So I recently picked up my '06 MCS & the suspension, at 87k miles, is in dire need of repair. The front passenger top hat is cracked badly & the bump stop is even split. The overall ride is also very bouncy/jiggly. SO, my plans are:

Koni FSD struts
Keep stock springs
Ireland engineering fixed camber plates

My questions are:
Do the Koni FSD's come with new bump stops?
In the "Mini Suspension" part of most sites, I keep seeing all these other little bits like yellow donuts & other spacers of some sort. Do I need to buy anything in addition to the struts & camber plates to get the job done?

 

My car is actually up in the air right now getting koni fsd's. Waiting on a swaybar to arrive today before I can finish the rear. I had the same issue when I purchased my car last summer. Had a cracked strut mount and replaced both with i.e. Fixed mounts.

Since it sounds like your front end has taken a beating, you probably have significant mushrooming on one or both strut towers. You will want to check that and correct prior to putting everything back together. Both sides of mine had slight to moderate deformation, so it took a few whacks with a board and a hammer to get them back to where they should be before the new mounts went in.

The koni's do not come with bump stops, so you will need to source a replacement separately. other than that one bumpstop up front, there are no other pieces or spacers up front on a stock setup. Maybe what you were seeing online were shorter bumpstop for lowering springs?

Good luck.

 

Inspect your Koni's carefully before they go in....a few bad apples have gotten out and it is a real pain to have to go back in and re-do all the work.
Also...make very sure to tighten the top-nuts on the struts correctly using an allen key to counterhold the strut ram and get things snugged up or you will have the pleasure of tearing it all out to re -tighten like I did.

Be careful who works on your car...if you can swing it, do it yourself.

MAd Gepetto

 

Just out of curiousity, what do people recommend for fixing the top hat and bump stops? Just beating it back in place?

 

Since you're installing the IE fixed camber plates you are replacing the upper strut mounts. If you need just use a hammer and 2x4 to flatten out the sheet metal before installing the fronts.

As for the bump stops you can reuse the stock bump stops and rubber spring cushions.

We have the KONI FSDs on sale right now so it makes it a great time to upgrade
http://www.waymotorworks.com/koni-fsd-shocks.html

 

I did the exact same thing....and couldn't have been more pleased with the results.

You don't need any extra spacers or bumpstops or any of that stuff. If you just buy the FSD's and the IE camper plates, you are good to go!

That deal Way Motor Works has going on the FSD's right now is awesome.....back when I got mine last year a set was going for anywhere between $700-$800!

 

Cool, gonna do this over the weekend. Also bought some replacement rear strut bushings just in case the stock ones are pancakes.

 

My rear bumpstops, spring pads, and bushing inserts were all cracked and aged
after 12 years/84K miles when I did them last weekend at curbside.
I got new rubber bits for the front, too, as well as top mounts, but am having them
done at a shop with my annual inspection in a few days.

 

I've heard from the guys at Helix (as I want to change my suspension on my '06 R53 hatchback) that the FSD's on stock springs ride a bit "bouncy". Wouldn't mind a bit of a softer ride since mine is a year round car but bouncy is not something I'd like. There are a number of places with good deals on Konis right now. Tire Rack has the FSDs for $609 and Mini Madness for $608. I've also been looking at the Koni str.t setup as it's about $180 less and I had them on my e36 328i - drove great and no problems but this is a Mini; not a 328! Anyone have experience with the str.t's on an R53? Thoughts? Especially vs. the FSD's? I don't want to lower the car given I'm in NY and the roads are less than ideal. Also, anyone with FSDs on stock springs; do you find the ride "bouncy"? Helix recommended using stock JCW springs with them to avoid bounce but they are VERY EXPENSIVE new and I'm having a hard time finding a used set...Thanks!

 

I have FSD's on stock springs and have nothing but good things to say about them. There is nothing "bouncy" about them at all. The handling is great and feels just as planted and exciting as the car ever felt before...with the added benefit of a MUCH improved ride over bumps. Driving the same road before and after proved how much better it rides with the Koni struts. Absolute night and day. Now how much of that improvement was simply because my old struts were toast?...hard to say. I am very pleased with them, though.

Fwiw I found the fsd's for about $540 shipped. Shop around.

 

I agree 100%! When I switched over to FSD's they were not bouncy or soft feeling at all. They seemed to feel much firmer on flat road, but when you hit a bump that would really smooth things out. If I had to do it all over again...I would get the FSD's again.

 

Thank you very much for the feedback. Can you tell me where you got the FSD's for $540 shipped? I can't seem to find better than $608 PLUS $60 shipping!

 

I think way motor works has/had them on sale.

 

Thanks. Is that where you got yours? I've bought from Way before. Last I looked they had them for $625 I think. Your price was significantly better! Please let me know if you got yours elsewhere for less and if so; where from!

 

Way has them for $598 plus shipping so that's over $100 more than you paid. Please let me know where you got them from for less! Thanks

 

Tunersports, $553 or $531 when in cart? I've never ordered from them, so this is only for reference.

 

http://www.emnotek.com/p-3674-mini-c...FRYcaQod2LUAkA

Never ordered from them...but the price looks good. $523 for a set.

 

The FSD's were bouncy for the first couple hundred miles during breakin. After that they do as advertised, street ride comfort but stiffen right up on "spirited driving". I will buy them again once I wear them out

 

Thanks for the input! Doesn't sound like anyone here has the srt.t's by Koni as a reference/comparison vs. the FSD's. Looks like I'm going that route (FSD). Now; just need to determine sway bar upgrades. I have stock bars and like the ones by H-Sport but since this is 99% street car driven is it worth it to upgrade the rear only, front and rear, or just retain the stock ones?

 

Unless you really want to spend the money, or you just want to tell everyone you have an aftermarket sway bar on your car……..for a street car, the factory sway bars are fine.



When’s the last time you were sliding around at 60mph on the street and though to yourself “I really wish I had less under steer so I could take this corner 5mph faster”? Ha!



For a street car….stock bars are fine.

 

I agree with you. But with that said, it's more about driving "feel" or the driving experience with this car than it is about going fast for me. I've had upgraded swaybars on two of my three MINIs and I think it adds to the "drives on rails" feel. Just my personal opinion. Whether or not it makes me faster...I have not idea and it doesn't matter.

Like I said in my earlier post here...the jury is still out as to how the swaybar improved things on my current car. Things were just fine as they were before I added it. It might have been a waste of money to put one on....but this is my fun car. I didn't need a new shift **** or an exhaust either...but I enjoy them.

 

Thanks! Going to stick with the stock bars, run Koni FSD's, (stock springs) and use Cravenspeed STD's. I was thinking about the plates that go under the STD's for even more "anti-mushrooming" protection but from all I've read on these forums those raise the fronts up and I don't want my Mini looking like its reverse-raked. Anyone on here run a similar setup with the under plates and STD's? Is there any way to run them both without making the car look or ride higher in the front than it does on stock suspension and springs?...

 

You probably won't need those extra plates......but if you really want them, yes...there is a way to drop front the front down a little bit to compensate for the extra ride height the plates will give you.

I put the Ireland Engineering camber plate/strut mounts on my car...and they were about 1/4" thicker than the stock plates. Like you, I didn't want my car riding any higher in the front. There is a bracket on the front struts that is welded to the bottom side of them. That bracket bottoms out against the lower mount/hub assebly that clamp around the bottom of the struts. If you trim off an extra 1/4" (or whatever you need), it will allow the struts to drop down lower in the mounts....dropping the front ride height of your car.

Once you get in there it's pretty easy to see what needs to be trimmed off.

 

Thanks! I actually had the guys at Helix install the Cravenspeed STD's today after they straightened out the slight mushrooming I had on my driver's side tower. Decided no under-plates after looking at how little mushrooming I had.

Also, after speaking with several other Mini owners today along with the the great folks from RMW and Helix I have decided not to go with Koni FSD's and based upon my needs (and budget) am going with Billstein Sports and my stock springs. I heard from others who ran the FSD's and had some bottoming out issues which I don't want. I've never run FSD's on any of my previous cars (over 20) but have used Billsteins before (given this is my first Mini). The price is right and if they're good enough for guys who drive their cars on the street every day and do some light track work including auto crossing with no bottoming out issues then that's the way I'm going!

 

Alright guys. I have read this post with all replies few times. I just got more confused every time I read it! So please help me.

I have upgraded rear sway bar and Alta front and rear end links. Im using frint stock sway bar. I also have original GP 18" wheels. I have been usung stock MCS suspension all this time.

Now Im in the market for a complete suspension job. I was considering JCW shocks and springs as it lowers the car 1" which I think is a must when you upgrade from 17" wheels to 28".

Now, please help me:

-Do I need to get JCW springs in Koni FSD?
-Are Koni FSDs better than JCW shocks?
-Are IE camber plates a must? I live the way my car handles now. Are IE cambers a goid step to go?
-If I use IE canbers, shall I also replace OEM strut mounts? I have a noise while truning. So IE cambers are something different than ORM strut mounts?

I have no problems getting ehatever parts. I just need your experienced help getting the parts that upgrade my car handling on spirited street driving and cornering.