Over on the NAM website there is a thread about the cracked upper strut mounts. Anyone that posts on M2C2 have any cracks?

I have a crack in the passenger side , but would not have known about it unless I read the NAM website thread first. I will be visiting Century (again) to see if they will replace the mount under warranty. Anyone have any success locally with this repair being covered under warranty?

Considering that Jim has never "gotten back to me" with my concern about repairing the rust in the doorsills and my splitting of the PS fan circuit, I am having doubts about taking the car there. Maybe a drive to Charlotte will be in order; how do I get to Hendrick?

This is a LATENT manufacturer's defect on Mini's part as I see it, and it is LAME that this part would be cracking on cars as new as 2005 with only 10-15,000 miles on them. My car is a daily driver, but has only 29,000 miles on it (2003)! Apparently the new replacement parts are beefier looking and reinforced.

I understand that the Mini is a new design, but what about a little R&D here to be sure that:
-the windshields won't crack
-the "leather" steering wheels won't peel
-the doorsills won't rust
-the strut towers won't crack
-the boot latches won't need replacing
-the power window motors won't burn out
-the battery will last longer than 2 years

I could go on and on, but I think I've made my point.

 

First, I have an 03 MC with a cracked (probably mushroomed, Im no expert) passenger side upper strut mount. 30K miles on the nose.

I have searched out the other threads on this topic and I have two questions: Since the layman MINI driver may not read up on NAM, how would one know of this problem? I had no idea until I read the thread, then went out and checked. I also have no idea how long its been like that.

And; since I would have never known of the problem, how much danger was I in driving around like that? If it puts the average driver unknowingly in a dangerous situation, how is it not a recall or covered under the warrantee?

I bought my MINI used so Im not looking forward to making my first dealer trip to see if they will repair it under warrantee:impatient ...thoughts, suggestions?

 

Hey guys sorry to hear this is happening. I know many people with the same problem, one of which is my buddy with an '06 and less than 10,000 miles. I on the other hand have an '05 with over 40,000 and drive the hell out of it (with Koni shocks no less for many miles, now Bilstein coilovers), yet no mushrooming.

As far as getting the dealer to repair/replace under warrantee, I don't know how much luck you will have. Some dealers are better than others at that sort of stuff (not sure how the dealers down here are since I just moved from IN, but the IN dealer wouldn't do anything for people), but I doubt they will do much.

As far as the average owner knowing about the problem, they probably wouldn't unless they notice that the car seems to be out of alignment all of a sudden. There is no danger from the mushrooming unless the body is actually cracked not just bent, which I have yet to see. The best way to fix the problem I've seen is just to jack up the side with the problem, loosen up the strut nuts and use a dead blow hammer to straighten it up. As a preventive action, I would recommend the M7 strut reinforcement plates or strut tower brace, they do actually work (my buddy with an '06 put plates on his car brand new only to sell them to someone else who needed them so he went without for about a month, at which time one side started to mushroom, he hammered it back down, put new plates on and has no problems so far).

Hope you can get the problem worked out.

 

Ok, since my passengers side is also cracked, what do I need to order to repair it and where would I order it from? MINI??
Im going to go with the plates but was hoping I could order everything at once.
Thankyou

 

biz: Is your body cracked or just mushroomed (bent)? Is your strut top (black metal part screwed onto shock) cracked or bent or is it ok. If it's the body and it's bent, you don't need to order any parts, just a little manual labor with a dead blow hammer. If it's cracked, you have a serious problem and will need to go to a body shop. If your strut top is bent, again only need a little manual labor with a pair of pliers to bent it straight again. If it's cracked, you will need to order a new strut top, in which case you might as well get a set of camber plates instead because they would cost almost the same and you would get a very nice handling upgrade. Hope this helps.

 

im going to check....

 

it's that spongy stuff that has the crack , around that bolt
thing.....as far as what damage might be under that , or in the bolt
it'self
, do I have to get under the car to check that ?
. on both sides the red housing.. around the black hole and spongy stuff with the central bolt seem pretty much the same, flat so i wouldnt call them mushroomed unless its more subtle then i can see.

 

Depending on how bad the crack is you may need to replace the strut tops. It's normal for the rubber to get a hairline crack (not all the way through the rubber) and isn't a problem. If the crack is deeper the strut top/s will need to be replaced. I believe they are around $130 (ballpark) each to replace while a set of RDR camber plates will run you $450. If you have two or even only 1 strut top/s with a deep crack, I would recommend getting camber plates if you do any autocrossing/track days, or even just hard twisty driving. Deep cracks aren't a critical issue unless you see greese coming out of them so you can drive on them still. If you are interested in the camber plates or just don't know what you should do give Waylen from Way Motor Works (317-201-8670) a call. He'll know exactly what you need and if you need them installed he'll be down in S. Carolina next month for a mod party either at my house in Seneca or in Greenville (not sure on location yet).

 

I talked to Jim Pickett, Century's service advisor, yesterday and specifically asked about the rusty door sill issue. He said that there's nothing that either he or Century MINI can do about it at this time. BMW is aware of the issue, but has issued no directives to their dealerships. Therefore, his hands are tied.

Jim, Brent (one of the techs) and I have been working on getting the fan circuit split underway in my '03 MCS and I think it'll be happening soon. Don't forget that this service bulletin is more than two years old and no one had asked them to do it before I did a few weeks ago. We had to dig up the service bulletin (filed by MINI under "steering and wheel alignment", so a bit hard to find) and they're ordering the parts kit to do the job on my car next week.

So slow down and work with them on the issues you're mentioning with your car and maybe you'll get better results that blasting them on a public forum. I know a lot of m2c2 members have had good service experiences with Century and I'm sure you can too.

Lee J.
Flat Rock, NC

 

Lee,

Sorry, you're not first. I asked Jim SPECIFICALLY about splitting my PS fan circuit at least 6 months ago, and he said that he had never heard about it, and that I was the first to ask about having it done. He told me directly that he would ask Brent and "get back to me" with his reply. I took that to mean that he would call me the next day or two. I never heard back. My car is an '03, 12/6/02 build, and I found out about this split on the internet a year ago.

I understand that the man is EXTREMELY busy, but I don't want to keep pestering him with a visit or phonecall, but maybe I should. Maybe he forgot.

As far as the rust on the doorsills goes, that is the response that I expected from MINI/BMW...nothing. I guess some owners are lucky enough to have a dealer that will foot the bill for a repair that should be covered under warranty, while others are on their own. I haven't even approached Century about the cracked upper strut mounts yet, but I will be this fall, before my warranty runs out. The decent thing for MINI to do would be to issue a TSB to all dealers and get the mounts fixed while under warranty. The new mounts are "beefier". This is a defect in design, not in driving technique. The vast majority of the cracks are on the passenger side. Again some owners have had their dealers fix this item no questions asked, while others are s.o.l.

I wonder what will happen to me? This inconsistency among dealerships is ridiculous. One dealer will fix this thing, while this dealer won't. MINI/BMW knows about the problem, but won't issue a directive (TSB)? Pathetic. Same as the cracked windshield issue.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this car. I understand it was a new design and there are/were "growing pains" in it, but as I see it I have a warranty to fix things like rust and cracked strut mounts in the first 4 years of ownership.

 

I'm not being Jim's apologist here, but am noting that I've had a completely different experience with him and with Century over the past four years. Yes, sometimes you have to call him back: It's called "follow-up" and it goes both ways.

I'd suggest working with the dealership to get these issues corrected, not just bitching online about them. That course may be good for letting off steam, but not for getting results.

Lee

 

BTW, my dealer found a broken strut mount (passenger side) during Inspection I today and replaced it under warranty, no questions asked. I didn't even know there was a problem until I brought it in.

I have an '03 MCS (12/02 build), just over 28K. I bought it used a year ago from a local non-MINI BMW dealer - it had just 7800 miles then. So I've driven it a little bit in the last year.

My local dealer is Brian Harris Mini, Baton Rouge, LA. I have to say my experience with them has been really good overall, other than a short time after Katrina when they were slammed with New Orleans BMW business.

Also, our roads here in south Louisiana are really torn up. Blame a cheap state government (so bad roads to begin with), cane trucks and oil industry related traffic. We've had similar issues with our 94 Nissan Maxima too, though after many, many, MANY more miles than on the MINI.

 

any pictures on the cracked mount?

 

You may want to check out this thread. Lots of good info about cracked upper strut mounts
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ed+strut+mount

It's a common thing with the MINI.

 

FYI, I just put M7's strut re-inforcement plates on my '06 for added insurance against the mushroom epidemic. Approx. 100$ = peace of mind.

 

With the added reinforcement at the top of the strut towers, are you worried about the welds cracking where the top of the shock tower meets the rest of the body? My SA told me this can happen with hard front end hits and I have concerns that the M7 plates may keep the mushrooming from happening at the expense of the body welds cracking. Comments?