Thanks guys for the biz nez and hte posts. To the client above (nypepper) who had a flaking issue PLEASE let us know when that happens. You pay for the ALTA warranty so take advantage of it. Call me/us to get it replaced. Sorry for any inconvenience and/or tarnish of the ALTA brand this caused. Let us know if we can help now.

Also, the H&R is a great alternative if you are looking for something smaller. They 18mm is very popular with non-S owners on both the R53 and R56.

Thanks again!

 

thank you for the offer, i would call but i got rid of the alta sway bar a long time ago
the paint didn't bother me the squeaking did. i know some bushings need grease but needed to be re-greased after only 7 months was unacceptable to me. at least the H-sport bar has zerk fittings so it's easier to grease.
the bushing clamps hitting the body was the last straw

putting teflon on the bar does fix the squeak for most people i just don't think i should have to modify a new part to make it right, not when i can buy one that works right out of the box and costs less

as far as tarnishing the alta brand for me. i have had several issues with other parts from you and have seen too many other owners with issues
the list of parts i've had and removed is
sc pulley
rear end links
rear sway bar
light bar
air intake

i will say i still have your intake tube and have no issues with it

 

When looking for an upgraded sway bar, it's easy to fall into the "bigger is better" trap, but don't forget that a small increase in bar diameter makes for a *big* increase in stiffness. Here are some figures, assuming that the same construction is used for all of the bars (material, heat-treating, solid vs. hollow bar, etcetera), and that the endlink mounting holes are in the same place:

18mm - baseline
19mm - 24% stiffer
20mm - 52% stiffer
21mm - 85% stiffer
22mm - 123% stiffer

 

does anyone have the link for the HR rear sway bar???
i cant find it tonight. must be tired. ha.

so HandR WILL fit the r56?

 

My daughter says the Webb Motorsports Extreem Rear Sway Bar is "Dreamy" and "it allows virtually infinite adjustment from 10% softer than stock to 348% stiffer than stock (on the Cooper S)."

 

http://store.webbmotorsports.com/ind...roducts_id=144

looks great, but is 475 dollars...

 

...a bargin at twice the price!

 

The H&R has no reason not to fit. We bolted a hsport rear sway bar right to Erics car as soon as he got it.

 

HERE you go.

Yes!

It's on our shop R56 MCS right now.

On our usual shakedown run around the nearby freight terminals (those guys seem used to me by now...), the car was almost perfectly neutral in steady-state cornering. MUCH improved over the washing-out front end with the stock rear sway bar.

--Dan
Mach V
FastMINI.net

 

thank you very much. and i dont about this bargain and double the price haha. not my kinda bargain.

 

So no special adjustments, bolts, drilling of new holes, etc?
Standard fit?

 

here you go
H&R 19mm

 

are all of you guys using stock endlinks?

 

I am. Way said they're good enough to race with-no reason to replace.

 

if your planning on lowering the car you should get adjustable endlinks
you need to shorten the links to get rid of the pre load
i have the Powwergrid endlinks you can get them from texas speedwerks

 

I'm using the PowerGrid endlinks front and rear - primarily for removing pre-load and corner-weighting the car. If I didn't want the adjustability, I'm sure the stock ones would have survived my autocross exploits.

 

Where did you get the H&R 19mm sway bar for $160?

Thanks

 

The swaybar is IN! Thanls to those 'shameless plugs' I picked up an Alta 19mm at JSCSpeed. The bar went in very easily (with the right tools). I've never heard of needing a 16mm wrench for anything, but went out and got one for the job. You'll also need an assortment of socket extensions to get to some of the bolts, and an allen key to keep the endlink from turning to get that off.

The instructions from Alta were reasonably clear (this is not rocket science), but parts were incorrect. First, the strut takes like an 18mm, not 21mm on the bottom bolt. Only one strut had to be removed. The one on the driver's side can stay as the removal and install was easy enough to get around with it in place. 4 washers were included with the kit but the stocker didn't use any, and there wasn't too much thread on the clamp bolts to justify using the washers and having less thread to hang on.

It would have also been nice to have torque specs for the bolts, particularly the subframe, to avoid any damage or over/under tightening.

The last thing was the teflon tape trick. Trying to wrap the bar once it is in position is next to impossible so I ended up using the provided grease. If you're going to use teflon tape, wrap the bar first before inserting it in the car.

But all went well, and it took about 2 hours working slowly using hand tools.

I set the bar in the middle hole to start out with and it works very well. I'll probably move to the stiffest setting after winter has passed and the snow is gone. Slippery roads will probably make the handling more dangerous with a stiffer bar, at least for an unaccomplished driver.

Thanks for the suggestions, and the information.

Adam - were the instructions for an R53, thus the different strut bolt size? Why include the washers when the stock bar doesn't use any and the bolts are so short? Print torque specs, too.

Candyman - Glad I found JSCSpeed. Good source and real convenient location for me. Price was nice too ($171), but I see it's gone up to $189 right after I got mine. I don't know if you noticed but you have a page that says they're $152 which I assume is an error. You might want to look into that.

I might have gotten another brand, but I don't see other companies on NAM offering as much support as Adam and Alta do here. That counts for a lot, especially for parts that can be installed by DIYers. Those H&R teflon lined bushings do sound tempting though.

Now I just have to be a little more careful about lifting my foot off the throttle in the curves, or I'll be chasing my *** end up the road.

nypepper - I think this is MINI's fault. It looks like they had a beaver chew off some of the car to make room for the stock clamps. And what other car uses carpeting to line the wheel wells? Good thing the MINI is so much fun to drive, or I'd be griping about a bunch of stuff. The heat shield over the turbo is another work of art that looks like it was made by (name omitted to be polite).

 

Thanks for the heads up -- we're still getting caught up on the new & improved website.

Glad to hear you're happy with the bar.

 

I thought the same thing!! I really don't like popping the hood open for my friends to look for that reason. That heatshield!!!!!!

 

It amazes me that people spend hundreds (or thousands) of dollars for carbon fiber intakes to put next to that disgrace.

 

I went and got a Alta 19mm rear swaybar. I installed it at home and it took me about 2 hours. I wrapped the bar with taflon tape and put grease inside the bushings also. I really couldn't get the swaybar attachment bolts unscrewed without removing the shocks. So when it is time to re-grease, I will have to take the shocks off but not the subframe. Since I didn't have any torque specs, I tightened the bolts as tight as it seemed necessary without stripping them. I have the service manual for my wife's e46 and could have taken its values into consideration but I was too lazy to look them up.

I left the setting in the middle position and the car "seems" to turn the corners more flat. I don't know.... I get used to the new feeling so quickly that it is really difficult to tell the difference. If I could drive the same road in another MCS with the OEM 17 mm bar then maybe I could tell the difference...

PS. I recounted the hours and I actually spent 1.5 hrs.
When taking the subframe bolts off, do the ones on the side last. Take off the medial ones first.

 

Thanks Guys! This post help me choose the size and brand of swaybar. I ended up getting alta 19mm for my hubby's 07 MCS. Steve

 

I've got the H&R 19 mm bar in my MC and really love it. The teflon bushings are way cool!

 

I heard about the alta sway squeeking, so I'm gonna make sure it doesnt squeek, by greasing the hell out of it before it goes on. Its gonna be our little project together when his car get's here.