At this point, I wish I did go the quick strut route. Although if I had, I'm sure I would've been wondering how the Konis compare, as it seems like everyone raves about them.

 

Hmm I can't see anything wrong by looking at the pictures. But then again the issue must be hidden under the dust cover.

Looking at the diagrams there are differences between the pre and facelift models. Which model do you have? Could it be you've received the wrong parts?


Pre facelift -03/2002

Post facelift 03/2002 and up

 

The top diagram isn’t pre-facelift. It looks like it only ran through 3/2002. Pretty sure the MC40 didn’t come out until ‘04.

 

Correct, mine is an early 2004 build with the later, more common strut stack design. One thing I do notice is on part 7 on the second diagram (upper spring plate) there are four notches/ridges and the top of the bumpstop has two that look like maybe they're supposed to line up. I ordered genuine MINI bumpstops from FCP Euro (link below) and they're a little different than the originals. White instead of yellow, slightly different shape, but same overall dimensions and stamped with the correct BMW part number. However, I don't think they have the two notches that maybe line up with the spring plate. I doubt this would cause my problem but just an observation.

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/min...er-31306759455 (their first photos of the yellow design matches my original, the later white photos are what I received)

 

I’m not intimately familiar with the redesigns that Mini may have done on their bump stops, but I do know that there are two different part numbers. The notched version appears to be the other one. It’s the one for the base suspension that only came on the R50.

 

I replaced mine from last month ( may ) front struts. My R53's with 01/2004 production date.

Below is exactly what I have when I replaced the original stock factory parts. Struts are Delphi brand and the mount has something faded mini\bmw on it.

I replaced with Bilstein B4 with Lemforder strut mounts ( right now no bulging, i hope it lasts )., replaced also the washers and bump stops new and the boots.

I reused the stock MINI springs, & the rubber supports. They all fit just like the stock factory mini parts no issues with the bearing cover + lemforder mount.

 

Thanks for the feedback on the B4 setup. How are they riding? I recall from my research that the B4 is roughly equivalent to the stock strut ride quality, while the Koni FSD/red/Special Active is supposed to be an improvement.

While I'm an amateur in the garage and wouldn't put it past myself to make a dumb mistake, this strut stack is a well-documented, pretty simple assembly. I've done it twice now, checking my previous work and getting the same result, so I'm wondering if maybe this is a Koni fitment issue. I double checked the Koni part number from my ECS order with Koni's website, and I've contacted Koni to see if they have any input.

I also reached out to a well-known MINI mechanic who said this all seems normal, and I don't need to be concerned with the springs or nut torque spec. I don't know, it sure looks wrong to me plus the car sounds off going over bumps at low speed, like I previously mentioned.

 

Oh man even with this STOCK Bilstein B4 it's a night and day difference well ofcourse maybe because the DELPHI ones are really bad, all are shaking inside the cabin, the dash everything., I replaced all 4 with these all the annoying noise are gone.

I tested it on humps it's quiet, also in bad streets here in NYC., with some really not deep potholes. My past experiences are with japanese cars nissans and saburus so with this MINI I am really new. This bilstein B4 is equivalent of OE KYB this is what nissans ussually used.

But again I just want this car to bring it back to stock factory., & make it reliable. It will not be a daily driver car., it's only for weekend joy ride ( weekend warrior kind ).

 

Continuing with the subject of the bumpstops, I have less than an inch between the bottom of the bumpstop and the top of the front strut cylinder when the car is on the ground. I know these car don't have much suspension travel but that seems very low. Can someone with a stock ride height check how their car compares? Mforce can you help me out here? The fresh B4 set up would be an interesting comparison, if your wheels allow you access to push the dust boot up and check.

 

That’s about right. 5X Racing says there is 20 mm of travel to the OE bump stops, which aren’t traditional bump stops. They’re effectively another spring with a 200 lb/in rate. The car corners on the bump stops.

If I were you, I’d stop looking at that part of the assembly. There’s a shoulder on the top of the strut that the upper spring plate is bolted above. The inner race of the bearing in the strut mount is sandwiched between that spring plate and washer and the nut holding everything together. The only place you should have contact with the strut mount is right there. That point load is the only thing that should be pressing on the inner bearing race. If it isn’t, you have major issues. Otherwise, the rubber in the mount is to blame.

 

Okay, just to make sure I'm on same page, you think the bearing isn't sitting right on "A" in my drawing below? Problem is, since the hex at the top of the strut rod ("B" below) is starting to strip, if I'm able to get the assembly apart, I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it back together. I have an electric impact wrench that's probably my only shot.

 

Here man like I said I rebuilt my struts to stock factory using these: ( For now NO mods. ) I just want an R53 all stock.

Bilstein B4 - it includes the nut, for REARS they included bumpstops, no bumpstops in front so I had to buy separate.
Strut Mount - Lemforder
front Bump Stops - URO
Bearing cover - mini
Washer - mini
Dust boot - mini
Ends Links - Lemforder
Pinch Bolt - BMW ( there's no mini available at the time, not sure if this really matters it's 10.9 grade ) - I replaced it. I just don't trust the original bolt that's been there for 20 years.
Anti-Mushroom plates - ECS brand new

Here's what I did, here we go:




For the OE stock Lemforder here's what it looks like, wheels on the ground.






Here the Lemforder mount unlaid looks bulgin a little.



Fully assembled unlaid, all with arrows are reused original MINI parts.All others are brand new.



Here's the assembled one and installed, my OCD attacks whenever I assemble something I want everything clean. Forgive my disk\brake assembly it's ugly but that's for another time.



Installed with wheels on the ground, this is taken today 06/19/2025 so you will see dirt and the uglies.



since there's no way for me to grab the boot and check the distance., then let's go back to my heartbreaking pinch bolt - carrier disaster I still have the original assembly.

Here this is the original MINI part - it's by DELPHI original OEM mini.



and to avoid confusion here... for those english ( unit ) fans and the fanatic metric guys.. I have both.







Hope this helps.

 

Try reusing your old original MINI springs see what happens, you are there already.

 

I always grab the piston with a rubber glove and then use an impact on the top nut. Never used the hex key as I don't have open sockets. Just remember to put on spring clamps first!!

 

maybe i'm missing the boat here, but when i read this i just see a straight forward case of strut mount failure. OE design is just prone to failure. i had lemforders that failed pretty quickly - as in within about 6 or 7 months. that's when i decided to buy a different design and abandon the OE style mounts, regardless of brand. i started with ireland engineering fixed camber plates. but, i switched to adjustable camber plates.

 

No, I expect it’s sitting fine, but I haven’t seen it in person. It should be really hard to get that wrong and still put the assembly together and also have the bearing spin properly. Sorry, I think I left a little too much as just implied. My point was more that all of the load goes through that bearing, so things like a spring that’s too soft or a different bump stop are going to make zero difference to how the strut mount carries load.

If you know that the mount is physically bulging up farther than it should (not somehow an optical illusion playing tricks on you), then I think the simplest explanation is the right one.

 

Thanks all. Interesting to see Mforce's mount and how it's raised or bulged a little (certainly looks like an acceptable amount to me), but not crackly and extending up to the opening of the strut tower like mine. Not sure if I want to go the camber plate route... I guess I'll just have to try to get these apart and try another set of mounts. I do think next time I have them apart I'll put the original MINI spring back in the stack, just in case.

 

Get another new mount regular OE, set it up with stock mini spring, then other set it with your aftermarket spring. Let's see who will get the bulge.

 

Here without the cover. That's the Lemforder mount + Bilstein B4 combo.





Is yours like that?

 

I forgot to grab a photo with the dust caps off, but yes, the nut looks the same with 4-5 threads of the strut rod visible. Here are photos from today. I have now put 100 miles on the ECS mounts and the dust caps have extended above the openings of the strut towers.




I jacked up one corner, and with weight off the wheel, the mount went back down to a normal position:



Maybe camber plates are the way to go, here for durability - not adding camber. Sounds like Vorshlag is highly regarded but since I've already sunk enough cash on a clutch, supercharger, and much more, another $600-700 is tough to stomach. I've been looking at the more affordable Project Silver camber plates but I don't see any US sellers. Seems like it might be a gamble with shipping from Europe but on the other hand, I'll go crazy with these rubber mounts failing.

 

You have a problem. Either you have 4 bad strut mounts from 2 different sources, or the problem is elsewhere in your assembly. I am a million years old ( 60 ). I have been doing this for 50 years. First strut work in the 80’s. I have had the r53 since March 2005 - replaced struts in 2020. About to again. I’ve done strut mounts 3 times. Never seen this, but none of us are there with you. It sounds like you put it together right, but something is wrong.

 

I'm with @noodlesandsam as a software developer I've learned to always fix the root cause of the issue and not the outcome.

Some how your mounts are getting a lot of stress on them. You've changed a lot of struts components in one go. I would start over and bring it back to stock with your old parts. Then rebuild, changing one part at a time and check fitment on the car. Yes it's very labor intensive but the way your mounts look at the moment, they will fail very soon.

 

@lucash - fellow software developer….. we agree.

I don’t think it is the spring. I don’t know what is wrong, but I think the mount is somehow taking the stress of the spring. It should be that the top spring plate does that job, and the mount allows the assembly to rotate. His mounts are getting pushed up by some way.

 

I agree but I also think that at this point we are all uncertain what actually is at fault here. So I would revert to the last working version and apply changes one by one. So go back to the old strut, including spring and damper, and start apply changes one by one while testing fitting every step.

It might as well be that ECS tower reinforced. I can't think of any reason why but clearly something is wrong and before all this it didn't bulge.

 

So let me anyalyze this, you replaced 3 major ones:

Mount
Struts
Spring
Your assembly is in correct order.

Mount - as you can see on my combo Lemforder mount + Mini stock springs + Bilstein B4

Koni Red - struts, many folks here installed the same as mine no issues.

Your new springs - I am thinking that new spring is "stiffer" ( but same size like you said ) than stock. When you assemble the strut assembly, the final one is the one NUT on the center as you torque it down it compresses the spring via the bearing, this bearing is floating held ONLY by the surrounding rubber.

So let's say the spring is soft easily compressed will it still put the same load on the bearing + rubber compared to a stiffer one?

Then you add the weight of the car it even put more load on the springs which puts the bearing\rubber more load.