Hey guys, looking for some advice here...

I know it’s pretty obvious if the the front strut mounts are bad when they start looking like a prolapsed anus, but what about the back mounts? Is there a way to tell if those are bad? I’ve got some general rattling coming from the front and back of my Mini, and I’m trying to figure it out.

Ive also got a popping noise when I turn the wheel when the car is stationary, almost like the spring is jumping around in the mount. Is there any way to fix that?

 

Not sure about the popping noise, but if you remove the rear strut mounts and find the foam has collapsed it's pretty evident. Mine had 110,000 miles on them and were done. I replaced them with the powerflex mounts and like them so far. I'd avoid the lemfoerder ones. I usually like their parts, but the the rear shock mounts have a high rate of premature failure.

 

My experience with Lemfoerder front mounts was the same -- the new ones failed in 6 months. And due to covid most of that time was not even driving, but rather just sitting in the garage.

 

Interesting, as Lemfoerder is the
OEM brand, then again, the stock
ones certainly don’t last forever.
My limited experience with other
brands, however, was that they
were worse than stock or Lemfoerder.
I don’t remember which brand that
was, though.

 

Yes I was told Lemfoerder was OEM. The front ones I installed certainly looked like the OE ones they replaced. And $36/ea was far more attractive than the $120/ea for Genuine ones. But I guess you get what you pay for.

 

Well I can tell you from experience. Do not buy KYB or any front mounts other than Febi or oem. I found out the hard way. First set I got from Amazon lasted a week. The second set were kyb lasted one week. Third set from ecstuning Lemforder front mount. Still look like new after 3 months.

KYB mount

Cheap set from Amazon

These are Lemforder from Ecstuning.

 

One of my Lemfoerders after six months of mostly sitting in the garage, along the new Genuine MINI one that replaced it

 

I’ve read that OEM parts are not always the same spec as Factory. Maybe they use a lower quality insert in their oem strut mount.

 

I have the Lemforder mounts on the front of my 2005 MCS ... 3 years and 22k-miles later still good... great price at RockAuto.

I believe the Lemforders I have are truly OE as there was a dab of paint over the factory logo on one and the other had it spot-ground off.

I'd imagine that there are bad batches of all the good brands including factory-replacement-parts. Sometimes it boils down to the location/materails of the assembly-plant...others that were made in a ‘lesser than’ plant by the OE mfg.

I’ve seen some factory mounts 'OK' at 13 years and north of 100k miles... but I've heard of others that went bad in about a year on a new MCS... go figure.
Batch-quality is what it’s about ... and the factory parts seem to be the most consistent... but still have occasions for failure... not related to use/age/mileage/abuse.

I’d go with the Lemforders again given if I had the need... or the Febi from the feedback I’ve seen. I can't justify the price of the factory part.
If I goth the lemforders again... I'd buy from FCP-Euro..








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That really sux ... not just for the cost of the parts ... but the hassle and downtime.

That mount of yours looks horrible 😐