Hey guys, I just put together an 09 Clubman S for my wife. This is our second clubman, and we've decided to keep it (instead of flipping, they pop up on CL all the time w/ blown motors here). I rebuilt the motor and installed an oil catch can. But I want to get the suspension right. It feels funny when accelerating. Like the car is all over the road. There appears to be a lot of torque steer. When I jacked it up, with the wheel off, I used a crow-bar and lifted under the ball joint, and noticed that the strut tower bushing has a lot of give when I do that. It looks like it's in good shape, no cracks or dry-rot. It's not collapsed like those R53's I see, but at the same time, it seems rather soft.

I also noticed a lot of engine movement as it shifts, so I ordered a urethane mount insert for the torque strap (lower mount). But those strut bushings won't let me rest. Has anyone else noticed a difference after changing them out? they're rather expensive: $130 for OEM. The other brands are so much cheaper, I worry that they are going to fail in 20k miles. I once had this happen on aftermarket motor mounts on my last TDI jetta. 20k miles, and they were worse than the OE with 189k miles on them.

Everything else felt tight and looked good, including the sway bar links and bushings, ball joins, tie rods and struts. Are there any suspension components on these cars that wear and need to be replaced regularly?

 

They should be good 80-100K unless they have been tracked or abused.

The aftermarket ones we carry are good. On the Gen 1 they crack and splits alot. On the Gen 2 they can crack/split a little but also settle a bit.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...nts-split.html