Hey all, I'm at ~50k on the oem r53 suspension. Last week noticed the left front strut was leaking pretty bad - took it to a shop and they said its busted and needs to be replaced. They said ideally you should replace struts in pairs but said it would be fine to just replace the one strut.

Thoughts?

 

IMO yes....they fail from BOTH fluid sheering and gas leakage and seals failing...
so after 5 years or so the oem struts are often toast....
MINIMUM if $$$ is tight is to do them in pairs, but IMO do all 4....I bet you will be amazed at the ride difference.

 

Ok thanks for the advice. What's he harm in just replacing the single strut? It's not the cost I'm worried about its more the practicality of replacing all 4 corners when only one died (due to a serious pothole).

 

Pull the heel off of one shoe only then walk around all day and report what you feel like the next morning. That would give you a feel for what might happen with your car.

 

There's no harm in just doing one. It's just a shock.

At work, I drive a ups truck, one of my shocks was broken in half and the mechanics sent me out anyway. It was pretty bouncy but still safe.

One strut thats working a little better than the other 3 will do no harm. If you can afford getting a pair or all four the ride will be awesome, if not 1 will do

 

Replace them in pairs. Replacing just one will cause the worn older one to make the newer one work harder and wear it out faster, as well as you will get poor ride quality from the older one being worn out and absorbing bumps and road shape at a different rate. Unless you are lowered significantly or hard core auto cross just grabbing two of the cheap factory replacement off brands will do you just fine

 

With 50K miles I would replace all four.

 

I was saying at minimum you need to replace side to side at a time.

 

thanks all for be advice. A quick follow up:

I'm gonna bite the bullet and do all 4 seems like a good enough excuse to upgrade though. Looking at the bilstein b12 kit which is basically
Bilstein HDs + eibach springs...

Do I need to replace the strut mounts? what else?

I'm prob gonna throw on adjustable rear lower control arms too as the rear tires are starting to go bald on the inside - from what I understand this is normal for minis over time. Will get an alignment too.

 

It's best to replace in pairs. Since you'll be going for all 4, check out our suspension kits HERE. They include everything you'll want to replace while you're doing the job. The stage 1 kits are Genuine replacements, the stage 2 come with the Bilstein Touring Class struts/shocks (paired with your OE springs), which are an upgrade from your stock struts/shocks. They give you a performance gain all while retaining a smooth ride. The stage 3 kits include the Bilstein Sport shocks/struts paired with H&R lowering springs. If you plan to lower your MINI you'll want to invest in adjustable rear control arms like the Hotchkis arms HERE. They will keep the rear wheel camber to OEM specification. Let me know if you have any questions or need any help. Items from these kits can be removed individually if you do not want them for the overhaul. I can help you with this if needed.

For an alignment, if you go stage 3 with aftermarket springs, you'll want to drive a little bit until the springs settle before you get an alignment.

 

Bilsteins were in general, not well liked on MINI's for years...simply were too stiff and the return rates were not ideal....Koni seemed to have everything dialed in pretty good if you want to reuse your springs....Koni Yellow or sports are pretty damm good..they work well if you go with lowering springs...be careful..the MINI is ALREADY challenged in suspension travel, but about an half an inch is ok IMO..about matches a JCW kit..and the handling with lowering springs and koni yellows will be better than most cars with coil-overs costing 3x as much IMO...a good Multi adjustable coil-over and true corner weighting AND a custom alignment is needed to match just using the KONI's....
Koni Orange is a newer option....more of an OEM level of stiffness...
I went with Koni "gold" aka, the FSD's...great for a non-lowered gen1 car used as a daily-driver....but IMO KONI sports for a "fun" weekender is the way to go...
think hard about things like camber plates...if you drive VERY aggressively they can HELP tire wear and improve handling....but if you do lots of straight highway miles or drive more sedately, the rubber will not get scrubbed off...and tire wear can be WORSE....
often at about 50k there are some parts of the suspension and bushings that need care...look around...lower control-arm bushings are most common...the rubber shrinks and tears...urethane versions are lifetime parts that replace the factory rubber ones, with only a slight increase in NVH.
Just be sure to budget for the extra items...all too often folks go hogwild on ONE area, and miss the basics in another.

 

Thanks for all the help folks! A few followups:

Which parts can i just gauge the need for by getting underneath the car vs. taking things apart. I'm using a DIY garage where you rent the lift and have access to tools/instruction etc. and I'm trying to avoid getting there and then realizing i wish i had purchased new lower control arm bushings...

 

At the link I posted above for the suspension kits we include lower control arm bushings, ball joints, and a lot of other suspension mounting bolts. Since you're in there for the job, it may be a good idea to replace the LCA and ball joints while you have access to them. A lot of people upgrade their LCA bushings with Powerflex HERE as they're a great upgrade from your rubber stock units.

 

PS: Alignment is recommended after strut replacement. So make sure to flatten the mushroomed front strut towers before having it done....

 

how much additional work is involved in replacing the LCA bushings? I don't think they are that worn or the mechanic woud have said something when he was inspecting my suspension. seems like its alot more involved (e.g. removing the subframe). is this truly a no brainer kind of thing where "i might as well" or can i save this for another project?

Ive never done suspension work before and I'm also doing the new brakes so im thinking i've got enough on my plate as is... BUT if its only a little more work i'll throw it on the list. Thoughts?

 

You're doing all 4 shocks and brakes at the same time, that's going to be a big enough project by itself.

Doing the lca bushings is an even bigger job. Watch the video and read some of the posts about doing them, they can be a real pain in the *** getting out and in. I would do it at another time.

They will need to be done eventually though, mine were shot when I bought my car with 90k miles on it.

 

Yes, you'll remove the front subframe from the car as it will be easier to gain access to the bracket bolts. However, people have and can do it with just the subframe loosened, but we suggest, for ease, to lower it as the rear bracket bolts need to be torqued down over 100 ft/lbs. It's just easier to remove the frame and be able to access all the bolts at once. It's definitely a job and if yours are in good working condition you should be fine. If/when you do the LCA's though you should definitely replace the ball joints. If you go to out site HERE and click on the "tech info" tab at the top. Scroll down to suspension and you'll see our tech article for the LCA and ball joint replacement. It'll give you an idea of what is involved. You can also use our other articles for your suspension and brake replacement if needed.

 

+1 I agree while you are there the LCAB can be done . As well as checking and replacing any suspension components , I did mine all at one on my R52 MCC.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ll-joints.html






All four shocks should be done at the same time, especially if you are high mileage.