Four holes, four large bolts; there's only one way to put them in.

 

I'm mid install right now and realize the only torque specs I don't have are those for the stock shock assembly upper 2 and lower 1. Can someone help me out this time? I have the Bentley manual on order but didn't wait for it to tackle this install. I know better now.

This is on a 2010 R56 JCW with OEM sport (non-jcw) suspension.
Thanks to anyone who can help me out with these torque specs.

 

Bentley manual has the following for the rear struts

Rear strut upper mount to body: 41 ft-lb (56 Nm)
Rear strut lower mount to trailing arm: 122 ft-lb (165 Nm)

 

Thanks x1000!!

 

Not a problem... I too have the OEM Sport Suspension on my 2010 MCS and have always wondered if an aftermarket RSB would really improve things much (not knowing how big my existing RSB is)... I'd be interested in hearing how you make out & what you think of the new RSB.

 

The stock sport sway is 18mm. I went to the hsport comp bar at 25mm hallow (which is equal to a 22mm solid).
Ill keep you posted on how it feels after a test drive and the first autox event. I'm looking forward to positive results. Thanks again for the quick reply on those specs.

 

Dumb question time: regarding settings on the hsport, the hole closest to the rear of car/furthest away from the bushing is the softest setting and the hole closest to the bushing is the stiffest setting correct?
I'm pretty sure that's correct but read something online that contradicted this and wanted to make sure. I have it set in the middle right now.

 

You are correct according to the directions I received with my Alta bar. The softest setting is the one closest to the rear of the car (furthest from the bushing).

 

Thanks for the excellent instructions!

For anyone doing this for the first time, I learned that yes, it really is a LOT easier to remove both shocks. The extra work of working around the one you leave in is a pain, and the time more than offsets the relatively quick task of removing and replacing the shock.

I installed a TSW sway bar on on my Clubman, following these directions. Took just a bit over two hours. No seized bolts despite 55k on the car, unlike any other car I've ever worked on. Thank you obsessive German engineers!

 

Thank you all for the info and encouragement to tackle this in my garage.

Went really smoothly, took about 4 hours taking my time and enjoying the process.

Dropping the rear sub frame had me nervous reading the directions, but it was cake once I got into the project. The front 16mm bolts got thru the sub frame and it self aligns. It is also "triangulated" by the front A arms. Used a small pry bar with my floor jack under the metal trailing arm mount by the muffler.

Everything lined up nicely once I got the front 16mm bolts about 1/2 way threaded.

Only took out a shock on one side, there was plenty of room to maneuver the bar out and back in.

I went with the Eibach 5705.312 20mm bar. Set it on the front holes.
This was the best use of Chase points for gift cards ever.

Test drive was perfect, just the right amount of eager turn in without feeling twitchy.
Seems to complement the NM RS Alpha springs nicely.

Can't wait to play in a empty parking lot and see if the inside rear is lifting.

Since I pulled the rear wheels I did a tire rotation and subdued the rear markers to match the fronts I had done when I took the bumper off a few weeks ago.

Super pleased with the resulting handling improvement. Now I know why everyone says the RSB is the first think to do.

~rAte

 

Bought a 19mm H-Sport rear bar and have an installation question.

I got 4 new subframe bolts in case the old ones get boogered up, but it seems they
have changed the heads (parts 33306770527 and 33306770528).
Instead of a hex head, they now have a torx head, bigger than an E12, which corresponds
to a T55, but smaller than the next size up listed on wiki, E16 = T60 size.
Do they make an E14 (do they make a T57?) and is it this, or is it some weird *** special tool size?

Anybody know for sure what size head the revised rear subframe bolts are before
I drop $20 on another quality 1/2 inch drive external torx socket that may or may not be
the right size? Neither ECS (where I got the part) nor their MINI specialist
contact knew.

Gone are the days when you could take the bolt to Lowes, Sears, or a hardware store and find
things like metric E-torx sockets for a direct comparison and fit check.

 

Your current subframe bolts shouldn't get damaged in the process, but if they do, those revised #'s are an E14, and they do offer an E14 socket. I have one in my Snap-On set, matter of fact that's the largest socket of the set I've ever used.

Torque on the bolts is 75 Ft Lbs, make sure they're started before you try to run them in, as the holes you're threading into are a self tapping hole and you can easily fubar the holes quicker than the bolts.

 

Thanks!

 

I learned that you don't need to remove all of the bolts on the subframe. For example, if you are planning on pulling the bar out the right side, then remove the bolts fully on the right, but you can leave the bolts threaded a few turns on the left side. This will maintain the alignment of the subframe, making the re-install easier.

Also, if you are pulling the bar out the right side, you don't need to remove the right shock. The less that you can mess with the lower shock bolts, the better. They are self tapping into cast aluminum.

Have fun,
Mike

 

I didn't remove either strut when I did this, I didn't realize you were supposed to Took me half an hour to swap sway bars.

 

I'm also replacing my shocks/struts (OEM --> Koni Sport), so I'll be pulling both rear
shocks anyway, and I have a 2003 R50, which has the older steel trailing arm,
but I'll be careful anyway with the lower bolt (in fact, with all the bolts - would
hate to snap or misthread an upper shock mount one.
Thanks for the advice on not fully removing all 4 subframe bolts.

 

It is nice to know that you don't need to remove the struts to do this. I am having a shop install a 25mm bar and don't want them to remove them because of problems with the lower strut bolt.

The less that you take that lower strut bolt out the better. If you do make sure that you hand thread it all the way in. Don't use any tools to do this until you absolutely need to.

These bolts are self tapping and they can easily strip out of the aluminum trailing arm. If the threads are damaged and don't hold their torque, they will loosen and eventually break. This can happen on the highway or track and leave you scraping bottom, as happened to a personal friend of mine. Also, there is some thought that the 120+ ft-lb torque on these is way too high as it is probably the initial assembly torque when the bolt is cutting new threads not when doing a reassembly. There are several thread on NAM about this problem. I bring it up just so you are aware.

 

Did you have to remove a bolt in the middle of the car at all?

 

Only the Cabrios have the extra bolt in the middle.

 

Question. Did you remove the gas tank bolts attached to the subframe? And it looks to me that the muffler is in the way. Did you remove/loosen that? Also you didn't completely detach the subframe did you?

The word on the street is to be conservative on attaching the link to the shock the inner setting may result in the inside wheel being lifted off the ground on a hard turn..

 

The sway bar shifts weight diagonally across the car. A stiffer rear bar will shift weight from outside front wheel to the inside rear wheel. This is done by lifting up on that inside rear wheel and yes it can lift that wheel off the ground. The effect on handling is to increase traction in the front and decrease traction in the rear, hence the reduction in understeer and better turn-in. The downside is that this is a dynamic effect that can be changed while cornering by adding or removing throttle. With a really stiff RSB and cornering at high g-loads removing throttle suddenly can lead to snap oversteer and the car may swap end. So generally it is suggested to start out with the rear bar on its softest setting so you can learn how the car handles.

 

Just to update. I ended up removing the muffler and heat shields to access the sub frame dead center. Then I lowered the frame only removing the two bolts on the left. I also loosened all the gas tank bolts so the tanks were loose. Finally I was able to make enough space on the left side to extract the sway bar out of the right side. Refitting the new 22mm bar took a little more loosening up. Car is still on jacks due to one of the Koni shocks LR. Must have been made just before beer time on a Friday. Lower strut mount was installed backwards. Koni agreed to fedex me a replacement shock. Go figure.

 

One more thing. I am using the middle setting on the bar. Alta claims its 200%+ stiffer than stock. FYI

 

Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in here.

I did the install essentially as above but didn't want to mess with the shocks. I was able to remove the stock bar with shocks in place but there's no way to get the new in without moving moving one of the shocks.

BUT, you can simply remove the top two bolts of the shock, leaving the one in the trailing arm in place and pivot the shock towards the back of the car. This should give you enough room to get the new bar around the shock and to the end link. After that I used my jack underneath the bottom of the shock to raise it back and bolt back in place.

FWIW I installed the H-Sport 25.5 comp bar on the middle setting and it's a beast. More eager turn in and less body roll without being twitchy. Read end is so stiff now that I three wheel in/out of my driveway

 

Help, after removing my shocks I have ALL my subframe bolts OUT and cant get the bar past the middle brace! I tried prying the heck out of it but it seems to be hitting the exhaust. I cant seem to separate it low enough to wiggle it out.