Hey guys, hoping you could guide me with your infinite knowledge......

I have a 56k mi 05 r53 S with Dealer JCW Kit installed when new. I have already upgraded the rear sway bar to a WMW 25mm, updated the front brakes to 4 piston Brembo JCWs, stainless steel brake lines all around, r52 strut braces, hawk 5.0 pads, Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 tires and poly front lower control arm bushings

My question is: what suspension, coil over or strut, would be best for a 50/50 track lap day/street use. I have no interesting in lowering, would like to keep some sort of a respectful ride, will never seriously race and just do lap days (at road America and Blackhawk Farms) for fun. what are your suggestions? Thanks guys!

 

IMHO, adjustability is the way to go. It takes a little effort (and know how) to get it set-up correctly but you can really fine tune the handling.
I'm running Koni adjustable shocks with H&R springs, poly control arm bushings front and rear and H-Sport adjustable sway bars front and rear. It's a really nice aggressive street set-up that still has a tolerable ride. My only real complaint is that the ride height could be a tad higher.

 

If you want to keep the current JCW springs, I would add a set of Bilstein B6 shocks and be done.

 

Thanks njaremka.

So it is a Dealer installed JCW kit, done a month (12/2004) before the first factory JCW was available, so it rides on a S sport suspension springs not the factory JCW springs.

 

Thanks mrbean. Which Koni adjustable shocks are you running? You think they would be kosher with OE sport springs?

 

IMO from my research last year, nearly all aftermarket springs currently available achieve static ride too low for practical street use. That was so with the Eibach spring set installed on mine in early 2006, which in combo with low profile track tires and full set of poly bushings resulted in the car being difficult to drive around town with multiple dips and potholes. The TSW from WMW was my initial first choice but not available then and seemingly still not now (noting Way's 198 minimum order quantity to dissuade adding to cart (as he told me at that time).

My solution cost more (BMW brand tax) was a set of JCW Sport "reds" which were still available last Fall in a BMW Germany warehouse, noting just one P/N each front and rear spring of the original three choices determined by VIN vehicle weight. I could provide the P/Ns I ordered and installed, however unsure if the (temporary?) BMW directive to MINI dealers WRT discouraging such online orders has been resolved (search for related thread on that aspect). More details and pictures in my (sig) thread topic, however I'm very pleased with the outcome. As outlined in the original BMW press release, the "reds" were designed to lower the car by just 10mm claimed, which appealed to me. Here's the link to that Nov 2004 press release:
SUBJECT: JOHN COOPER WORKS SPORT SUSPENSION

 

MCS4FUN, great information. Thank you for sharing.

As I stated before, I am not looking to lower the car especially on struts and by the time you add up the OE springs, $300 in new rubber bits to refresh the 17 year old ones, shocks and struts you are in BC coil over price range (and those include end links so are probably a better deal). I came to the same conclusion when I priced out a set of Koni FSP struts, after all is said and done with bits and with adding IE front upper strut mounts I can buy the BC coilover kit for about the same price.

 

You'll be over the moon once you get rid of those "Sport+" suspension springs. They are the harshest riding bits I've ever experienced. I switched mine out for a standard S suspension (Monroe QuickStruts) and couldn't be happier with the ride. If you're not a serious racer the cost of a set of coilovers doesn't really make sense, especially if you're not interested in lowering your MINI.

 

I'm confused about the springs. I've read that all MCS (at least in the US) have Sport Suspension Settings Plus (option 228). So what are the sport springs? Were they a different option?

 

^^^ I'll defer to other responses, however it's been my understanding that (3) spring types were utilized during the 1st Gen R52/R53; Sport when factory equipped with 16" wheels, Sport+ which were slightly different rate and came with 17" (S-Lite?) wheels as part of that option package and finally the JCW Sport "reds" which were part of the separate dealer-installed retrofit option (see my link above) also carried forward to factory-built 2006 JCW & GP models.

 

The Sport+ springs were 20% stiffer than the standard S Sport springs. That's the reason I got rid of them as quick as I could. They were unbelievably stiff and the MINI rode like a covered wagon -- really annoying.

 

Nope. The sport plus suspension was standard on all R53s and optional on the R50, which got the sport suspension as standard. It had nothing to do with wheels. There was a sport package that was wheels and some other stuff, I believe, but it didn’t concern suspension.

 

I think the JCW “red” lowering springs were only standard on the GP, and for all other cars, Factory JCW or not, they were only available as a Dealer accessory.

 

My one owner unmodified 2006 factory jcw supports this. No red springs

 

megaDan,Thanks for sharing, great info.

Now back on topic, is there a MODERN suspension for the r53 mini that would make it optimum for 50/50 track/street use? .

 

First, my apologies to the OP. I didn't realize my question would create so much discussion and highjack his thread.

I have KW V2s on my R60 and am very impressed with them. The ride is firm but comfortable. The car is very planted and responsive (I think the Michelin Pilot Sport 4Ss help with that as well). The rebound adjustability would be good for switching between track and street. I had planned to get Koni Special Actives for my R53 but with the discussion of springs, I am starting to think about coilovers. I would consider the KW V2s but am also curious about Ohlins since I've read many good things about them.

 

I’ve been down this path recently. Basically two options for what you are seeking.

1) Koni Special Active shocks. Will greatly improve street use and still get you around a track. Must only be used with stock ride height. Cost effective modern solution.

2) BC Racing coilovers from Greene Performance. Can still give you stock ride height with lots of adjustability. More expensive, but if you are truly doing 50% of your use on track, this is probably the best solution.

 

Great input and interestingly enough, pretty much what I found too. The Koni yellows seem interesting as well, but after you replace all the parts to refresh the rest of your struts and add IE mounts to have the same amount of anti-mushroom defense, you are at the same price of the BC coil overs (and they include a set of end links). I am really leaning towards the BC coilovers almost just because it is a complete tidy package ready to install. I just haven't found enough information on the BC brand to put them on the same level as Koni which have a killer warranty to boot......

 

Just an FYI, although Koni has a good warranty on paper, it reality it pretty much sucks. The warranty doesn't cover removal and installation charges, AND you have to send the shock to them for evaluation before they will honor the warranty. My suggestion is to skip the Konis.

 

njaremka, that's kinda the old school warranty world I am used to, makes sense even. Not sure how a component company could maintain a profit otherwise. Thanks for the heads up though, something to consider.

 

Just figured I would put that out there in case you can't afford to have the car down for any amount of time. For me, it was a hassle because the car was a daily driver, and I had to buy a new set of shocks before I could take out the Konis.

 

WRT corrections on my comments yesterday noted by several subsequently, I agree and stand corrected. The 2006 factory JCW came with Tuning Kit and Sport Brake Kit (plus LSD standard) but not the JCW Sport Suspension Kit (with noted "reds") as announced for that model year: Factory JCW Kit Confirmed For '06 Model Year

Since mine had essentially as-new Koni Yellows, I didn't consider coilovers for non-tracking usage. In any case, "yellows" are adjustable for rebound only and the rears require removal for adjustment which is less than optimal. I initially installed at 25% stiff and R&R'd those last week to reset full-soft rebound. JacMac's suggestion of BC Racing by Greene Performance coilovers "made me look" at their website, as well as BCR's product pages and EC Tuning's whom also carry the BCR product line. I'm curious how Greene's product offering differs, i.e., $1750/set MSRP whereas BCR shows them at $1245/set MSRP for BR series with only obvious differences besides $500 delta being coil spring finish color (front camber plates included by both).

Greene Performance Coilovers $1,750.00


BC Racing 02-06 Mini Cooper Price T-01-BR $1,245.00

 

The Greene's look to have Swift springs so that's part of the cost I'd reckon, probably with customer choice of rates too, and struts also likely custom valved to match those as well.

I myself ended up getting some BC-style coilovers, but wish that I had earlier had the foresight of t-w because like he says "...after all is said and done with bits and with adding IE front upper strut mounts I can buy the BC coilover kit for about the same price..." --- exactly what I did was the IE fixed plates + Bilstein B6 struts but used the existing Vogtland springs that the previous owner had installed.

I like the set-up very much, Bilsteins are great as are the IE plates, but there came a point where I wanted more adjustability so despite my intimidation of coilovers (oldman syndrome because I've never had them before and thought they'd be an overly fussy hassle) went ahead and swooped up a set during a Black Friday sale at a good bargain.

I had an extremely difficult time trying to find a "mid-grade" coilover solution that I thought would work for me and my use but finally decided on Fortune Auto which are basically BC components hand-assembled in Virginia by a company that supposedly gives great support if any problems may arise.

Mixed opinion about them in internetland (and what isn't?) but lots of people use them, just not too many R53's fitted up with them it seems.

I got mine from Geoff at Cygnus Performance and he was a wonderful help when talking with him on the phone, really a good guy.

https://cygnusperformance.com/produc...art-fa500-r53/

I had spec'd mine with Hyperco springs but they were unavailable due to supply problems so went with Swift instead, with the FA default rate for R53 which is 6k/6k.

Takes a while for them to get built, but mine arrived ahead of schedule by a month, in Feb while I was out-of-town for an extended period on a work trip, when getting back home my car needed some major repair unexpectedly which I'm actually still fiddling with so haven't even installed them yet and cannot offer any solid concrete review of them realistically.

I got some NM Engineering adj. end links to go with them and they are works of art, truly beautiful and worth the price of admission which I was admittedly skeptical about because they are on the high side.

When I finally get them installed will try to post a review on NAM although given my lack of experience with coilovers it might not be an astute analysis.

Looking around at other forums give a good idea though,
I typed

"fortune auto" forums

into the search bar and lots of hits come up with good reading and eventually I was swayed in their direction over the ST XTA's that were the main contenders in my book although at one point I was very close to stretching my budget on some AST 5100's.

 

Seems to me that Green performance is buying the BC coilovers and rebuilding them to their own specs and using Swift springs. Can't see how that would make them SOOO much better than "off the shelf" BC version. The Green performance caster/camber plates would be a nice addition. Not sure those are worth the $800 increase in cost over the "off the shelf" BC version.

 

Oldboy Speedwell- Great information and thank you for sharing, looking forward to hearing your impression on those Fortune Coilovers. I don't know if I could get over the green though.