Hi all,

First post here.

My 2010 Clubman S is suffering from horrible cupping of both rear tires (all kinds of horrible NVH back there). I haven't checked the alignment or the shocks yet, but I'm assuming both are bad. Car has sport package and standard shocks with 17" wheels. The ride is pretty crashy over bumps.

Anyway, if the rear shocks are bad I should probably replace the fronts as well (car only has 34K on it). They shouldn't be bad...

Anyway, replacement shocks are $200-300/corner. Looks like some full kits run less than that (both coil over and standard spring). I'm not looking to lower the car or stiffen the suspension (its my DD and I have an M Coupe for fun stuff ). You folks have any suggestions for me? I'd also like to avoid creating any other problems normally associated with lowering a vehicle that already has significant camber.

Thanks in advance!

 

OK, there is a lot about this in lots of different threads.
1st: Rough ride. Do you have runflat tires mounted? The stiff sidewalls don't lend themselves to comfort.
2nd 34K isn't going to crater your struts unless you've been very nasty towards them. If you do wish to change them I would strongly recommend going to motoringwerks.com and ordering a set of KONI FSD struts for a heck of a lot less that you are looking at now. He has them very generously discounted right now.
3rd: Cupping. Have you rotated your tires? MINI tires should be rotated EVERY 5K miles. If you are not sure, Tire Rack website has a complete write up over how to do it depending on directional or non-directional tires. MINIs have a built in negative camber on the rear member. If the tires aren't rotated, excessive wear on the inside tread will begin to tear up the tire.
A handy hint for a handy reminder. Next time your odometer hits a multiple of 5,000 miles change the oil and rotate the tires. You don't need to dig out paperwork to remember when to do it.
Hope this helps.

 

Hi, thanks for tip. Those Konis look like a good option. Price isn't bad either... Although, for only another $100, I can get an H&R coil over Touring Cup Suspension Kit. Decision decisions... but then it'll be lowered 1.4"... Is it a pain to change the rears on these cars? I recall in my BMW I had to remove the entire rear interior trim section to get to the top bolts.

To answer the other questions/comments.

Yes, I have those awful run-flats (BMW why why why?!?!?!)

I sometimes drive the car spirited, but by no means am I harsh with it.

I got the car used 18 months ago (13K miles on it). Can't recall if the wawawa was present then, but its gotten worse. I think the tires were rotated 10K later (Dec2012) - can't recall if the noise was present then. Since then the noise has only gotten worse. Finally took it in to dealer for final warranty check in Dec2013 - I thought the noise might be a bad bearing. Dealer confirmed it was not a bearing, but cupping. He didn't indicate a cause. Since then I manually rotated the tires and noticed how bad the cupping was. After moving the tires to the front, the noise moved with it, and I got a vibration in the wheel. Decided that fixing front steering parts would probably cost more than rear parts, so I put the cupped tires back on the rear after a week.

I'll probably have the alignment checked next week, but won't get it fixed til I change the tires (maybe another 10K). I can live with the noise, and I don't want to buy new tires if the problem is inherent in the car vs. an adjustment.

 

Get new tires. If nothing else they will smooth out your ride. At 34k there can't be much left of them anyway. I went with FSD's and a bigger rear swaybar. Made a huge difference.

 

Clubman rear suspension is easy to remove.. It's all of about 3 bolts..