Our 2005 Cooper S convertible (85K miles) failed state inspection on the suspension test where the front end is lifted and they use a long pry bar to push up from bottom of the tire. Mechanic demonstrated that front right had upward play. With enough pressure the wheel would sort of shift up as if it moved past a point of resistance. I assumed inner or outer ball joint but when I do the same test at home I see the strut compressing (see video) and I don't see anything happening with the BJs. Also, I can't make the other side compress with the same test. Struts are KONI FSDs from 2017 with low miles and not showing any signs of leaks. Inner and outer BJs and TRs are all original. Getting ready to take strut out to inspect. Input welcome.

 

Update: I can compress the strut pretty easily with the palm of my hand. Cant recall what it was like when new.

 

I'm not sure what the issue is here. With a pry bar under the wheel - and enough force - you should be able to compress the spring/strut slightly. This is the nature of how suspensions work. Is it more easily compressed on one side than the other?
In your second video, yes you should be able to compress the strut by hand. Albeit, it should have enough resistance to prevent you from compressing it quickly. Is there some small amount of dead travel where is compresses more easily?

 

The other side (drivers) is significantly harder to compress with pry bar under wheel. Need to take driver side out, disassemble, and confirm the difference when compressing by hand. I guess the issue is that I expected the "bad" strut (in the videos) to be easy to compress by hand once it was out of the car - and thus be more obviously bad. Also, I'm hesitating because they've got under 15K miles on them.