these cars are not problem free, but believe me it could be so much worse. I had a vw cabrio a while back, EXTREMELY fun car but always needed some kind of maintenence. i ended up getting rid of it after dumping about 4 grand into it. though the mini isnt totally problem free, i would take one any day over almost any car with this amount of personality. keep it or youll regret it!

 

Like I said, my plan is to own it for a many years to come ...and I know I would regret not having it. I haven't had this much fun driving since 1976 when I had a '66 MGB.

Not too worry ...yet.

Dean.

 

on the other hand, if you ARE thinking of getting rid of it, right around the end of august i SUPPOSE i could take it off your hands for you for 18k...

i mean, they do break an awful lot after all... and you shouldnt have to deal with that hassle!

 

now the windscreen squirters don't work!!! they worked one time (after reporting it to the dealer whilst it was there) and there is a lovely buzzing/vibration in the passenger side in the headliner.

peter

 

Sell it. I bet you can unload it in less then a month.

 

Just fix it, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush I remember selling my Civic Si many years ago and man oh man have I regretted it ever since.

 

Im convinced just about every car has it's problems, But the reason noone talks about it is it's expected and the owners are using them for transportation only. (it's just a car)

while over here in mini land, we are passionate about our cars, and we don't drive them, we "experience" them. they have a personality, they are more then just a machine. that is why we accept the little quircks.
And they are minor.
I bet if you looked at most vehicles strut towers you would find them bent, the difference is.... Noone cares. After all, it's not a mini. it's just a car

 

I tried asking this a while ago and got nowhere, Im totally behind you on this one.

 

it's an extra piece of metal, it will make the area stronger at point of contact. the strut is now tightened up on the sheetmetal and the plate.

 

still doesnt work for me, sorry.

 

its spreading the load to a wider range, and adding stability at the same time.
take a piece of paper and see how it flops around. now glue a small piece on top, it gets stiff. its very simple.

 

Well put.

Anything made thicker becomes less flexible.

Dean.

 

I'm just glad they're on there now, epsecially when I saw one of the drivers side bolts was at an angle, just barely got the Strut Defender on that side.

 

I guess you could call the strut reinforcement plates Viagra for your MINI.

 

To rehash an old post, the tower isn't the part that is failing - it's the strut mount top-plate. The mount top plate bends and takes the tower with it. Prevent the mounting plate from bending and you greatly reduce the likelihood of the tower mushrooming.

The Craven plates don't reinforce the tower so much as they reinforce the mount by tieing the three studs together, thus keeping them parrallel and preventing them from splaying apart. IMHO, the M7 plates don't accomplish this task as well. Our MCS mushroomed with the M7 plates and let me say they are a ***** to get off if that happens...

 

The M7 plates also tie the three studs together, I'm sorry, but what is it again that keeps them from working as well?

 

OHHHH...

with your nick of PMustang; I thought you were talking about your ford....LOL

 

Surface area. The extenders the Craven system uses spreads the stress over a larger area.