Took my car into MINI of Towson for an early peace of mind oil change and tire rotation. (was already seeing a little additional wear on the front runflats after my Phil Wicks school back in June at Summit Point ) During a routine inspection the tech discovered about a 1" split on the passenger's side Front Spring Strut Mount. Certainly a surprise to me. Though I've certainly hit some potholes, I think I've dodged far more, and certainly can't recall any I'd describe as teeth rattlers nor can I remember any other curb strikes, etc. The SA said they see their fair share of this kind of failure but never one quite this early on. No problem or fuss getting it exchanged and I'm glad to see they look out for this when inspecting the car. Clearly, as discussed here with frequency, this is somewhat of a weak link in the car's suspension. As said by others, I too would advise routinely doing a visual check of his part.

Here's a picture with the offending split located at about the 6 o'clock position just below the center bearing area. Relatively small split compared to some I've seen here.



All in all, a good first service experience at MoT. I got an overnight MINI loaner (a convertible S with 53 miles no less!). Threw the top back for a summer eve drive and took the wife to a drive in for a burger and shake. Kind of helped ease the pain of knowing my baby had been hurt.

 

How much did the repair cost? My driver side strut top was pushed up a bit and needs repair. I now have to replace 2 tires! The rest of the repair.. Strut top replacement labor 250, Parts, 50 and alignment 180! Basically the repair is 500 and the tires are a little over 500. This fiasco is costing me 1,000 and my deductible is 1,000. I am either getting rid of the 17 rims or the car altogether. Its a year old Cooper S convertible. Im not liking it at the moment.

 

Hmmm . . . rsunico. My repair cost nothing - the dealer changed it out no questions asked. But, I think my damage or failure, whichever, seems far less severe than what you speak of. Are you saying your dealer is putting all of this on you? What did you hit that killed two tires? I do suppose a dealer, if so inclined, might put more of the onus on an owner who in the process of mushrooming the strut mount also shows significant tire or wheel damage. Sounds like a case where one would wish they'd bought that Tire & Wheel Road Hazard Insurance offered by the dealer at purchase.

Anyway, sorry to hear your MINI is not doing its job: making you smile.

 

I did not hit anything per se. I was on the fast lane on an interstate in Rhode Island and the road had drainage grates intermittent with the asphalt. There were cars in front of me and behind me. Yesterday I was driving around with a friend in the northern suburbs of NYC and I saw almost everywhere the same road conditions.. asphalt and drainage grates. But my friend had a Volvo and on his car you could feel the bump it was not horrible; I know that if that was my MINI and if I was in an interstate it would have hurt.

Thanks. the car is banished to the garage and I am enjoying my Subaru.

And NO.. I had no idea that a Road Hazard Insurance was available! I have bought 2 cars from Prestige and not once was I offered this coverage! What is this insurance about? First I heard of it!

I have come to realize that I will never buy a car again that does not have a spare tire and relies on run flats.

 

You did well. This topic of the upper strut supports and mushrooming seems to vary by dealer. My dealer would not cover the mushrooming which I showed them on my driver's side strut tower. My guide support was not cracked/split at all, just bent from the mushrooming. I did not have any tire or wheel damage either. The MINI rep. said that this is a common occurrence in the northeast with the roads & potholes, etc. It appears to be a well known phenomena. Ironically 2 of 3 other MCS's in for service that day had mushrooming as well! I call it a bad design. I love my MINI but I expect that it should be designed to tackle the roads in this part of the country. I just replaced my driver's side strut guide (the thing picured above) myself this past weekend and installed an M7 STB to prevent future mushrooming. Had I installed the M7 SRP's prior to mushrooming I could have had prevented all this for $110. But now my MINI is better than new and ready to put more smiles on the odometer.