I bought the Chassis Bones braces, but haven't had a chance to install them. I was going to pick up bolts from a Mini or BMW dealer when I got the chance or needed to order something else. The part number is here on realoem if you want to go this route. The bolt type is M10X18-10.9-ZNS. I think these are 10 x 1.5mm pitch.

 

Hey all! The F54 kit is meant to come with the needed hardware for that extra brace. I'm the support person at CS and if I said otherwise, totally an honest mistake, as the F56 kit does not come with that hardware!

Feel free to PM or email me any time

 

Got these installed. The forward brace uses M10s and the factory bolts can be reused.

For the rearward brace I bought 10.9 class M8x20 bolts in 1.25mm pitch. I used a flange head bolt that uses a 12mm socket. A socket larger than 12mm probably won’t fit, so check your bolts don’t use >12mm. Or get socket cap bolts (Allen) and washers.

I wanted to reinstall the factory metal gas tank shield so I ended up buying two 30mm bolts and coming up with two spacers.

*** Sorry, the website is messing up the orientation of the photos ***



I bought some aluminum tubing to use as spacers but ended up using a stack of 6x hardened washers instead.





All installed with the shield in place.




Everything done with Cosmoline on the bolt heads for some corrosion protection.




I did some very minor trimming of the heatshield for the rearward brace. Roughly a 25mm x 25mm piece on each side.

With the gas tank shield reinstalled, you do lose some ground clearance to the two bolt heads and the heat shield. I doubt the bolt heads will be an issue, but I’m guessing the gas tank shield could get bent at some point. I’ll take the risk though as it’s a cheap part. I believe it’s part 51717468799 at about $18.

 

Would be nice to see the option of buying just the rearward brace. The factory forward brace, on my car at least, is very strong stamped steel. I highly doubt the Cravenspeed or Chassis Bones aluminum piece is any stronger or stiffer.

I think certain 3rd Gen MINIs just have a very thin sheet metal “brace” at the forward position. Totally makes sense on those to get both.

 

My understanding is that they are as strong, but lighter. I got the chassis bones and am very happy with the difference they made.

 

I finally got a chance to weigh the braces.

The factory stamped steel brace is 2,060 grams and one Cravenspeed Aluminum brace is 1,690 grams.