I have a 05 r53 with h&r touring cup Suspention and I'm running 17" 7x8 with run flats. I have like paint Fran's all on the passenger strut tower. When I hit bumps its loud as hell. How do I fix my problem.

 

While I like this idea, these statistics alone are meaningless unless you factor in other variables....


The R53 MCS wearing 17" RFT's was somthing like 75% of all MINI sales in the USA from 02-06.....

 

So I have a 05 r53 with 17"x 7.5 with run flats. Also I'm running h&r touring cup kit. My problem is when I hit number at slow or medium speed the whole car number loud. I opend my Hood and noticed I have some spider paint cracks on the passenger super strut tower. Also I looked at both strut towers and noticed a slight bump nothing major.

How do I fix this problem please help.

 

56,000 on my '08 S convertible with stock run flats. No signs of any problems anywhere (towers, struts, mounts, paint spiderwebs/cracks etc). I've just now added the reinforcing plates as a precaution. They sat nice and flat; no problems.

 

I must be dumb. I assumed this thread was--to a certain degree--about replacing parts or repairing the problem. I looked through the first 5 pages or so and didn't see a link for an actual how-to. Should that be edited into the first, or one of the first, posts?

 

I have slight cracks in my 02 , both sides but no mushrooming diagnosis ? how much time do I have before I replace them, without doing any damage . Any Idea what it should cost to have done

 

both show cracks but no mushrooming , how long can I drive safely befor replacing , or doing damage. How much will it be at a decent shop ?

 

I had not really serviced my MINI (besides oil changes at Pep Boys and other local shops) for a while, so when I finally (for the first time) brought it to an indy MINI shop, they pointed out the crack and mushrooming of one strut. The crack by that time was three-quarters of the way around. It's stayed like that for the last 3-4 months. I have an appointment to fix it in a few weeks. The bill is about $200 for labor and $92 for parts for one strut, but that includes the labor to deal with mushrooming. If I didn't have mushrooming, it'd be cheaper obviously, but with what I've read, seems unlikely to not have any mushrooming. For my job, double the above amount because I'm having both sides done. The other sides shows mushrooming and the slightest hint of a crack. In addition, the 4-wheel alignment will be another $150. (Now, with all the many other cars I've owned, how many times has this been a problem? Hmmmm?)
Mike Todd

 

I have a question about the work to "fix" mushrooming. Maybe I'm crazy, but it seems to me that when metal stretches or bends like that, it also weakens. And if the metal or the design was strong to start with, this wouldn't be a problem. When you bend it back, you cause additional weakness. So don't you end up with a very weak set up after all this fixing? For comparison, I'm thinking of a paper clip. You bend it one way, it weakens. If you bend it back and forth, you only have to do it a few times before it just snaps. What do I not understand about the MINI?
Thanks,
Mike Todd

 

To replace a strut and do the tower is at most an hours work. $200 labor is too much IMO. To bang down the mushroomed towers only takes about 10 minutes a side. It goes really quickly. Especially if you are all ready taking the struts out.

As far as weakening goes I put on the M7 plates after banging mine back and they haven't moved since.

 

How many bends back and forth does it take to break the paperclip? Probably a lot more than one time back and forth.

Yes, it's not quite as strong as if it had never been bent, but with the proper reinforcement via better quality strut mounts (like Ireland Engineering's fixed camber plates) and top-side strut tower reinforcement plates (aka strut tower defenders, among other names), you won't have a problem. I had light mushrooming on my passenger-side tower, and when torquing my VIP strut tower reinforcement plates down on that one, I felt it pull partway up to torque a number of times and level off before it pulled the metal flat again and actually held the specified torque.

C ya,
Dutch

 

If adding the IE fixed camber plates, will the car need a front-end alignment afterwards? I read where these plates add a degree or two of camber, but if you get an alignment, will they take it out? Thanks!

 

Any time you remove/replace the struts you should get an alignment.
Usually it's fine, but, just to be sure....

You can direct the shop doing the alignment to ignore the out-of-spec camber due to the camber plates. IIRC, other than having adjustable camber plates, camber isn't adjustable on the MINI's front struts.

HTH!

C ya,
Dutch

 

I've heard of people putting after market braces on the top. Is this effective and can someone recommend brands, products, and retailers?
Thanks,
Mike Todd

 

M7 SRP's or Cravenspeed STD's

Ive got the Cravenspeed plates on my car and no mushrooming.

I got mine from Way Motorworks. Way is a good guy with good customer service.

 

How about none of the above. Installed a Tower support plate within 1 month of ownership because I read about the problem.

 

about to replace both strut mounts for the 2nd time in less than a year (about 8k miles). H&R cup kit, strut tower defenders, and non runflat 17" tires. Disclaimer: I do drive on horrible NYC roads

 

So here's what we have in the driveway:

'02 R50, 3/2002 build, BRG:

Cracked mount (correct?) on the passenger side, mushrooming on both

'03 R50, Silk Green:

Cracked mount on drivers side, mushrooming on both

So what's my best option here? The IE fixed camber plates look beefy but will not fit the BRG model due to the build date. Should I get an OEM pair of the cracked things and replace one on each car? And what exactly are these called?

As far as the mushrooming I was thinking of getting both the Strut Tower Defenders and Under Tower Indurators from CravenSpeed. And then of course an alignment.

Anybody else have both of the CravenSpeed products installed?

Val

 

You ppl need new upper strut mounts, 12 years on a strut mount ..the mushrooming is a weak point but mounts are not built to be lifelong! this is a maintenance item! how long have you rode on blown struts? blown mounts? both?

Val- have the mounts replaced, struts and ride height checked to verify they are ok, align and drive.

simplj- you have another issue going on.

 

yeah, i think my issue was being a cheap a$$ and going with aftermarket replacements rather than OEM.

 

Forgot to mention cracked or bent wheels on our 2008 Clubman S. I think we are now at wheel replacement #6. Sorry, but I have owned road cars with real magnesium wheels and not EVER cracked a wheel on any vehicle 'till this one. 6 wheels, really? 17 inch run flats! We upgraded to Koni's, shock tower brace. It is better now but this is a HUGE design flaw in my opinion.

 

I recently discovered that I have mushrooming on my '03 R50 which has always had stock suspension and 15" wheels. I'll see if I can still add this info to the poll.

 

Best upgrade for my clubman was NON runflats and a spare tire since that is
so easy to carry in a clubman.

 

safe to say this is from mushrooming?

 

my 2005 Cooper S JCW 210 with JCW suspension has done this on the passenger side. Its thrown the steering off to the side :(