Hey guys,

I know theres a ton of threads on strut tower mushrooming and i've read through a bunch of them and after looking at our R53 I never noticed anything and the strut tower always looked straight till finally today all the info came to me, and i understood what i was looking for.

Sure enough i had found that the drivers side mount began to mushroom slightly and it pissed me off a little that they could make such a poor design.

Anyways, i haven't decided which route is the best to take, i'm leaning toward the Mini Madness plates that go UNDER the tower. Are these good? Are there any other similar plates that do the job better? Should i also get a strut bar or top plates as well? Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.


Some question to those that have done the install, can the strut mounts be bent back also or do they HAVE to be replaced? I haven't noticed any cracking in the rubber. Also does the Mini Madness plate actually FIX the tower mushrooming once you install them or is that some of their marketing to get people to buy it?



Also, my main concern is, has anyone noticed mushrooming AFTER fixing their strut towers using reinforcement plates?

Any help would be appreciated, as we have some 17" wheels on the way in the mail to replace the 16" winters and i want to make sure that i prevent any further deformation.

Thanks

 

Aloha,

Had the same problem w/my '06 S - slight mushrooming. Took it in to dealer since car is still under warranty - got the expected song and dance from their service department!

This is definitely a poor design on Mini's part.

I ordered some M-7s, but after trying to make them fit, decided I didn't want to beat on my car w/a 2x4 and hammer.

Instead, I purchased a set of reinforcment plates from Mini-Madness - quick delivery, good illustrated instructions, and a snap to install (NFI). All tools needed are listed on the instruction sheet.

The deformed towers pulled right down with little effort and car handles noticably better.

I have rechecked the torque several times over the past week, with no issues.

Hope this helps,

Mike G.

(now I have to sell off the M-7s)

 

Hey Mike,

Thanks so much for the info. I couldn't stop thinking all day about how angrier I would be if I still had the car under warrenty and they refused to fix it.

I guess i'll be getting my hands on the Madness plates then but from what i read putting the cherry on top (the M7 plates) would reinforce even better, and i'm considering either getting those or the strut bar. If you already have the plates i would toss them on top.

Just some more questions for you, how long have you had the plates on? Did you have to purchase new strut mounts or did the mount plate pull back into shape with the install?

 

I know beating your car with a 2x4 and hammer does not sound like something you want to do but let me assure you that its nothing at all (yes the problem pee's you off but trying to get the dealer to sort is just going to get your angrier) I did it, didn't damage the paint at all and bolted on cravens, job done, I drive on HORRID back roads in the UK for most of the day and they had not budged on bit, I just took them off as the car is sold.

Peter

 

The M7 plates are def. the way to go. They look great, works great, and the strut bar is a bonus. It's a bit expensive as all strut bars do the same but because of the mushrooming plates, it is def. worth the money. My Passenger side was mushroomed and I couldn't get the M7 plate on that side, what I did was jack up the car on the passenger side, unscrew the bolts, use a thick 2x4, and beat it down with a heavy rubber mallet or a dumbell. Don't use a hammer! Hammers are ineffective because it doesn't have the weight to a dumbell or a mallet. With the right tools, you can flatten the tower in about 5 minutes.

 

I've recently noticed the same problem on mine. I've been looking for the best solution. The madness plates appear to provide the strongest solution to the problem. These plates offer a large bearing surface to distribute the forces. The top side plates like the M7 design might prevent deformation but they work by transferring the force to the 3 strut mounting studs. Mechanically it may be strong enough, but it is probably not the strongest solution. The compromise with the madness plates is an increase in ride height of about 1/8 inch.

 

Hmm... those of you with the Mini Madness plates that go underneath... is there any downside? Do they affect the suspension travel? Do they affect ride height? Do they affect fitment of a strut tower brace on top?

I am just trying to appreciate what the negative impact (if any) is on installing them.

(Also, we are talking about these, right?)

 

Yes those are the plates I'm referring to. I understand what people say about the M7 plates and it makes sense to me. The best solution would be the Madness plates. I'm not worried about getting the dealer to fix the problem as i do all my own work on my cars, the car has long past it's warranty date, it just bugs me that car manufactures neglect admission to a faulty design.

Thanks for all the help so far

 

+1

and no problems AFTER installing the M7's either.

 

Aloha again Soldo and Edge,

Sorry for the tardy reply to your inquiries - was out enjoying the Hawaii weather:

1. Have had the plates on for over one month - island roads are pretty bad, but no further issues have surfaced.
2. The strut mounts pulled right back into shape as I torqued down the fasteners.
3. No change in ride height or suspension travel noted after the install.
3. I agree - the ultimate would be to have top/bottom reinforcement, so
went outside and pulled off the nuts to see if the M-7s would fit. In my opinion, it appears the stock strut mount bolts are too short to accomodate both the Mini Madness plates and M-7s safely. This would probably apply to mounting a strut tower brace, depending on its plate thickness.

Perhaps when I change mounts to an aftermarket unit the mounting bolts will be longer.

This leads me to ask readers - does anyone have recommendations on aftermarket units which will be more durable than the stock units?

Mahalo,

Mike G.

'06 Chili Red Cooper S sporting 18" JCW wheels, CF wing spoiler and flames...

 

Great info, I'll invest in one of these.

 

If you do much driving on twisty roads, Ireland Engineering fixed camber plates are the way to go. Here's a good thread on the topic: https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ndersteer.html

 

The Madness plates WILL increase front ride height by the thickness of the plate - otherwise magic would be required. They're not very thick (just a few mm) so whether that matters or not depends on how picky you are about these things...

 

I use the Craven under tower indurators

http://cravenspeed.com/index.php?pro...wer-indurators

which are $25 less than the madness and only difference is less bling (which you can’t see anyway). I also use the Craven strut tower defenders on top and have had no deformation or problems.

Steve

 

I just ordered the Mini Madness ones. I looked at the Craven ones too (thanks Steve), but I liked the Mini Madness ones because they appear to cover the entire surface of the shock tower, spreading the force wider, whereas the Craven ones only appear to cover the shock tower mount. I didn't care about the red color nor the included strut tower covers!

 

My M7 plates just arrived this morning. I plan on installing them tomorrow at work during my lunch break. Hopefully I won't see any mushrooming... Haven't noticed any yet but today's commute could be the one that does it in. Damned Palisades Interstate Parkway here in NY... They can't repair that road quickly enough after winter.

 

I'm betting they are at least slightly mushroomed, you will notice when trying to put the plates over the bolts.

 

Installed them during lunch without a hitch! They torqued right down to 25 ft lbs. The "M7" window stickers supplied are sharp looking too. I've got them right above the North American Motoring stickers on the left and right sides just behind the door trim (in the blackened out glass section).

 

I've had the M 7's over 2 years driving the swell Milwaukee roads and I've had no schrooming.despite many tongue biters. I get the point re: the under/over solutions and won't quarrel with them. I'm just saying that in my case the M 7's have been perfectly adequate.

 

I ordered the strut tower reinforcement plates from Mini Madness yesterday so I should have them by at least Monday. Thanks again for providing this info.

 

I recently blogged a few thoughts about strut tower reinforcements here.

I have M7 Strut tower plates on my car now. Though I don't think I really had that big a problem.

 

I'm looking at ordering the MINI Madness ones for the same reasons. I've already got the Craven STDs on my car and just want the added protection of having a plate underneath. The roads in Alaska are NOT MINI-friendly, as I've found out the hard way.

How long did it take you all to install your under-tower plates?

 

Beken, the Madness plates add 1/8" to the height. Period.

I cannot think how you could possibly imagine anything else, particularly the absurd thought of adding 3/4" of height with a 1/8" thick plate. Sorry, but that's just plain foolish.

Also, the installation takes about 45 minutes for both sides, for anyone with any kind of jack. You remove three nuts from the top. You jack the car, you slide the plates in, drop the car, and reinstall the nuts.

 

Not going to argue with you, OldRick. With all due respect to those who think the added height is a big issue, the added height will be barely noticeable if at all. I would agree that the MINI Madness method is better than the solution of the bolt on top plates, and that by bolting on flat plates underneath would eventually flatten out the mushrooming tower without hammering, I have seen badly mushroomed towers add more than 1/8" to the ride height when the MM plates are initially installed.

One of the reasons I rarely go on NAM anymore is because people come on and argue over things that I have observed. I'll remain a fool.

 

How well will these work with aftermarket camber plates. I have a set of the ireland engineering ones and would like to use both.