2005 S model has developed a strong rear vibration and an intermittent clunk noise from the rear also. I live on a pretty rough gravel road that is always hard on any car's suspension. I try to keep it under 30mph on my road,
We went over it pretty good yesterday and both wheels appear to be jutting outward at the base (left more so than right). Clunk noise happens over bigger bumps, like bridge/road abutments but not over just minor rough roads, so it is intermittent and not a consistent noise that is easy to pin down.

Looked at camber adjustment rod and looked very solid and unchanged. How can the camber get so bad with the adjustment bar still looking normal?
What should the correct camber be if I take it to a shop?

We tried to narrow the clunk noise down by rocking car up and down while someone listening underneath. Rear bushings looked ok, coil spring looked ok and lower shock moved and looked ok. Exhaust appear tight. Friend thought it was coming from the front part of the trailing arm and I though sound coming from top of shock. If camber is out of whack, could that be causing the noise?
Any ideas?
Anything else you think I can check?
Suzy

 

Well, according the mechanic, I'm lucky to be alive. After car was up on a lift, it became apparent that the upper control arm was cracked 90% through. No way to see this crack with the car on jacks. Car also has SPC adjustable lower control arms (or lateral links). This explained the clunk noise, the camber changing and the brushing noise was the tire actually periodically rubbing on the plastic lining of the rear fender. Noises depended on how the cracked control arm was being flexed during driving. I've put about 4000 miles on it since purchase of easy highway driving except the 4 miles of gravel road (never taken at over 35mph and if Mini's can be off-roaded, it should be able to handle a gravel road. Plus if it was a chuck hole or something rough, the spring or strut should've busted not the upper arm)
Questions:
1. Has anyone had an upper rear control arm break/crack on them?
2. Anyone have any idea what would've caused it? There was no accident or off-road sliding going on.
3. Could the after market sport lower control arms caused the uppers to fatigue if not adjusted properly?
4. How do I tell if it had the springs changed out when the adjustable sport arms were put on?
5. If they didn't change the springs but just the lower arms, could that have caused the upper arm to crack?
I'm already looking at substantial repair costs since both sides should be changed out. If I have to do the springs also to go back to OEM lower arms, it will be a bloody fortune. If the sport bars caused the fatigue, I don't want to keep them on.
Anyone want to purchase a used pair of lower sport arms?
Any comments would be helpful

 

Usually the lower control arm can have fatigue cracks but I have heard of both cracking. The material used on the arms is just a stamped u shaped metal and is known to have problems.

The best solution is to buy a set of used good aftermarket control arms and replace those. You should be much better off that way.