Preface:
I felt I was pretty much done with my upgrade wish list for my '04 (90k mi) R53.
Although temptation has once again gotten the better of me -

I just scored a pretty nice deal on a brand new, complete, 22mm Alta rear adjustable sway bar kit for under $200 shipped!
Very nice score indeed. However, NOW I'm thinking/looking to upgrade the front sway bar with a companion 22mm. All I'm finding is an Alta 26mm front sway bar kit. My Mini is currently my daily (until I retire/store it - soon)...and I have absolutely no plans of tracking the car.
Does a 26mm front sway bar seem a bit overkill?
Does anyone have a suggestion or link or whether a 19mm or 22mm?

Yes - I could've/should've posted this question under "suspension"...but the general "HatchTalk" discussion seems to be more active and receives/responses more attention lately.

Thanks again for your valued input.

 

The R53 stock front sway bar is 24 mm. I've seen various schools of thought on whether a bigger bar is necessary in the front on the street, but I have no personal experience there. Most people seem to just do the rear bar.

I'm still running the stock 22.5 mm front bar on my car with a 19 mm rear set in the middle, and I'm happy with it. However, I'm also running more than double the stock front camber and different springs/dampers, so I suppose it's not really comparable to your R53. I believe the original challenge cars ran the Mini One 16 mm front bar with a stock R53 17 mm rear.

Hmm. I think everything I just wrote isn't terribly helpful.

 

I'm running 22 rear / 26 front H-Sport adjustables. The car is street only, never tracked. The front is on the softest setting, the rear is on the middle setting. The car is well balanced and body roll is almost imperceivable.
No regrets, I would recommend this set-up.

In case it matters, here's my other suspension mods:
H&R springs
Koni yellows
poly control arm bushings front and rear (stock trailing arm bushings)

 

Absolutely pertinent and valuable in formation. Your reply reminded me to dig up my my original order and check what options we chose. My Mini has the Premium Package in addition to the Sport Package. The info you provided confirms that I have the factory SP 24mm FSB.
I'm totally good with that! :. You just saved me $250+....for....v v v

^^^ UGH! (lower control arm bushings)....Thank you for the reminder. I completely forgot about upgrading those.

Thanks guys for the great input and speedy response!

 

I've never driven any other R53 than mine, so I'm pretty much clueless on ride and handling when totally stock but my thinking leans towards choosing conservative specs for non-tracking use.

Mine (if I measured the bars accurately):
Eibach 25mm front (single setting) & Eibach 19mm rear (stiffer of 2 settings) in combo with JCW Sport "reds" & Koni yellows (min rebound). Eibach adjustable rear lower control arms plus poly bushings throughout with no OEM rubber whatsoever. Better handling response but with harsher ride undoubtedly resulting. Unsure if might be a bit better with softer bars strictly for streets/highways but handles great in combo with Michelin PS4S 215/45R17. Regardless, I'm leaving it as-is!