It is hard to tell from a top shot whether the strut tower has mushroomed or not. You have to look at the strut towers from the side or head on. Basic test is to put a flat surface (such as the M7 strut tower reinforcement plates) on the strut tower top. If there is no space between the reinforcement plate and the strut tower top, no mushrooming. If there is a space between the reinforcement plate and the top of the strut tower, there is likely mushrooming.

The claim about abuse is a bit of a reach. I would take the car to another dealer that is not as hostile. What constitues the abuse test? - the presence or absence of mushrooming? I would like for them to explain that to a Small Claims Court judge....

 

Just checked my GP after I heard about the "mushroom" issue (now that MTTS is over) and I'm glad to know about the information in this thread so I can keep an eye on this. My MCS is smooth and flat on both towers, the driver's side on my GP has a small "crease" upwards in one area, I'm going to check that out further.

GoodFinder

 

After reading this long thread, I decided to check my 06 MCs, @#$%^&* a b#$%^ch, my driver side mount has a crack. I cannot believe after just 1600 gentle miles, can't remember hitting any big potholes, the mount is shot. I guess I will need to contact the dealer. Is this a sign of worse to come if left alone? Thanks.

 

Not quite sure what your crack resulted from but here a look at a manly crack

 

Wow, that's quite a crack . Did you get it fix? Any mushroom grown? I am thinking of waiting to see if that gets worse, but at the same time, don't want to turn into a shroom grower. Any advise here?

 

My Question is: Does the fix alleviate the problem of mushrooming? I have an 06 on order being built at this moment. I want to get things figured out and setup before I get the car. I will hit bad roads the first 1 minute after I drive it. I could go for an m7 plate system if they solve things or are beneficial to the new design as well.

If this cant be fixed I might refuse the mini at the store. I dont want to spend 26k on a piece of crap.

 

Well, I don't think the re-designed mounts will eliminate the problem of cracked upper strut mounts. It may reduce the incidence of cracking, but eliminate? I tend to doubt it. I have hit a pothole at ~25 mph that bent the wheel, broke the tread bead in a /50 series tire and caused a better than 180 degree tear in the strut mount. Frankly, I doubt that there is any way to re-design the strut mounts to eliminate the possibility of tearing/cracking under any road condition. For that, you have to change the suspension parameters (toward something along the lines of what Land Rovers or H1 Hummers have). And, I still haven't heard where the M7 plate system will reduce or eliminate strut mounts tearing/cracking; the M7 plate system may resist mushrooming of the strut tower sheetmetal, but that is subject to debate. If you have torn strut mounts and the springs and strut head is pounding against the plates long enough, the plates will ultimately fail as well.

I don't know if I would make the conclusion that the MINI is a piece of crap.... But, I would ask myself if I was prepared to do regular inspections of the strut mounts (like every time I put gas in the car). And if I found a cracked mount, was I prepared to deal with taking the car in for replacement of the strut mounts? For me, checking the strut mounts is not an issue; popping the hood and checking the mounts is like maybe a 10 second event (and that is on a slow day when I am fumbling to find the bonnet release lever on the left side of the bonnet).

 

The way I understand it, the SRP is for stengthening the strut tower, not the rubber strut mount. One potential solution would be going with aftermarket pillow mount that ultilizes polyureathane (I guess I spell it right). In my mind, only some sort of trianglate plates jointing (from underside) the top and inner sidewall of the tower area can strengthen the tower. Of course, that's easy said than done, as there's no room for such mod when the strut assembly is installed.

I have an 06 and I drove it with TLC for 1600miles. The only thing I have done is to make high speed turn on a few occasions. The other thing I can think of is going over a couple bumps on the driver side at slow speed, although it felt like flying due to stiff suspension. No major hit to suspension at all!

If it doesn't progress any worse, I will leave mine alone. It is very disappointing nevertheless.

 

I think the mushrooming would be much worse in repairing and costs than the strut thing cracking. Would you advise getting the m7's right away? I am not a mod person but this realy isnt a mod its a possible saving thing.

also, i bought a road machine to be a road machine. I dont want to treat it like it's a pansy machine. There are bumps around here on a regular road that I dont even consider a real pothole that would make anyone with 17 inch rims cry. This is much more of a serious issue in NYC.

 

The M7 plates will do nothing to prevent tearing/cracking of the strut mounts. If you are prepared to frequently inspect the mounts for tearing/cracking, you will likely catch a torn/cracked mount before the strut tower sheetmetal mushrooms.

The real question is to what extent do you want to do the inspection thing? Also, if the roads are hostile to 17 inch rims, that will be a problem for any car you get, not just the MINI.

 

well, I am not getting the 17's. I wish I could swap for someone's 15's to be honest. If anything ever cracks im going straight to 15's and more tire/air bounce. the standard S 16's with runflats arent the best but they are free which is neat.

 

I noticed this on my strut mounts: Lots of a clear oily substance, on one side only. What could this possibly be? I don't see any cracks.

 

To all that have experienced the dreaded strut mount failure (and/or mushrooming), there is a new thread/poll at:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=78629

Please participate in the poll. Thanking all those who participate in the poll in advance.

 

In my case I had driver's side mushrooming with NO cracks in either strut guide support. Since the dealer & MINI rep. would not cover it under warranty, my fix was replacing the guide support, reworking the sheet metal, and installing an M7 STB.

 

Does the m7 STB stop mushrooming? I dont care if the strut cracks and explodes so long as the body doesnt get f'd up.

 

That happens to my driver side too, I'll grab some photos later.

 

Anyone ever correlate this with running 17-inch or larger wheels?

 

They are a major major improvement over the stock set-up and you shouldn't have any deformation of the sheatmetal of the body (mushrooming) once they are installed.

 

even on a newer 2006 model? I read somewhere that Mini did some improvements on suspension in order to eliminate this problem.

 

The change on the 2006 was to the strut upper mount, not the tower itself. That change appears to have been made to address the cracked upper strut mount problem.

His question was about the mushrooming. For my piece of mind I would not rely on MINI's 2006 strut mount change to remedy the mushrooming problem since the strut tower and the load path into the strut tower is still essentially the same as it was on the 2002-2005 MINIs.

Therefore, to prevent mushrooming, even on a 2006, I think the reinforcement of the strut tower makes sense. I have the strut reinforcement on my 2006 MINI (which I run in combination with camber plates).

 

I know some of you have mentioned having problems with getting OEM replacements under warranty. I was expecting this with mine, but Crown Mini in Richmond, VA replaced it without a question. Overall, I have had great luck with the guys over there.

 

IF there is no way of harming the mini with the M7's, I think it would be advantageous to get them. If also it had no bearing on warranty, it seems like a small price to pay for strengthening.

 

[quote=Dave]The change on the 2006 was to the strut upper mount, not the tower itself. That change appears to have been made to address the cracked upper strut mount problem. [quote]

Sorry Dave, 06 still has the rubber mount problem. I just found a slit (crack) on my driver side (see pic posted above). I am deciding whether to take it to dealer or not.

 

Sorry to hear that. Hopefully the '06 strut mounts at least prove to be "better" on average over time, even if they aren't "fixed."

BTW, all I was trying to point out above was that MINI changed the strut mount, not the tower, so mushrooming still remains a concern.

 

Does the m7 plate effect warranty or is it speculation that it does?