I just had my rear shocks and the mounts replaced after they were both leaking and making a tumbling noise whilst driving.
The car definitely rides better now, but it is still rather stiff, especially when driving over uneven surfaces. This makes me wonder whether I should replace the front shocks as well. My R56 has almost 119k miles.

What are your thoughts?

I've attached photos of the front suspension. Does this look like MINI original?

 

I am the original owner of my BMW and my MINI, and my rear shocks on the BMW were completely shot at 80K miles. When I disassembled the front struts, they were in better shape, but I'm still glad I replace them. Based on the BMW experience, I changed everything on the MINI too. The condition of the MINI components was similar to the BMW.

it's hard to tell from your picture if those are original. I'd replace the struts, upper mounts, dust boot, and bumpers. ECS Tuning sells a nice kit.

 

+1

 

Thank you! I contacted ECS Tuning, but they said there was no such kit.
I put those items you mentioned in my cart - would I need any other items? Like the strut caps, washers, nuts, etc. to go along with it?

Also, I just had my car aligned after replacing the rear shocks (had been a few years since I had had one), would I need to get another alignment after replacing the front shocks?

 

Sorry about that; you are right ... no kit, but they do sell all the little bits and pieces.

What are the last 7 digits of your VIN? We can pull up the parts manual to make sure you get all the items you need.

Yes, you will need another alignment.

 

Thanks man! It is TW72010.

 

Hello, are you talking about this kit: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-assemble...31306772749kt/

Pics will be here soon, but you can see the list on our site under kit contents.


Then you can get Special actives kit: https://www.ecstuning.com/b-koni-par...89/87451189kt/

 

You can't tell from the pic if those are bad, but with 119k they are for sure worn and a new set won't hurt at all.
Save your money as you don't need to buy a bunch of bolts, nuts, bump stops, and boots as you can reuse all that stuff no problem.

I'd just get the front Koni shocks, and inspect the top mounts. If the rubber on the top mounts is good reuse them. Otherwise we do offer replacements which you can upgrade too.
https://www.waymotorworks.com/koni-s...7-r58-r59.html

stock mounts
https://www.waymotorworks.com/front-...7-r58-r59.html

fixed camber upgrade
https://www.waymotorworks.com/irelan...5-r56-r57.html

 

Thank you!
I removed the cap and inspected the top mounts. They're starting to crack, so I guess it'd be best to replace them?:

 

Just in case this is still useful information:
This is what the factory front struts of my R56 looked like (cooper non-s, standard suspension, built in November 2010, german spec).

 

Some parts can be reused; others should be replaced. Good grief ... we're talking 20 bucks per side. Pull the part numbers from the link below, and run it through Google to find the best price. I put Bilstein shocks on our MINI back in 2015. Very pleased!

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-bilstein...22-215949~bil/

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=31_0777


8-11 should be replaced, why spend hundreds of dollars on struts only to save 40 bucks on some plastic/rubber bits that are worn out?

These tools make the job easier, and don't forget newtis.info for your repair procedure steps.


https://www.ecstuning.com/b-schwaben...e/003046schkt/

 

Thank you for all your help!

I will replace the struts, 8-11, as well as #1!

I'll be sure to post some pictures when it's all said and done! Wont be until July, however, because of travel etc.

 

Oops, I forgot about #1. Sorry about that. In the context of the thread, we were talking about the rubber bits, but the upper strut mounts should always be replaced. Don't forget to ask your alignment shop if you need to cut off the alignment pin on the upper strut mount before you install them. What my shop told me when I took my BMW into the shop is that pin has to come out to adjust camber angle. I confirmed this in my Bentley service manual, but you can't unscrew this pin on the aftermarket strut mounts.

 

Yes I would replace those mounts. But the rest of the parts I wouldn't bother as I have customers with over 250k miles on all those stock rubber and bump stops. If there isn't anything wrong with them save your money.