Hey everyone I just received an M7 strut bar (thanks blue2turbo!) for my 04 R53. I tried installing it but the plates are definitely a tight fit... i can get 2 holes in but then the third barely has any thread through it. I figure some flexing is required but definitely not this much. They look normal to me but then again I've never seen any other strut towers before.

These were just replaced ~10k miles ago but I do drive in nyc somewhat often. Can they mushroom this quickly?

Thanks

 

The 3 bolts that stick up from the strut towers should be parallel, pointing straight up. If they're mushrooming, they will diverge away from each other.

 

hmmm maybe the dealer never even fixed them then.... its been literally 3 months/10k miles and I don't remember hitting any major pot holes.

 

Maybe take a photo to show us.
If you search mushrooming on the forum you should find some photos.
When mushroomed the top of the strut tower domes up (like a mushroom) instead of being flat arcoss.

 

Here are some pics... hope they are helpful

 

Very mushroomed.
When I upgrading the suspension I pounded my towers down flat with a 2x4 and sledge hammer.
You stated that they were replaced 10K ago but the towers cannot really be replaced. Maybe the top sturt bushing (rubber) was replaced and the mushroomed towers were not corrected.
If you still have a warranty

 

Definately Mushroomed. I've seen a lot worse, and this looks fixable to me. Quikmni is correct, the towers can't be replaced easily. With enough money, I guess anything is possible.
I've heard of people using a 2x4 and a sledge hammer or mallet to pound the towers back down. Personally I'd want a little help with that since I'm a little weary of pounding on my MINI. I assume the bar came with a couple of tower defenders. If not you need to invest in some! This shouldn't be a big deal to fix. Good Luck, and post some pics after you get everything installed!

 

I'd have to jack the car up to bang down the towers according to the M7 instructions. This can't be done with the basic jack in the car right I need to buy stands?

And yes the bar came with defenders... thats pretty much why I bought it. Don't really care about the bar itself as I've heard the effects are negligible.

 

I had my car on jack stands and the strut out when I pounded down the strut tower with wood block and hammer.
I have read that some people use the defender plates to flatten the towers back down by tightening the tower sheet metal between two plates (top and underneath) but I suspect they had to make a plate to fit underneath the sheetmetal (maybe you can tighten the plate against the strut and also use a little mallet force).

 

ya man, def get stands. never work with Just the jack... always use any jack with stands if your working on the car. i usually use 2 jacks and 1 or 2 stands if i can. guess im a little paranoid, but can you be too safe?!

 

ya man, def get stands. never work with Just the jack... always use any jack with stands if your working on the car. i usually use 2 jacks and 1 or 2 stands if i can. guess im a little paranoid, but can you be too safe?!

 

Of course... stands are only like 25 bucks anyway. Much cheaper than the car falling on me.

I don't think I have the tools or expertise to actually take the struts out, would I still be able put the towers back flat enough to get the defenders on?

 

do you even have to take off the struts? even if you do, i thought it was just those 3 bolts. and ya, a bigass hammer and some wood and sweat and blood and cursing then prolly a beer, and you should be gtg!

 

I've been reading up on a number of little improvements for the Mini and came across this thread. I picked up my 2004 Mini Cooper S in October and have been slowly catching up on maintenance and improvements. Luckily, my strut towers are in great shape, so I'll be picking up some Strut Tower Defenders as a bit of prevention.

The $150.00 seems like cheap insurance, especially living in Maine with our frost heaves and potholes.

 

Thats mushroomed. your lucky its not as bad as mine, mine are mushroomed to the point that theyre cracked. does anyone know if the entire tower can be replaced? im not too sure. i have a thread with pics on mine titled "was my mini in an accident"... i basically learned what strut tower mushrooming was from that thread.

 

First definitely use jackstands...pounding on the car while on a jack will result it shifting weight and falling off the jack. Second, if you believe the site below pounding on the car is a bad idea...I tend to agree that metal fatigue isnt the easiest thing to manage.

Just buy these plates tighten down the nuts...bringing the tower flat, then remove nuts and put the m7 bar on...

Good luck.

http://www.madnessmotorworks.com/mad...nt-plates.aspx

 

can this be done while the car is on the ground? my strut mounts are also garbage so i dont care about them. i dont want to damage the strut itself though.

im about to remove my strut brace and ill post up a couple pics and see what you guys think. its hard for me to tell if they are mushroomed or not, but my strut brace doesnt sit flush, which leads me to believe they are.

 

both towers with brace.

 

 

this might help...

 

thanks kims, but ive already watched that a few times. it is a good visual of what to look for, but it doesnt actually show you how to fix anything. in fact, there isnt really anywhere that does.

everyone just says "oh, hit it with a 2x4 and a hammer, its be FIIINE". well, i just did that, and it's definitely not fine. i hope everyone that encounters this problem reads this, and does it the right way, by placing top and bottom side plates and sandwiching it til it forms PROPERLY.

i appreciate the effort though. thank you for the reply.

 

do camber plates typically fix mushrooming? like to flatten the towers out?

or would i need to buy the madness under tower plates first, and then get rid of them for camber plates?

my problem is, the oem strut mounts are garbage, so i dont want them on the car. the alternative is camber plates which have stronger bearings.

currently, my towers are slightly mushroomed and my strut mounts are shot. if i get just the madness plates, im still going to need new strut mounts before i can safely drive on the road. the price for these totals $320.

that can buy some adj camber plates, or come close to the cost of a really goos set of adj camber plates.

which is why i need to know if adj camber plates will fix mushrooming rather than just prevent it once its taken care of. id like to avoid spending $320 just to replace the parts with adj plates 6 months down the road.