I drove over some railroad tracks at about 45mph. It was dark, and I didn't see that the road was all chewed up around the tracks. It literally felt like I was driving over a curb on a median.

My first though was my rims would be damaged, but they seem fine. The problem I DO have now is that the car has way too much sway.

It's so bad that if I turn the wheel a quarter turn quickly (like trying to avoid a rock in the road) and then turn it back, the car doesn't respond to the turn back. It's leaning into into the first turn so much, that it takes more steering wheel input to get it back in the second turn.

It's a lot sloshier feeling left to right (laterally), but the ride still feels about as firm as usually when it comes to bumps in the road (vertically).

Any ideas what I should look at? It's a 2004 built in December 2003 by the way.

Thanks guys!

 

You've got something really busted up. Sounds like a shop call. I'm betting there will be broken or badly bent linkage. No telling without getting a close look.

 

If the car has more "body roll" I'd say you may have broken an end link, but as Brick said; if you hit it that hard chances are that there is more damage to be found. Find a quality shop to have it inspected and go from there.

 

definitely get it up in the air and look around!!!

 

Took it to the dealer since I had coupon for $40 oil change and $70 alignment. Service manager called and said they couldn't find anything wrong with it after driving it. They haven't done the alignment yet, so it sounds like they didn't get it up in the air.

They gave me an F55 as a loaner. I was tempted to tell him that his mechanics were thinking it should have the same body roll as the F55 (which it does now). I figured it was better to stay on his good side, so I just asked him to let them push it a little harder and they will see that it gets a little squirrely because of all the body roll.

I had a great independent tech here, but he moved away a few months ago. Unfortunately there are no decent MINI shops beside the dealer within 2 hours of Clearwater, FL.

I'm wondering if they will find anything broken or if I just wore something out...would an extreme compression cause the spring to become too soft? I'd think the car would be sitting lower (which it's not).

I love the handling of the R53 more than any car I've ever driven, and I just want to get this thing dialed back to where it was!

Any ideas? I know it's hard to be an internet mechanic, but any ideas are appreciated!

 

How many miles on it? have you ever replaced the shocks? If they can't find an endlink that's broken, I think it's possible that you blew out a shock, it's not the first thing I would think of, but if they were on the verge of going, this might the the thing that pushed them over the edge.

 

74k miles. The shocks are original. So JCW shocks or Koni FSD? I might as well start upgrading if they can't find something that's obviously broken. Eventually I'll replace whatever I screwed up. Probably want to source the shocks myself since the dealer isn't the cheapest....

 

If you are NOT 100% certain that:
1. they put the car on the lift
2. a competent mechanic inspected all suspension links
3. there is NO damage to either front or rear rollbars, end links, mounting points

... then I would ask said dealer to humor you, and allow you to get a quick tour of the underside from said mechanic.

The parts most in harms way - particularly if the RR junction was not at 90 degrees to the direction of the road - are the end links as previously stated.

Your descriptions concern me, and I would treat the issue very seriously for safety reasons.

Charlie

 

That makes sense. Thanks.

 

last time I did something like this I ended up with over $2000 in suspension repairs.

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Unfortunately there are no decent MINI shops beside the dealer within 2 hours of Clearwater, FL.

UMMMM are you on Sunshine MINI's????

http://www.maitlandimports.com/ is in Orlando and has a very good reputation in local MINI world .... last time I checked Orlando was less than 2 hours away

but on the other hand, if your car has the damage I suspect .... I'd TOW it to a shop!!!!

steering knuckle could be damaged ... or control arm ....

both are on my 'replaced parts list'

 

Thanks for the advice. Sway bars, links, and mounts are ok. It seems like it's related to the struts at this point.

I'm torn between FSDs and Bilstein B4. Not interested in lowering my DD and ride comfort is secondary. I could get a rear sway bar and a set of Bilstein B4s for the price of just the FSDs.