That's what the part manager at my local mini dealership told me yesterday. I was in to get a few replacement parts on my 05' MCS. Right now it has it's stock springs. I was thinking of replacing them with Eibach's and dropping the car an inch in the front and 1.2 inches in back. That's the drop with one of the kits on the market. So I was talking with him about it. He was less than excited about my idea.

So, I just want to ask some of the veterans on the forum if this is just "dealership" talk or is there some truth to what this man told me. I don't plan on using the car for any type of track driving. Just for normal driving, with a bit of style. I know that some of you have done just what I'm thinking about, and my warrenty is just about up (not an issue for me).

He's also the parts manager that after spending $300.00 on parts, charged me for two screws for my black molding... Reminds me of the Harley shop I bought my Road King from. They would darn near charge you for using the bathroom.

Any feedback will be most helpful.

 

As long as it's done properly and the alignment is checked (and corrected if needed) afterward, you'll have no issues. The only issue that may arise is the life of the factory struts if you reuse them. It's not a monster drop so steering angle and axle drive angles shouldn't be any problem.

 

There is/was some debate on the matter, but dropping too much just springs CAN create some of these problems (I stress the "can"):

-Excessive use of bumpstops (due to reduced suspension travel)
-excessive rear camber (this will happen actually)
-worse over all handling
-poorer ride quality.

If you want lowering springs you should look at the TSW's, they drop just under an inch and have a linear rate which should help prevent over use of bumpstops. Otherwise Megan Racing make a pretty inexpensive coilover set.


PS: I am no expert on this, some of this is going to be called wrong for sure.

 

I don't see why your going to have problems, as long as you do it right and get some rear lower control arms to correct the camber.

 

If your 05 was built in or after Jan 05 you may not need after market rear control arms to set the rear camber. Might also think about the TSW Springs.

 

Did he give you any reasoning?

There's no problem lowering the car 1.2".....i say go for it.

 

It all depends on how it's done. Lowering springs are cheap and aren't all that great for the struts if dropped a lot.

With Eibachs--consider the ride that will result from that drop as well. It may not be to your liking.

I had Megan coilover for a few months and the ride became unbearable over the rough roads on my commute. Cross Coilovers solved that problem at a cost--however the ride is unbelievable. And judging by how I drove at my last autocross, the car performed wonderfully.

17" rims with 215/45 tires.


When you go really low, your suspension geometry goes out of whack. Adjustable or fixed camber plates can help correct things to prevent excessive wear on your tires.

I've got adjustable control arms, end links, adjustable camber plates thanks to the Cross coilovers, everything is in alignment, and the traction is unbelievable. Before those mods, my tires used to wear very quickly.

 

No...the manager did not give any qualifing reasons. I had thought I'd studied the issue pretty well. A drop of 1-1.2 inches will increase handling (just a bit, I stress "a bit") and make the car look more aggressive.

I'll have to check the build date on the car, in regards to adjusting the camber. I planned on getting a front end alignment right after I finished the upgrade install.

I'm just wondering if he's pulling the company line and being snarky? In any case I take a bit of pause when a parts manager at a mini dealership makes a statement like that. Maybe he was just having a bad day, or does not like modding the car. Hummmmm

 

What a sharp car!!! Can you tell me how far you've dropper her? Again, I just want a bit of an aggressive stance. This mini is now my business car, just want it to be sharp. If I need to go the "crosscoil" route, I think I'll just wait and do a lot more research.

If you compare the stock ride on regular roads (to and from work) at normal highway speeds to 75 mph or so, is there a more harsh feel to the suspension and ride? Again this is just going to be a commuter/family/sunday-starbucks driver.

Thanks for your time guys...

 

if your mini has the factory adjustable bolt for rear camber, it may not be enough (less than a half degree of correction if I recall) to bring back the rear camber back to spec. Better to have adjustable lower arms (or all four) anyway. As for the parts manager, he's probably relaying his hearsay. So my hearsay is lower springs can kill the OEM struts if the drop is too extreme. Best to use lowering springs in conjuction with a performance strut like the Koni Yellows or Bilstein SPs. Promini.com has a H&R and Bilstein setup. So does Turnermotorsports. Plus camber adjustment bits. Or, if the budget allows, coilovers that have been tuned and tested with the Mini by vendors - JIC/Cross, AST, BC, etc.

 

lower it man , i love my lowered mini

i have since put different rims, and removed the stripes but here ya go

 

+1 on the TSW springs. If youre gonna get new springs, do yourself a favor and get linear springs. not crappy, unpredictable progressive springs like the ones in most of the lowering kits out there.

 

Definitely replace the O.E. struts/shocks with performance oriented parts if you're lowering or increasing your spring rates as the O.E. shocks will not be able to keep up with the aftermarket springs. You will save the cost of duplicate labor in the long-run as its not likely you'll have to replace the shocks again.

 

Thanks--it took me a long time to be willing to part with the money for Cross coilovers. I started with HSport springs, then changed the struts from OEM to Koni FSD's with Hsports--but kept bottoming the combo, so changed the springs to H&R Green coils which are much thicker than HSport--and that worked great for a long time--until I wanted something better, so Megan's were one of the least expensive upgrades until I encountered ride issues with them, and finally dropped the $2300 for the Cross Coilovers. I bought mine and had them installed by Danny at Minicorsa.

I'm not sure of the drop in inches--but I scrape on speed bumps--even if I go diagonally. I can't slip a low profile jack under the jacking point--in fact it barely fits under the car--much less won't fit under the jacking block unless I jack the rear up first to get some space.

My daily driver tires are Nitto Neo Gens 215/40 R17. I love the traction, noise level, and cost. Btw, Nittos are rebadged Toyos.

Anytime you lower your car, it's always going to be slightly harsher than stock. For a number of reasons-you reduce the amount of dampening (travel) by lowering. The lower springs which are shorter tend to also be stiffer to compensate.

When I combined Koni FSD's with lowering springs (Koni recommends against that)--I had a ride quality that was very similar to the Cross setup--except that in addition to ride comfort, coilovers increase your stability and traction around turns and that combo gives you much higher performance and confidence when taking turns.

Before coilovers, I'd take a turn and know when I need to let off by the squealing of the tires. That point of squealing threshold got raised when I went to coilovers which is a good thing.

I don't track my car--but I do like to autocross it a few times a year. I commute 100 miles a day 6 days a week--averaging 40,000 miles a year--and the roads I drive on are less than perfect.

The Cross coilovers give me a ride that feels like the cushy stock ride and travel with all the benefits of being lowered. If a good compliant ride along with increased response and traction are your goals, the Crosses are perfect, although it's not cheap--it's like putting a $100 keyboard and $50 mouse on a $3000 computer. You could put a noisy and light $5 keyboard and $2 mouse or you cold enjoy a solid, tight, heavy mass, keyboard and mouse every day which makes you comfortable and happy thus reminding you how much you love your MINI.

Richard