Just wanted to send a warning out to those who are going to be overhauling their rear suspension. This is for first gens and second gens (same part on both gens). Lemfoerder is usually my go-to brand for MINI suspension parts and is usually the original manufacturer of the MINI suspension parts.

However, much to my surprise, I ran into a defective design on their rear strut replacement bushings, which are definitely not OEM. The foam material is far too soft and deformed after only 5,000 miles and caused clunking on the back struts! See the attached picture comparing OEM to the defective lemfoerder one.

Be sure to stick with new or low mileage OEM bushings so you don't have to do the repair twice like me.

 

I always try to use OEM parts on my R53, had 3 sets of Lemfoerder rear strut upper bushing pancake in a matter of days after putting in a set of KONI FSD shocks.. Finally installed Powerflex yellows and no problems since.

Really disappointed at all the work I had to do to finally get rid of the clunking, it ruined the drivers side rear KONI,the ram got all scarred up sliding up and down in the little metal sleeve in the foam bushing.Nice.

 

Old thread I know but I've found the same thing, the white version is straight polyurethane that's soo soft. They seem to have taken over the market now and most brands are sending this crap out in their box despite using old photos of OEM looking items. Febi also sell the same sort of make up item but use an orange polyurethane which I guess tricks customers into thinking they're OEM equivalent.

OEM is EPDM foam but it's impregnated with polyurethane and they seem to be a hell of a lot more durable as you know.

 

Really unfortunate they're still making and selling the defective ones. The OEM ones are very durable and I haven't had any problems ever with them. For those on a budget, just reusing you're existing OEMs or a set of used OEM ones from the junkyard will work far better.

 

Agreed bud, they seem to have plagued the market now. Bilstein, SKF, Firstline, ect all selling the same garbage!

 

We just usually use the Powerflex here in our shop as they are about the same price as originals, but work well.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/powerf...-bushings.html

 

Good to know there's a reliable alternate. Looks like that's what Madgepetto installed a few years back too.

 

 

It's 6 years later and tried Febi, KYB and Lemforder bushings in my 2012 Countryman and they all failed basically immediately. The lower bushing compressed so much that it allowed a gap between the upper bushing and steel mounting plate. With the strut out, it looked normal. It was only when I viewed the top of the shock with a borescope that I found the issue Switched to Powerflex and problem is solved.

 

Just saw your other threads on this too. Nine years after my original post, I think my OEM ones are wearing out. I'm hearing an occasional clunk in that area. I was about to order some powerflex replacements, and then saw you started to have the same problem with those too. I guess the OEM MINI ones are really the only way to go for this.

 

Just my preference -
Over the years I've tried to stay OE with all bushings. Ive since abandoned that reasoning. Not all are were longlasting for the $$. The foam rubber OE rear strut bushings are utter garbage. I've since upgraded all my front suspension bushings to powerflex and love the durability and longlasting quality. With the exception of the rear strut mount bushings. I found them to be too stiff. For that reason; I discovered and prefer the hard rubber rear strut bushings from Hardrace


Just my personal preference.
They offer a great balance between hardness, comfort and long lasting durability comparable to urethane.

 

I never knew those existed! I probably would have used those in my R55 when I rebuilt the rear shocks…

 

Years ago; I had previously installed (and destroyed) a set of Bilstien B4's when I'd added a cheap pair of (Manzo) lowering springs on the front. I ditched the lowering springs replaced all four struts with the more affordable pre-assembled TRQ struts. The rear TRQ upper strut mount/bushings were black hard rubber. After a few years riding on those TRQ's (loved them at stock height), I decided to go with height adjustable B14 coilovers. Upon doing the swap, I noticed that after several years/thousand miles, that the rear TRQ bushing still looked near brand new with nary a degredating squash.
I tried to source new TRQ rear bushings for my upgrade but (to this day), they are NA.
After doing an extensive search using different key words - I came across Hardrace. A bit pricey but I was definitely sold on and pretty convinced they are probably the same bushings supplied with the aforementioned TRQ's.

That was about 3years ago. They're still on the car. I'm about to replace the springs on my B14's... Will see how well they've held up so far.....

 

Thanks for the reference! I think I'll give these a try. Definitely a lot cheaper than the OEM ones since the only way to get those is buying the whole mount. And, I think they're a little less than the Powerflex ones too.

My OEM ones have lasted a long time too (over ten years, since the ones I put on 9 years ago were already used at that time).

The weird thing with this part is in the aftermarket parts world, even the big, top name brands that claim to be OE, really are terrible for this part - they basically immediately flatten and fail as we've all documented.

 

Placed an order for the Hardrace ones this morning, but there's a long lead time for them right now - won't show up until the end of August. I'm planning to wait for them, but in the meantime, I ran across these alternate "Problem Solving Bushings" brand poly bushings. Slightly different design vs. the Powerflex ones. Has anyone tried those?

 

I had those installed on my R55 with Bilstein B14 coil overs. I thought they worked fine. Had them installed maybe 2 years before I sold the car, and didn't have any issues with noises. I went from Megan Racing coil overs with the pillow ***** mounts to the Bilsteins with the PSB bushings and OEM hats. The PSB bushings with the Bislteins were MUCH quieter than the Megans.

 

AleksRacing.com has the Hardrace upper rear strut bushings in Stock for $70 + s/h.
If you decide to not wait for Hardrace to ship, you might want to contact AleksRacing to ensure that the bushings are indeed in stock.
​​​​​​AleksRacing
Century 21, 6135 Junction Blvd, Rego Park, NY 11374
Telephone
+1 929-566-3346

 

Thanks for the replies! Good to hear the PSB's appear to be another solid option. I'll probably just go with those, but will also try calling AleksRacing tomorrow to see what their stock situation is.

 

I had communications with AleksRacing a while back about some Ultra Racing parts, and he’s really just an online portal rep. His responses made me believe he doesn’t actually stock anything, but gives those manufacturers a sales outlet.

 

That makes sense. Their Google listing shows a warehouse with some boxes, so they may stock some things. Tried calling this morning, but just got a busy signal.