I had not opened the hatch of my 2003 mini cooper for a few months as it has been too cold and it was just faster to throw everything on my passenger seat. The hydraulics worked fine up until then. The other day I opened the hatch and it would not stay up.


Do I need to purchase anything more than a pair of hatch liftgate struts?




Thank you so much for the help.

 

Lift gate struts...
Be about a 5 minute job to swap out...lots of brands around...very simple for most any owner IMO...
It would not hurt to lube the hinges at the top of the hatch...

 

Should just be the pair of struts...

Gas pressurized spring, trunk lid. 310N Part Number: 41626801258 should be about $45.00 each...

ECS has them a little less expensive....

http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/41626801258/

Motor on!

 

Thank you ZippyNH and JABowders for your speedy replies. I found this on Amazon and thought it was pretty cheap, so I figured I might need something more than this. Does this include everything?

 

Just bought these a few weeks ago, had the same problem--cold weather = not staying up. Not sure what the difference between the one you listed and these are?

 

you might want to check your local auto part stores

this is a common part .... nothing special about the MINI version .... you just need to get the right size and the folks in the store can help with that . . . they may even help you put them on for free . . . no more complicated than a light bulb

 

I also bought the Strongarm 4360 from Amazon. Great so far, been on for 9 months.

 

Normal failure of the rear hatch struts

http://www.waymotorworks.com/rear-ha...t-r50-r53.html

Be careful ordering the cheapo ones. We just had a customer that ordered cheaper ones from 4 different companies, and we even ordered a cheaper set from one of our distributors and they were all too long to fit. Huge waste of time.

 

Should be fine....I do get nervous when parts a listed to fit BOTH gen1 and gen2 cars....frankly Amazon's "will it fit feature" is pretty useless.....
Forget the brand I got, but most folks are fine with generic ones...
Some have multistage valving to keep them working in very cold weather....
This can make the speed change as it goes up...most don't care, but some ocd ish folks would be better off with OEM for more $$.
Install was very easy...just needed a flat blade screwdriver if I recall to pop the old one off the ball...added a dab of grease on mine, and snapped the new one on. Very simple and easy IMO. Heck, the neighbor might help if you have any issues....first time it seems odd, but like doing a set of wiper blades, once you have done them once, it us easy.

 

Think those are the one I got a couple years ago...still fine, no issues.