The front end of my '04 strut suspension mushroomed the metal at the attachment to the car body in the engine compartment so I could not keep the front end aligned.

Is the new generation Mini '07 and newer, (I'm looking at a '11 model) improved in the suspension area?

Specifically has this problem been solved or is there an aftermarket fix available?

 

I don't know if they have changed anything... but I know you can take a 2x4 and a bfh(big frickin hammer) and get the towers un-mushroomed. Then put on IE fixed camber plates and a m7 stb and you will never mushroom again.

 

What are these parts and where do I find them?

"IE fixed camber plates and a m7 stb"

 

whoops sorry. Ireland Engineering fixed camber plates and m7 tuning strut tower brace. WMW (www.waymotorworks.com) has the best pricing on this stuff.

 

I would also suspect if your strut tower is badly mushroomed that your top strut rubber bushing is also torn or cracked. The IE Fixed Camber plates are a good choice to help with mushrooming and torn bushing because they offer many benefits over the stock top strut bushing.
- Thicker rubber bushing
- Thicker metal plate
- Increases negative camber by 1.25 degrees to improve handling
- Only costs a few more dollars than the stock mount
Here is a link to the IE Fixed Camber Plate:
http://www.waymotorworks.com/ireland...e-r50-r53.html
Here is a link to the strut brace:
http://www.waymotorworks.com/m7-strut-tower-brace.html

The only issue I have with top strut braces is that I change the oil filter from the top and a brace would be in the way.

 

Get the Craven STB. MUUUUUUUUUUUUCH better design then the M7 by leaps and bounds. The M7 has a major design flaw, and that is the plate gets as thin as 3/16"s. When talking AL that thickness is not near enough to stop the forces that cause that damage.