I have read about the mushrooming but haven't found many pics to help myself, so I'll post a few of my car.







The first two are passenger side, the last driver's. Sorry for the poor quality. If I need better images or angles I can post more in the morning. Thanks for the help.

 

Doesn't look like it? Use a straight edge to check. But your upper strut mounts are toast.

 

Yeah, just found that today. Any idea what the cost to repair is?

 

I believe the OEM mounts are $75. each. I would think a mechanic could do it in 2-3 hours?

 

Oh thank god... that's better then my power steering nightmare. Total cost: $535 Time in shop June 28 - August 05.

 

What took so long on the power steering repair? Was it done at stealership or independent mechanic?

 

The towers look OK. When you get a chance, get the M7 strut tower defenders, or just buy the complete M7 strut tower brace. That will help with the mushrooming issue.

 

Yes, i'm going to place the order on payday

Michael

 

Give Steve at Custom Mini Shop a call at (559) 320-0004, he is a vendor here on NAM. Great pricing

 

don't order there yet! I just ordered mine from dartauto for $39 each!!!! they arrived and are the exact part# and everything so no funny business going onEverywhere else I've seen these they were $50 or more

link for your pleasure:
http://www.dartauto.com/parts/produc...ls/31306778833

 

I was talking about the M7 stuff. That is a good link for the mounts, if they are in fact the same

 

The repair took sooo long because BBA sent it back the first time... well, still broken. Plus my mecanic was on vation for a week. Grrr. I was thinking about getting the M7 strut tower brace but since that'll put me out of stock for SCAA Solo i'm probably better off with just plates.

Michael

 

You could always buy the M7 with the bar and just remove it when you auto-x.

 

It's tempting, but it seems to me there's something wrong with detuning the car for competition

 

How do you know if your upper strut mounts are bad or not? I've been worried about the whole mushrooming issue since I first got on NAM after purchasing my 2003 MINI. What should I look for, and if they aren't shot, or mushrooming what should I purchase to "defend" these from going bad.

 

If you look in the first picture, you see a huge fissure in the rubber. That's not good - it should all be in one piece.
To avoid mushrooming, either the Craven or M7 plates work well. I like the Craven because of the bolt adapters (gives more thread for the bolts), but M7 is well regarded.