2005 Mini Cooper S..currently has 35k on the clock.. has the following suspension mods (all installed approx. 5k miles ago at the same time by the same shop):

H-Sport Springs (1" drop)
H-Sport Adjustable Rear Control Arms
Eibach/SPC Adjustable Camber Plates
Alta 19mm rear sway bar
DINAN front tower strut brace


The entire passenger side of the car is sitting lower than the driver's side by about 1/2 inch...that's understandable to some extent.

But my main concern is that the passenger rear wheel is misaligned: it "looks" like it has much more camber and is definitely is not centered with the wheel well. What I mean is that the gap from the tire to the rear bumper is a 2 finger gap, while the driver's side has only a 1 finger gap. Car has never been in any accident, and to be honest Im not sure if this issue was there before the suspension mods or not. Car doesn't track in any direction when letting go of the steering wheel either. Any ideas?

 

anyone?

 

I suspect you know the answer...

The good news is that the car feels like it drives straight.

The bad news is that the variance in ride height and the variance in camber/alignment are obviously not correct.

I'd consult with the shop in question, and see if they will accept that these are real problems. If so, perhaps they deserve another chance.

If not, shop carefully for another mechanic.

Given that you do not have coil-overs, getting the ride height correct might require removal of the springs and examination of the length and rate on each spring. If there is any variation there, then H Sport should stand behind their product.

To rule out the rear sway, I'd verify that there isn't ANY significant tension on either connecting link when the car is on a flat surface. If the bar is tweaked, or the springs are either not to spec (or perhaps improperly installed) the bar and springs might be arguing with each other - resulting in the car not being level.

Since the rear suspension geometry adds negative camber when the wheels are compressed, I'd tentatively ascribe the camber variation on the RR corner to the difference in ride height.

I assume that there has not been any traumatic event suffered by the car since these components were installed?

For me the bottom line is that for the shop that installed these components to release the car in this state without any comment suggests either a lack of knowledge, or a lack of concern for quality.

Cheers,

Charlie

 

took it to the shop who installed it, and they said they would have to take everything apart to figure out if anything is wrong or not...

 

took it to another shop who specializes in MINIs only...

they took apart the shocks and springs.. loosened the rear sway bar.. could not find anything wrong with the parts... they are guessing it could be 1) a defective rear-passneger spring from H-sport.. or 2) an alignment issue..

verdict is that there is no way to pinpoint the problem.. and Im not sure if this problem existed prior to suspension install or not. No real way to check if the spring is defective without doing a compression test, but at that point the $$ spent to uninstall and re-install, might as well buy a brand new set of springs and install those

as far as the wheel not sitting center in the wheel-well, the shop said "if the car is sitting lower, the placement of the wheel will be different" .. not sure how far of a stretch that is. I know a lower ride = more camber, but I dont think the entire wheel would sit 1/2 inch forward to the front of the wheel well.

what do you guys think? any input would be appreciated.