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What were the criticisms of silver project? I'd guess that it's stiff, but wondering if there is anything else
Some said they've had okay results, several said noisy/harsh ride and/or failed in a year or so.
If they were available from a US distributor, I'd probably try them. However, I don't want to deal with a warranty claim across the pond if there is a high likelihood of them not being dependable.
Okay, finally got the problem child back on the road again. One of the foam bushings in the rear shock tops disintegrated about 300 miles after I started this whole suspension refresh project, so I replaced both sides with Powerflex bushings. I should've just done that in the first place but oh well.
Moving to the front, I spent a ridiculous amount of time working to get one of the top nuts off because one of the studs pressed into the ECS "heavy duty" mounts was spinning. After a lot of drilling to destroy the nut and stud, I could remove that strut from the car.
The other special nuts that came with the ECS strut tower reinforcement plates were also showing a lot of wear. I know I didn't crossthread or over torque them, but after several removals and installs, the threads are looking worn and metal shavings came out when removing several of the nuts.
With these issues in mind, I elected to not reinstall the ECS (over) strut tower reinforcement plates, and will look for a replacement that uses the stock top nuts (Way Motor Works strut brace?). Also, I pressed out the studs from the new genuine MINI mounts and used the longer bolts that came with the under tower plates ECS sells. Definitely more difficult to get the struts installed using the bolts versus the stock studs, but at least I won't have this issue again.
This next photo shows the old ECS mount on the bottom and on top is the genuine MINI mount with the studs removed. Note a little bit of cracking in the paint on the rubber.
After install with the car back on the ground, we see a little bit of stretch from the center of the mounts but not a terrible bulge like what happened immediately with the ECS mounts. Hopefully this will be the extent of it and any crackly paint just flakes off. Kind of annoying how the large hole of the under-tower plate doesn't match the opening of the strut tower.
After a short test drive, there aren't any major changes, although the new under-tower plates add 4mm or so of buffer to mask any upward bulging.
I'll update here if there are any issues after I put some more miles on the new genuine MINI mounts.
I also intended to replace my end links, but was disappointed to find the Lemforders from FCP Euro to not match my originals. One end was longer than the other, and on the long end, the base is shaped in such a way that I can't get a wrench on it to counter hold (would need to be a super thin wrench), plus it doesn't have a place to use a hex key instead like on the short end. Am I missing something here or is there a recommendation of another brand of end links to use? Lemforder fails me again... Photos:
You might try a good set of channel lock pliers. Grab hold of the metal piece until you get good contact and then it should hold itself in place as you tighten it down the rest of the way. This approach works better with an impact vs a ratchet.
I used Delphi from rock auto. So far so good. I've used Delphi parts before and have been happy.
Okay, finally got the problem child back on the road again. One of the foam bushings in the rear shock tops disintegrated about 300 miles after I started this whole suspension refresh project, so I replaced both sides with Powerflex bushings. I should've just done that in the first place but oh well.
Moving to the front, I spent a ridiculous amount of time working to get one of the top nuts off because one of the studs pressed into the ECS "heavy duty" mounts was spinning. After a lot of drilling to destroy the nut and stud, I could remove that strut from the car.
The other special nuts that came with the ECS strut tower reinforcement plates were also showing a lot of wear. I know I didn't crossthread or over torque them, but after several removals and installs, the threads are looking worn and metal shavings came out when removing several of the nuts.
With these issues in mind, I elected to not reinstall the ECS (over) strut tower reinforcement plates, and will look for a replacement that uses the stock top nuts (Way Motor Works strut brace?). Also, I pressed out the studs from the new genuine MINI mounts and used the longer bolts that came with the under tower plates ECS sells. Definitely more difficult to get the struts installed using the bolts versus the stock studs, but at least I won't have this issue again.
This next photo shows the old ECS mount on the bottom and on top is the genuine MINI mount with the studs removed. Note a little bit of cracking in the paint on the rubber.
After install with the car back on the ground, we see a little bit of stretch from the center of the mounts but not a terrible bulge like what happened immediately with the ECS mounts. Hopefully this will be the extent of it and any crackly paint just flakes off. Kind of annoying how the large hole of the under-tower plate doesn't match the opening of the strut tower.
After a short test drive, there aren't any major changes, although the new under-tower plates add 4mm or so of buffer to mask any upward bulging.
I'll update here if there are any issues after I put some more miles on the new genuine MINI mounts.
I also intended to replace my end links, but was disappointed to find the Lemforders from FCP Euro to not match my originals. One end was longer than the other, and on the long end, the base is shaped in such a way that I can't get a wrench on it to counter hold (would need to be a super thin wrench), plus it doesn't have a place to use a hex key instead like on the short end. Am I missing something here or is there a recommendation of another brand of end links to use? Lemforder fails me again... Photos:
So,
the ECS strut defenders were removed to eliminate the stress on the upper strut mounts or just worn out ? Thanks
the ECS strut defenders were removed to eliminate the stress on the upper strut mounts or just worn out ? Thanks
The ECS plates that go on top of the strut towers use a special nut (which are currently out of stock according to their website). I had to destroy one to get it off, and the threads of others were worn out. I intend to get a different set of plates for the top of the strut towers that use the stock nuts.
The ECS plates that go on top of the strut towers use a special nut (which are currently out of stock according to their website). I had to destroy one to get it off, and the threads of others were worn out. I intend to get a different set of plates for the top of the strut towers that use the stock nuts.
That makes sense because the nuts on the ECS plates don’t seem to have enough thread to catch the threads on the upper strut mounts like the Way MotorWorks & Cravenspeed defenders , plus the special nuts are real expensive like the M7 plates…
This weekend I'm working on swapping in new mounts on the front, polyurethane bushings in the rear shock mounts, and new sway bar end links. Unfortunately, I've been hung up with one of the studs spinning on the strut mounts. I'll have an update for you in the next day or two when I'm done, but I'm optimistic about the new genuine MINI mounts. I found an R53 group on Facebook with a lot of people from the UK, and dozens of reports of the same issue I've had. Some say Corteco mounts are okay, but the general consensus is that anything except genuine MINI strut mounts can be expected to fail anywhere from immediately to a few thousand miles. I also found generally bad reviews of the Silver Project camber plates, so I went with a new set of genuine mounts. Fingers crossed.
GLEX - Thanks for posting this thread! I "also" just installed a set of new Koni Special Active Struts on the original springs, and the new Strut Mount failed within 40 miles. They were URO's. I've used Lemforder, Meyle and Uro parts along with Bilstein B4's on previous R53/R52 s and never had an issue.....
