first MINI.

 

Nothing to add here except to compliment you on that awesome GIF you made, and it's so true the design looks better without the letterbox slot on the bonnet.

It might be an "iconic" touchstone in MINIdesign language, but I find it rather silly that they have persisted on keeping it as a signifier of performance models even though there hasn't been a top mounted intercooler for over a decade back with the Mk. 1 supercharged models --- that exercise in and of itself displays the trait that MINI trends toward fashion-over-function in many cases which saddens me because I value effective engineering above all else.

Also to add to the chorus,
yes Facebook sux hard and it's a shame that so many people have migrated there to have their datasouls harvested --- the FB business model is horrific, self-centric, and parasitic.

 

I am ordering the Eibachs from TunerShop.

They are an authorized Dealer, verified with Eibach today.

If you leave the site in GERMAN, it is cheaper (dont ask me why)

I am NOT concerned about the drop. TUV approval would not have been granted if it was not ok.

 

My MINI SE 2021 is keeping left. Since changing Eibach spring kit for SE I have taken the car to the re calibrate from experienced technicians but unable to fix this problem. I therefore suspected that Is it because this car can't make it shorter? Is there anyone experienced this please advise.

 

I totally agree with Tifosi.

One thing to add DO NOT buy Eibach or H&R from the US distributors.
They do not differentiate models. They will sell you the F56 spring number models.
One must navigate the German Eibach and H&R web catalogs for the correct number.

I went around with another member that installed H&R springs purchased in the US on their F55 and it sat too low.
They were F56 springs, but the German catalog specifies a different spring for F55.

Ordering from Tuner Shop is very safe.
I bought H&R springs and sway bars from them.
Pre pandemic, the parts arrived in 2 days directly from Germany.

Unfortunately, you do need to order from the US Tuner shop website.
The German site, even in English will reject the order.