While having the front of the MINI apart to look at a few things we took the opportunity to take a look at the front suspension. Standard McPherson setup - check. Once thing that we did notice though is how the strut attaches to the knuckle.

See, on Subarus they bolt right to the knuckle with a clevis. On the MINI it's a slip connection. From just briefly looking at it it would seem that the backets could be removed, moved up higher, and then reattached. That would let the strut "slip" down further on the knuckle connection regaining some strut travel if you're using lowering springs.

Has anyone done this yet?

 

I've certainly thought about it! The one major thing to look for is the shock body contacting the CV, since it would be extended closer towards it.

I was going to give it a shot, but didn't want to see how thick the shock bodies were. If I had a spare shock I would try to cut off the brackets. The tough part will be not destroying the shock body in the process. Let us know if you pull it off!

 

Just looked at it some more as I was pulling the dust shields off.

It's doable with a bit of careful grinding, but not sure if it would be worth it for all the work.

One could certainly lower it about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch before the CV becomes an issue, but at the same time if you're looking to go that far then it's probably just easier to go aftermarket.

I'll look at it more closely in the next couple of weeks when the coilovers for it arrive and we pull the struts off.