Just curious. Does anyone have a feel for the normal service life expectancy for the MINI Cooper S shocks? Normal suburban, highway driving, no track use. With 35,000 miles, the suspension feels OK so far.

 

Road conditions and how much stuff you lug around in the car are the main variables in how long the OEM shocks will last. I've got twice your mileage on my 02, and they're still doing the job. If you're mostly highway miles and are good at avoiding potholes, I would say you've got at least another 35k miles in them. By the way, do you have the sport suspension setup?

 

Nope, just the standard MCS setup. I looked up the price for new MINI shocks and am pleased to hear they last much longer than OE shocks used to.

 

A friend of mine has 70k on his '05 and it still feels good... I suspect our shocks would last about as long.

 

When the time comes, be sure to check the marketplace section here. Many enthusiasts upgrade their suspension setups and sell the original equipment for very reasonable prices.

 

They changed a bad left front strut on my car at 11,200 miles. It started making a noise around 7,000. I hope it was just a fluke...

 

Mine "lasted" a week before I pulled the junk and replaced it with competent aftermarket components. The stock shocks are made by Delphi and are (like virtually all OEM shocks) el cheapos, built to a price point. Bear in mind, just because your shocks are "working", or "not blown", that doesn't mean that they aren't worn and not doing their job properly.

Here's an interesting post over at Bimmerfest in the Z4 forum. The car in question is an M Coupe.

Jay from Ground Control once showed me a shock dyno chart and a graph of OEM Sachs with various miles on them. While it's not a perfectly controlled test it does show some disturbing numbers.

The OEM Sachs lose about 50% of their damper properties in rebound and compression by 30,000 miles. By 60,000 miles almost 85% of its ability to control the springs are gone. While your mileage, as they say, may vary, there are very few OE shocks out there working at near 100% of their original capacity at 85K miles.

What is happening, is that the shocks are losing their compression and rebound controls so slowly that you never notice the difference. I had to do the same at 50,000 miles for my E46 323Ci by swapping out my OE strut and shocks for replacement Bilsteins and the difference, as they say, is NIGHT AND DAY even though I didn't think there was anything wrong with the shocks (also take into consideration that it's a swap to Bilstein Sports).

Don't expect your shocks to perform any better than in this example, and in all likelihood, I strongly suspect they'll do worse.

 

That's why I was concerned with them just replacing one side (bad left front), I thought I'd feel one side really stiff and the other somewhat sloppy but I don't, it feels fine, maybe my miles are still too low (11,220).

 

IMHO 40,000 miles is about the max on a pair of factory shocks. After that replace with OEM or better after market shocks. If you get a lifetime warranty after market shock, it should be the last pair you have to buy.

 

I have 15K on the 2011 "S" and the top strut bearing and is associated rubber bushing seem to be coming apart and making a clunking noise.

I would not have heard the noise with the OEM "Sport Suspension" shocks since they made the car ride like a brick.

I put Koni FSD's on it and wow, does it ride soooo much better and handle better too. But, now I am able to hear the clunk. Took out the offending strut and looked to see if something was wrong with the shock or something else was loose. All looked good EXCEPT where the the ball bearing top strut bearing attaches (I think fused to) the rubber bushing that is also fused to the top plate. That junction where they fuse together is coming apart.

I doubt that MINI will warrant the parts or installation since I put FSD's in the Mini. Our 2 local dealerships are both owned by the same guy and they don't like a modded mini :-(

 

Smog... I live in the Seattle area. I bought my mini in Feb. Do you know, or recommend a local, reasonable shop, in Seattle. I went to Dynasport llc, in Portland. They do incredible work, and at a reasonable rate. Does Seattle have an equivalent, to Portland's Dynasport, and Madness motor work. BTW, I have to agree, My entire oem suspension, is about to go away.Just ditching the RF's made a hell of a difference.

 

Check out PSMINI.ORG for local recommendations. I know there are a couple of highly regarded mechanics in the area but as yet I have not needed them. Warranty has been happening through the end of this year.

I do suspect a warranty hassle with the installation of FSD shocks and failing top strut plates. With the OEM "Sport Suspension" the rattles noise created was so strong that I probably never heard the subtle clicking which during this past year. Now I have the ball bearing race separating from the plate which is not a good thing and I suspect MINI will claim I had something to do with it... I have the Shop Manual and know how to apply it and I did nothing wrong to cause those bearings to separate from the rubber on the plate. Stay tuned!

 

I have 117k on my stock shocks. This is with mostly highway driving on smooth roads. I have no issues, no leaks, and several dealers during my move from PA to Florida have said there is nothing wrong with them.

 

That's exactly what scares me. I'm at 48K miles. Tomorrow after I go to Detroit Tuned, I guess I will find out if I need my rear struts replaced. There is a lot of noise back there when driving on bumpy and badly uneven roads. If I need to replace them, I am definitely going the Koni Yellows/NM springs setup. I will post tomorrow but hopefully the struts can wait just another 10K miles.

 

SMOG:

Sorry to pester you on 2 threads!! I too have a clunk coming from my suspension, and when I brought mine in to have it checked, it was raining, so the sound was masked by the 'wet road' noise. They did put the car up on a hoist and have a look, but didn't find anything... I was watching the inspection - they have a big window looking into the bays - and did not notice him looking up at the top strut bearings. When I changed back to my summers (bad choice given the winter storm watch for tomorrow!), I also tried to wiggle and inspect everything I could see; those bearings didn't occure to me!

Is there anything I can see for myself if I put the front of car on jack stands - without extensive disassembly?

Thanks'
E

 

Not a problem!

Finding that top strut bearing was almost by accident. I had the car on a lift and wiggled, tugged, pulled on everything I could. I heard no clunks, saw no rub marks from loose parts shifting, it was all a mystery.

Then when we went to pull the , what I thought was an offending shock, out of the car the spring compressor took the load off the strut tower and revealed that the plate was loose on the shock, even though it was torqued in place!

When the car was on the lift, BEFORE we disassembled anything, my buddy turned the steering wheel lock to lock and I could hear a clunk. With my ear I got close to the noise and it was coming from the strut tower. I put my hands on the tower top and when the clunk noise happened it felt like a hammer was hitting the bottom of the strut tower. Very easy to feel.

Get the front 2 wheels off the ground and have someone sit in the car and turn the wheels lock to lock. Put your hands on the tower and see what happens.

Good luck!

Stephen

 

I'm pushing 80k miles on my '08 MCS and recently had the struts off the car to replace the springs (ended up putting stock springs back on....long story). Anyway, the fronts were in pretty good shape still....no leaks and were still tight. The rears were starting to loosen up (could push and pull the rod in/out significantly easier than the fronts).....so the rears are about done. Not surprising seeing as I pull a trailer rather frequently with this car. So lifespan of the stock shocks (mine are "sport").....I'm sure it all depends on how/where the car has been driven. I commute about 60 miles a day on the interstate mostly with several rather long roadrips a year. I don't autox or anything of that sort. Even with the rears starting to loosen up a bit the car still rides and handles o.k. (I'd probably eat those words if I replaced them all with new and felt the difference....but I'm not willing to foot the bill for new just yet).

Regarding Strut mount bearings.....when I had the front struts off, I found that the bearings were rather dry and crusty. When everything was disassembled, I flushed the bearings with solvent and repacked them with new grease and they are smooth as silk again. Even though there is a cap-washer covering the bottom and a plastic cover on the top under the bonnet, crap still migrates up into them. I've read where these go bad pretty frequently...no surprise. If you have the front end apart, it's worth taking the time to clean/repack them IMO. If they are clunking when the wheels are turned as mentioned above, it's probably too late and they need replaced.

 

Well, I had 60K miles on my Clubmand and noticed the crashing and clunking over bumps. I can feel the dampening in the rear shocks no longer doing its job. I took it to the dealer several times and they said no issues, no leaks and the car suppose to ride rough.

I replaced the shocks and struts with FSD and once the OEM came out we inspected the shocks and they were bad. The dampening properties were gone as I can actually push down on the rod with my hand and the rod would not come back up.

I'm curious to know how can you tell if the shocks leak as they are Gas shock. The label on my stock OEM show that they are gas shocks.

 

When you had it apart did you notice the top strut bearing and plate were one piece? A ball bearing bonded to a rubber bushing/thrust bearing and that bonded to the top plate? I am getting separation between the ball bearing race and that heavy rubber bushing that bonds everything to the top strut plate.

BTW, how do you like your FSD's? Mine work so well I am amazed that they are not offered by MINI as an option or even OEM!!

 

I still cannot believe that I have been riding on the old shocks for so long... The FSD made the car feels like driving my BMW with some real dampening and firm when you need actions.

I had mine installed at Felix and they checked everything out and all were in good shape.

 

I still cannot believe that I have been riding on the old shocks for so long... The FSD made the car feels like driving my BMW with some real dampening and firm when you need actions.

I had mine installed at Felix and they checked everything out and all were in good shape.

 

It is a night and day difference isn't it?!! I want to put them on my wife's MINI which is a standard Cooper with nothing special, except it is a clean car with some user friendly goodies on it.

 

Yes, the Cooper needs FSD's. The "S" has them.

 

Its worth it especially they are still on sale at WayMotorWorks...

 

I got mine from these folks. http://www.motoringwerks.com/p-3675-...sd-shocks.aspx

Way has them at the same price I believe.