My '03 Cooper S has 75,000 miles under it's belt. While changing the tires I noticed a dribble of fluid coming from under the cap of one rear shock. I did the bounce test on each corner and the car seems to handle fine on the street as well as spirited driving on mountain roads. Is there a general rule of thumb for shock replacement? X years old or X amount of miles etc.? Thanks! Alfred

 

You can't replace the oil once it has leaked out. Its time to replace the rear shocks.

 

Stock shocks? The answer is as fast as you can after taking delivery of the car. The stock shocks are crap.

If you haven't lowered the car, Bilstein HD's are a good choice as are the Koni FSD's.

If you have, or want to lower the car, The Billy Sport or Koni yellow are great.

 

Except they don't make a Bilstein HD (B6) for the R50/R53.
They do make a Bilstein Sport (B8), which is designed for lowered cars.
It should work ok on stock height cars also, however.
They make a Touring (B4) shock also, but I've never been a fan of them.

http://cart.bilsteinus.com/search/mmid=1417171

 

You should replace your shocks every 50k. I'm actually due right now as my 04 has rolled 60k recently. I'm also applying some new springs which will lose another 1-1 1/4" off my height and am leaning toward the KONI FSD's. do a little research on what you want this is where you can stiffen or soften your ride going forward.

good luck

 

I wouldn't put FSDs on a MINI lowered 1.25".
They won't have enough suspension travel to work well and may not last long in that application.

 

So why is this in the 2nd gen forum?