A few things I noticed after getting my car.

First of all what is this?



Secondly are my struts mushroomed at all? I haven't seen a good example to compare to but if i had to guess i would say no they are not.



Finally i noticed that both of my turn signals in front were broken... any one else have this happen? or is there a story behind this car I don't know of?

 

Not sure about the first pic, your towers look ok, maybe tensy bit o'shroomin on the left. Your motor mount is leaking, and my turn signal lenses cracked from road sand/traction stuff.

Not much help, good luck.

Bryan

 

Your towers are both mushroomed, but not that bad. They should be perfectly flat. To fix it you'll probably need new OEM strut mounts or just get camber plates, then the mechanic (or you) will have to use a block of wood and a big mallet to flatten the towers out. Then you could install the new mounts/camber plates, I'd also recommend either the M7 strut plates or the Craven defender plates (they might also make ones for under if you go with oem strut mounts, but any camber plate is thick enough.)

When I got my car, I put on clear protective lenses on the headlights, turn signals, and fogs. So they never chipped or cracked.

 

is that what that crap is under the mount?

you really think i need new strut mounts?

 

Well, you can try pounding it flat as is, but if you deform metal twice, the initial mushrooming and the pounding back, it gets weaker and will be more likely to deform back. There is no guarantee that you can get it flat again with the mount in there either. It will be easier to pound back with the strut removed, but then you'll see that the bent mount will not go back into the now flattened tower.

But you can live with mushroomed towers forever if you really wanted to. As long as the rubber is not torn or cracked.

 

My towers were about as bad as yours when I put the madness plates on. They go on the underside. Mine pulled down to the form of the plate a little, so I didnt need the 2x4 treatment. I havent had a problem with them. Yours arent bad and the plates strengthen the contact point so I doubt youd beed to replace any parts. One of the local guys has mad shroomin goin on. If I had seen his before I put my plates on I would have assumed mine were fine.

 

Yup busted motor mount, mine died recently as well, at 28k miles.

 

Yup busted motor mount, mine died recently as well, at 28k miles. Not expensive or hard to fix though.

 

The strut towers are not so bad you can't get them back in line. Like nabeshin said, fixing those too many times will weaken the metal. I would definitely invest in the strut tower plates and camber plates. This way there is support on both sides and the mushrooming will stop.

The motor mount is definitely bad. That oil inside is some nasty stuff and stains the paint almost on contact. You can clean it up, but your paint in that area is going to remain discolored. I would definitely get that replaced too. The mounts were redesigned in 06 and beefed up a little (as so I was told by the tech at the MINI dealer).

The lenses do take a bit of a pounding, as does the paint on the bumper and bonnet. I just had my bonnet repainted and am waiting on the paint to fully cure so I can get the clear bra installed.

As for the connector (?) in your hand in that one photo...no clue, but I can look it up and see if I can find out what that is. Was it just laying under the hood loose?

 

The first photo shows the microswitch that indicates a hood-open condition. It attaches to your hood latch, also in the pix.

 

That connector/switch may be the hood latch sensor that has popped out?

 

the motor mount a typical problem...I had mine replaced as well...and as lawman pointed out, you'll get a ton of paint chips on the front bumper and bonnet...the faster you go the more severe they get...but what the hey...motor on

 

Yep - bonnet latch switch:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...50&hg=61&fg=35

 

Thanks Densmini, I see that now..duh.

Appreciate the input!

 

I've also had to deal with the failed passenger side motor mount and cracked turn signal lens. In fact, your photos of the pooled fluid on PW engine compartment look eerily similar to mine. Both of these issues seem fairly common.

A suggestion...since you'll want to swap out those lenses anyway, maybe think about replacing them with angel eyes. It's an inexpensive and easy mod. That's what I did, and I really like the look:

 

i have an 06... where do i find new mounts? is it better to go after market and stiffen things up?

the halo lights are pretty neat. But **** if the lenses are going to crack again i might just leave them..... maybe not haha i dunno any who not my main consern.

the hood latch switch.... where does it plug in tho? or connect to? its just floating around for now and i dont have anything telling me its not working or the hood isnt closed.

Edit: does it go in that hole where the latch is?

 

There's a properly sized hole in the latch that it snaps into. I don't have a photo handy.

 

The switch clips onto the hood latch at the back of the latch, you should see the connector down under it within 6inches.

The black fluidis your engine mount gone bad, you can replace it with a stock one, or we also have the TSW ones that aren't liquid filled.
http://www.waymotorworks.com/product...7&cat=0&page=1

And for the mushrooming you may be able to take the weight off the car and beat the tower back down. Then use a strut reinforcement plate the keep it that way. If you can't get it straight that way you'll also have to replace the upper strut mount with either an OEM one or a camber plate.
We are actually running a sale on the Craven STD's right now, a good chance to save some $$.
http://www.waymotorworks.com/product...cat=293&page=2

 

wow so many plugs for your products haha.... wish the strut reinforcement sale was sooner.... bought some other brands last week.

i heard bad things about the adjustable IE camber plates.... has this been corrected?