Hi! I have a 2006 Mini S that needs new suspension. I've been searching through several threads but can't decide. It's my daily driver to work 25 miles highway, around town, etc. It will probably never see the track but have been and an aggressive driver... I'd like to know a complete suspension system to purchase along with recommended 'must do' replacement parts if any (for instance bushings, etc). I've seen several threads that talk KWV1's and KWV2s, ST's, Koni FSD or Yellow. I'd also like to get a rear sway bar as well to correct the under steer. Ha. I know there are other threads but many are older.. so would like to get a current take and entire package and parts to order.. Basically, a parts for dummy's list Budget wise, i'd like to stay below $1300-1400. Recommendations??

Thanks!!

 

I run Bilstein B8 now, and a 25 mm NM rear bar, but that's a little edgy for your goals I do believe.

May I suggest a Koni strut (yellow), as they seem to have a genius for make a streetable high performance dampener, and perhaps slightly less bar?

And of course, have someone you trust go over the OEM bits - bushings particularly - and address any deficiencies.

That should squeak under your budget.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

The Koni STR.T would be excellent as it's the Koni Yellow offered with fixed damping (set to approximate the softest setting of the Koni Yellow), and they're capable of handling springs with stock to approximately negative 1.5" ride heights.

Springs will mostly be based on what sort of lowering, if any, you desire.

Bilstein struts tend to have too much initial gas pressure and thus makes them a poorer choice for a daily driver without some tuning.

For RSB, get one with adjustable attachment points, and go 22mm solid or 25mm hollow, as they're equivalent in firmness. Do not "upgrade" the front bar.

WRT bushings, that's up to how much NVH you can handle. Go poly if you're not bothered by increased vibrations (or have an SO who would be), or if that's an issue stick with rubber. Bearings aren't a great choice for your use case.

If you want adjustability, then you should be looking at Bilstein PSS, KW V1, H&R Street, or maybe Fortune Auto, but they don't have the history timeline that the others do.

 

Appreciate the info.. I'm now looking at the KW V1 or as secondary maybe the ST X.. like the koni yellows as well. The car itself runs strong.. all highway miles but clocking 155k. Regarding the RSB, several threads recommend the 19mm for non tracked cars that still want to improve performance.. would 19mm or 22mm be better? Not quite sure what the difference would be at this point.. need to research that a bit more too still or when ordering get their recommended setup. Looking to go to ECS tuning.. from reviews and forums seem to be pretty good.

Thanks again for the feedback. It's good confirmation on what I'm seeing from thread filters!

 

Great options either way you go if KW or Koni or PSS for that matter.

Just include ball joints (inner and outer), end links and the strut top bearings.

You probably don’t need camber adjustments for the front, but you may need it for the rear depending on how low you go. I think the ‘06 might have additional camber adjustments in the rear trailing arms?

 

For my car, which will be my daily once it's finished being gone-through, I went with:

H&R Street Performance coil-overs
Vorshlag front camber plates
Ireland Engineering rear lower control arms
Powerflex upper rear strut mounts

I've had to adjust and modify a few things here and there to get it to sit how I'd like, but this will be the 3rd vehicle I've run this suspension on, each previous time being very positive.

 

Ok.. My KWV1s came in so installed those. Given time I havent replaced replaced ball joints or control arms but did get the Install kit from ecs tuning which had bushings, upper bearings and various washers and new bolts.

Upon initial drive there is/was quite a bit of clunking sound. I've since adjusted higher which increased tension on coils.. this seemed to help a lot in the front (still happens some) but more clunking on rear still occuring.Everything appears pretty solid. Control arms seems to be close to end rod which may be hitting? Curious if new control arms and other will fix or if anyone has other ideas? I thought it strange these are adjustable height coilovers.. they are almost as high as they could go.. if I wanted to lower 2 or 3 inches.. it would be a sloppy mess and really clunk. I'm assuming I need to replace the control arms or get shorter end rods. Thoughts or confirmations? Thanks again!

 

Double check the strut top bolts are tight. That’s a common source of clunking.

 

Pretty sure they are but definitely an easy check... will do tonight