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First, I should have started this thread at least 18 months ago.
The Recluse is my 2011 Hot Chocolate R55s, purchased on July 1, 2023, with 91,450 miles on the odometer. I had been driving a 2011 VW Jetta Sportwagen with the 2 liter diesel engine/6 speed manual transmission. Had 162,000 on it when someone decided to make a left turn in to the front of it, going fast enough to total it out. I'd been in love with the R55 platform forever, and this was the perfect opportunity to finally satisfy that desire. I didn't really have a preference on color. The checklist had four non-negotiables: sunroof, 6 speed, turbo (S model), and lounge leather. Beyond that, I had no preference for color, mods, etc. I really wanted a car with less than 100K on it, but it wasn't a deal breaker. After looking for several weeks exclusively in the Northeast with very little success, I expanded the search out to 400 miles from metro NY and found this one in Maryland. The dealer agreed to replace the clutch, oil feed/return lines on the turbo, and a few other bits prior to the sale and that was that.
From the day of the test drive:
I test drove a 2013 R55s JCW the same day. There's a part of myself that regrets not buying that car - it remains one of the only JCW clubbies that I've ever seen with an N18 motor, had the factory grey faced gauges, and was sitting at 73,000 miles. But the dealer wanted $4500 more for it, and it lacked the lounge leather interior.
Had been getting a clunk coming from the back end of the car which started shortly after the Minis at the Glen last summer. I suspected it was a bushing problem (isn't it always a bushing problem?), but I've never actually replaced the bushings in one of these cars so wasn't entirely convinced right away. After checking the other obvious things - sway bar links, struts, etc. - I couldn't avoid the conclusion. Of course I wanted to upgrade to polyurethane if I'm doing all the work, but whoa.....sticker shock for Powerflex. Did a little looking around and found PSB (Problem Solving Bushings), and decided to give them a whirl. So ordered up all of the bushings for the entire car, and then life kept getting in the way. Work, winter, and here we are. By the time mid April had hit, it was really becoming annoying, just a constant knock all the time, mostly from the rear passenger side. So I pushed everything out of the way, cleared the weekend schedule, and dove in Saturday morning.... Heading in on Friday night, time for the suspension refresh
I had also decided that now would be an ideal time to upgrade the rear stabilizer bar, as this car just has the factory stock 17mm bar. I found a great deal on the Alta 22mm bar on Amazon, so that's what I went with - $185, and as I have a Prime account no shipping cost. Hard to beat that for value. Oh, and since it was time to take the winter wheels off (actually 4 weeks late on that), why not upgrade to better wheels? 17" VORS VR3, 7.5j with 35mm offset. Again, found a deal on these that just fit.
Parts is parts... but some just make you happier
Decided to attempt what I thought would be the hardest first, so removed the driver's trailing arm assembly to replace the bushing at the front.
And...it's out 20 mm socket needed for this...I don't have one. Box end wrench and the sledge hammer persuaded it enough.
Removing the bushing was a bit sticky. Drilled around the inner sleeve, then grabbed it with a pair of channel locks and ripped it out. Once that was out, was able to take a sawzall and cut the sleeve on the outer edge of the factory bushing; then a screwdriver able to snap it apart.
I bought an entire 'bushing sleeve install kit' on Amazon before this job, and was able to use a combination of the cups/sleeves, in conjunction with the threaded rods, to install the new bushing in to the housing. Sorry, no pic for that.
Next I moved on to the control arms. I decided to drop the subframe before removing them - as it was going to be necessary to replace the stabilizer bar anyhow. There's not a ton of room up there to access the bolts for the inner ends of these, and I thought any extra room would be helpful. Some videos/sites will tell you to remove the exhaust here, in addition to the heat shield. I'm working on a blacktop garage floor, no lift, by myself......I do not want to remove exhaust unless I have to. So I just dropped the driver's side down at the rear hanger, and removed the rear heat shield section. Totally fine, gives you plenty of room. Subframe is only 4 bolts, came right down, and on to the control arms we go. And here is the source of all the clunking....
Qualifies as shot
All 4 inner ends were worn. The removal presented a puzzle, but found a good use for the screw extractor set in the toolbox. MAPP gas was plenty hot enough to heat the bushing up enough to rotate out. Installation was a snap using a bench vise and an oversized box end wrench as a spacer, after cleaning up the inside with a wire brush on the drill.
Use plenty of lube!
After getting all of the bushings in, I reinstalled the trailing arm assembly on the passenger side. That took me until about 7:30 pm, and that was enough to call it a day.
Another night with no wheels
Sunday clean up.....tighten everything up, work patiently and mental check off that ALL fasteners are tightened. Reassembly really much easier than I expected. Will go in for alignment this week, even though I think it's fairly close to where it was when I disassembled. Anytime you take suspension components apart it's best to have it checked. Couple more pics from the reassembly and finished with the new wheels installed....
Driver's side, mostly assembled...still needs brakes! Passenger side, sans brakes. Who needs to stop, anyhow? ALTA stabilizer bar is adjustable; chose the mid setting for the initial install
Next for this car will probably be something less involved. I have a set of gauges sitting on the shelf ready to install, along with some lighting upgrades for the back end. And of course, the front control arm bushings....
Two weeks ago saw the front subframe dropped, installed new control arms with ball joints and PSB urethane bushings on the sway bar and control arms. Went with Delphi control arms - Rock Auto sells these for a phenomenal price, they're made in Turkey and come with new inner and outer ball joints installed - as well as new rear bushings with mounts. Having the mounts included was the difference, as I was able to prep the mounts with the new bushings in advance. The PSB bushing is a 3 piece bushing - there's a 'sleeve' that slides in to the outer bushing that freely rotates inside of it, so it's not necessary to worry about orientation when installing in to the housing. The third piece is a spacer that goes at the back.
Bushing installed in housing It's out Closer look Cleaning it up Looking good!
Install went easier than I thought. Had to re-use one of the rear mounting bolts, because MiniPartsDirect can't seem to follow a pick ticket when pulling/shipping parts. Also installed the new Bremmen valve cover, thanks @ECSTuning while I had in the garage.....
Looks so purdy Pretty clean inside for 134,000 miles Glad I went with silver, really love the contrast!
The only glitch was that the stabilizer bar bushings from PSB were wrong. I had ordered a complete set of bushings for the car last year, specifying 22.5mm size for the front sway bar. When I checked the package, I didn't notice that they had sent a package with 'front' being 16mm in size. They did credit me back for this after a couple of emails, but had to source Powerflex bushings locally to get back together.
Looks like you have a very early N18 engine…. It has the intake sound tube to the fire wall. I thought my Clubman was an earlier version, but mine didn’t have that. Now I’m slightly curious what the cutoff was for production on that thing.
I had the PSB rear shock mount bushings on my R55. Thinking about getting the front control arm bushings for my F60. Compared to the Powerflex versions, you can get the PSB bushing kit and new RockAuto control arm mounts for less than the Powerflex kit.
Last night was time for a FUN project - installed the Scorpion Red Power sport exhaust, and thanks @ECSTuning again!
I've wanted a 'sportier' sound for quite a while, but things kept eating up my fun fund...finally got to the point where I could go for it. Decided on the 'non-resonated- version, in addition to saving a few bucks I thought I'd be happier with the sound. Old exhaust off, that was much easier than I expected
I neglected to take pics of the new system as I was unboxing. It's multiple pieces - a pair of mufflers with nice, large tailpipes, a front flex pipe, and 2 center sections. There was no way I was going to assemble beforehand and install on the car - I don't have a lift - so installed from front to back. After everything was in place, I adjusted and lightly clamped to allow final fit. Went together really well, and no adjustment was necessary.
Looks like you have a very early N18 engine…. It has the intake sound tube to the fire wall. I thought my Clubman was an earlier version, but mine didn’t have that. Now I’m slightly curious what the cutoff was for production on that thing.
I had the PSB rear shock mount bushings on my R55. Thinking about getting the front control arm bushings for my F60. Compared to the Powerflex versions, you can get the PSB bushing kit and new RockAuto control arm mounts for less than the Powerflex kit.
I'm very happy with the PSB products, and the price point is definitely better than Powerflex.
Yes, it's an early 2011 car - build date 09/10. The 'noisemaker' is coming off very soon, replacing with a one piece silicone hose.
Thanks for the feedback, Nik - have a great 'SUN'day!
