I’m installing the OEM Bilstein front struts on my MINI, but I can’t seem to get it in. It looks like the angle is good, but when I use my jack to push up at the lower control arm, more pressure is applied but the strut doesn’t move.
any suggestions?
I have verified it is the right strut and right side, I brushed both the hole and the strut with metal wire brush and sprayed them down with a lubricant (WD40)

When I measured the diameter of the stock and this one,’it appears the Bilstein is 1mm bigger.

 

Needs to be almost perfectly aligned, and there is a tab that has to slot into the knuckle on the back side.

 

the slot is correctly aligned, but it hasn’t even gotten that far in.

 

Maybe jack up on is as you were and tap the side of the knuckle with a hammer.

 

Ended up hammering the bottom of the knuckle with a big ole hammer and it slowly but surely made its way up! Thankful for this project to be done.

 

So I test drove it down the neighborhood street, and both front left and right now clunk. Not sure what I did.
Is it safe to drive to a shop?

 

if it still feels solid despite the noise, probably ok.

I assume you reinstalled the sway bar links ect? If not those might tear up some shlt.
Brake caliper bolts if you took those off.
Otherwise probably something with the top hat assembly.

 

My guess would be end links not tightened appropriately... Would be worth it to lift the car, take a wheel off, and check everything out. Make sure you lift both front wheels off the ground to check the end links.

 

Ok, I'm gonna go ahead and tighten the strut nut and hope that fixes it.

As far as the end links, I torqued them to 41ft/lb. I only loosened the upper part and not the lower part of the end links, so I didnt check the torque at the lower part of the end link. Could the lower part have been untorqued when I detached the upper part of it?

 

nope.

 

Since this sounds like the most challenging part of the install, perhaps it was not fully seated.

 

Could you elaborate on what you mean by not fully seated?

 

Did you use a spreading tool on
the knuckle? I found it really
useful when I put Koni Yellow
struts in a few months ago.
This one works really well but
a 1/4 inch drive adapter is
cheaper and also works but not as easy.

 

I didn’t! I wish I had gotten one like that. Would’ve made it a whole lot easier.

 

Sure in the image below. Perhaps the bottom of the strut was not fully inserted into the control arm (circled in red below. I believe this is what you were referring to as challenging in your first post. If it in not fully inserted and tightened, just the slighted metal on metal movement will make noise.