Collars for the sway bars are I believe available from NM, though I am going to make my own out of 7075-T6 or 6018 T3, have some 1.75" diameter in both. So far with Powerflex sway bar bushings no side to side movement, but probably better to put collars on the bar anyway. Gee, got my Ceika coilovers today, unboxed and now doing some measurements to see range of adjustment (minimum drop is about 3/8" all the way up to 2 3/4" drop). They supplied sway bar links with the set though ball joint type ends like the Godspeed's 10x 1.25mm thread, though the tube is steel about the diameter of a AA battery, so probably 4130, will do a Rockwell test tomorrow and see what hardness they are, that will let meet int the ballpark if mild steel or what alloy they used. Funny thing though the design of the shock post moved the sway bar pickup point 3" downward, and the sway bar links are only 8.25" long with the links threaded in all the way in. If they are too long or not long enough, guess I will have to make up some new tubes, well got some 17-4 stainless about the right size laying around the shop, then might as well order some spherical rod ends in too. Stock length OEM sway bar links are 13" for the S, there is a table somewhere with the sway bar end links OEM lengths for all the Mini generations, in my favorites, will send that along with the rest of the photos hopefully by Wednesday. Since i have prep work before installing the Coil overs will get more photos tomorrow.. The coilovers came with Aluminum alloy top plates with built in radial bearing, no camber adjustment though, just their standard top plates. Photos of the Ceika stuff by wednesday too once i figure out all the measurements and set them up. Oh and still a breakdown of the standard suspension design (mine) with photos. Busy week.

 

Looked into collars through several sources, Whiteline has a 24mm set but oblong shaped about $30 on Ebay. Still looking to make my own, but took tape and wrapped the outside of the bar next to the bushing on the right side of the car to see if there is movement with the new rotating bar in the Powerflex bushings, so far about 100 miles and tape is still there, probably get movement in severe loading situations (ie high speed cornering). So will test out for movement on a piece of very curvy road I know that is super fun to drive. Will report back. Here are some photos of the Ceika coilovers preliminarily set up for install with the Compbrake top hats. Stock height of the stock strut with the strut mount is from bottom of shock to strut mount to body interface is 19 5/8", note this is without spring installed, which would make no difference. Set the coilovers for a 3/4" or 19mm drop from stock height. Running the 12mm spacers gives me about 3mm between the tire's widest point and the inside of the fender lip, so can't drop it probably much more than 25mm and still have room for suspension travel and not be worried about tire scraping under heavy bumps. Go conservative right now. Minimum drop I can do from stock height is about 10mm, as need at least 35mm of thread engagement into the lower mount according to the mfg.


Almost ready for Friday install. Rears will be set up on the car, basically to match ride height with the front


Left front


Going to rely on the spherical bearing in the top hat for misalignment and rotation, so it added a bit of height to the overall setup, but plenty of adjustment below the bottom of the spring if I have to add an axial rollerbearing between the top spring seat and the top of the spring (only5mm thick fo/r that bearing will take up to 9000lbs static load and 23000lbs dynamic loading. Springs are ground flat on both ends, fronts are 7.0" length (160mm) and rears are 150mm length.


12mmx1.25 shock nut.

 

Oh, last thing I found some black round sway bar collars for 24mm at http://performanceunlimited.com/cobr.../lockring.html $30 and not oblong like the Whiteline. If you go to Powerflex sway bar bushing and have movement these look the best. Always mount them on the inboard side of the mount/bushing not the outboard

 

The front mounts on those coilovers have an interesting design, camber AND caster adjustments…

 

O boy, had a month with no work after the all nighter putting in the coil overs suspension. Seems a disc slipped in my back and I had to be in traction for 14 days, then another 2 weeks rehabbing and now cleared for normal activities. It sucks getting old by the way! Car was sitting for a month, luckily my bro put a battery tender on it and when I took it out for a drive today, howling noises from the rear and front between 30-35mph, so off to get the tires re-balanced and rotated tomorrow, hoping it is not wheel hub bearings. So had time to contemplate during my flat on the back time and what one of the contributors to the thread said TVpostsound) something in a post that got me thinking about the original problem that started the thread, ie: failing strut mounts. As stock the Mini suspension both the front and the rear basically rubber mount bound up, with the movable components ie: lower control arms, sway bar, attached to the car with rubber mounts, not bushings. The moveable pieces don’t rotate in the rubber mounts, but cause the rubber to compress and stretch when the lower control arms/ sway bars try to rotate due to the suspension travel. Another thought popped into my head while thinking about this and what many UK Mini owners who have lowered their cars through either shorter springs or coil over suspension and report failing of the strut mounts and also failing of the rubber “bushings/mounts” usually after lowering their cars. Since putting in the coilovers I set them to have normal OEM ride height, which is 23.339” measured from the bottom of the wheel rim edge to the fender lip, with the tape measure aligned with the center of the wheel. The dimensions are in the NewTIS, 593 mm for F56 in “normal position”. Irregardless of my thoughts, to lower any Mini or probably any newer vehicle with rubber mounts and not bushings for the moveable suspension pieces mounted to the body of the car are increasing the likelihood those rubber mounts will see premature failure and/or strut mount bearing failure. I agree that the OEM design works as long as there are no “modifications” to the original design or misalignment of say a sway bar from factory design angle. So as a guide for those contemplating lowering your car say even a ½” from OEM ride height, you will have to do the following besides getting those fancy coilovers or shorter springs. !. Change at minimum all the rubber mounts on the front suspension pieces like the lower control arms and sway bar of the car to bushings like Powerflex to allow rotation. 2. Install adjustable sway bar end links on both the front and rear of the car. 3. Know what “normal position” of your car is from the newtis or your dealer as the car has to be aligned in normal position, which for the F56 is 68kg on each front seat, 16kg in the “trunk” and a full tank of gas sitting on a level floor. As to zero preload the sway bar then those new sway bar links have to be adjusted in “normal position and also your ride height if you install coil overs. Also as a side note the OEM front bushings on the lower control arms on the front end have to be tightened to setting torque and then tightened further angled 90 degrees, while the car is in “normal position” with OEM rubber mount in place. With bushing that allow rotation within them like Powerflex , you can tighten and torque it up while jacked up or on jack stands. My last comment, concerns bolts and nuts as in the technical service data, virtually every nut and bolt on any BMW/Mini is now one use only due to torque to a setting/clamping torque then an additional tightening turn to an angle from the setting torque, which on the Mini’s is usually 90 degrees additional turn tightening. Some say this stretches the bolt or takes the bolt to yield point of the fastener. There are three methods to torqueing fasteners, 1. torque to a certain torque value, 2. torque to a setting/clamping torque, then to an angle further tightening is added which is noted to properly tighten/torque the fastener for that particular joint, and 3. finally a torque to yield, which is a staged torque sequence to a final torque that stretches the bolt to almost yield point. Once stretched using the torque to yield method the bolt should not ever be reused as it is stretched. BMW/Mini and in the newtis and even the parts guys at the Mini or BMW dealers will tell you the bolts are torque to yield bolts and have to be replaced. Hmm, guess they want to sell you bolts huh? Probably a good idea to replace bolts, especially suspension bolts, but I leave it to your judgement if you want to. Enough for now will follow up with photos by end of July.

 

Oh, ask any Mini or BMW tech if they replace the bolts when they do a brake job. Oh and those torx drive flange bolts are impossible to get anywhere, what is wrong with a good old 10.9 grade hex bolt with with a grade 10.9 washer?

 

Even a 10.9 in a moving environment will need to be torque stretched.

I was taught at Volvo training 30 years ago using a conn rod or head bolt for example. The inertia of the piston and rod will stretch a cap bolt. During the stretch rebound
the bolt can come loose. Head bolts, well you know the piston compression.
Torque plus stretch takes the bolt to it stretch yield point. Thus the bolt will not stretch any further, the bolt will not loosen.

 

Hello,

Greetings from Costa Rica. I’ve a 2020 F55 Cooper S and I’ve been feeling a weird rubbing/clicking sensation when turning the steering wheel of the car when stationery or at parking speeds.

I took my car to the dealership and they told that the issue were the strut mounts and that they would have to order them from the US and they take between 15-22 days to get here. Apparently the car is safe to drive, is this true?

Will replacing the strut mounts fix my issue or will something else need to be replaced?

I would not like to cause further damage to the car or I don’t know if this issue could cause a mushroomed strut tower.

Btw, my car is only only one year old and has 14000km or 9000 miles approx and it’s still under warranty.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Strut mounts and lower control arm bushings top the list of noir suspension.

Mushroomed strut towers aren't a Gen 3 issue.

 

Thanks for the quick reply, my only remaining question is the car safe to drive, will driving it meanwhile the strut mounts get here damage it?

Thanks!

 

I want to say “safe” but I’ve been to Costa Rica and the roads can be pretty brutal. If you’re in an urban area with better roads it should be fine. Those mountain roads though… yikes.

 

Sorry to necro this thread but aside from top mounts is there any other fail design components in the F56 suspension? I'm trying to see what I need to potentially replace to fix a nagging creaking issue that comes off and on.

 

End links can fail early on the sway bars.

 

Front, rear or both?

 

Rear first, then fronts