I just had the following installed on my 04/ Cooper S by a well respected local BMW mechanic/tuner/shop:
-HSport springs, Koni rebound adjustable shocks & HR rear sway (no HSports to be had at the time.) I love the new suspension but have a new & very annoying SQUEEK that seems to be eminating from the R. rear of the car. The noise is becoming more frequent at the 400 mile post suspension install mark.
-This rapid, pulsing squeek is happening on all but glassy smooth street surfaces. When stationary I can not rock or push the car into making the sound and when I climb in the back & have my wife drive me around to get a better listen the SQUEEK seems to diminished somewhat.
-During my quick visual inspections everything seems OK underneath w/ no binding or rubbing of suspension parts (but it's hard to see w/o a lift.)
-Question: could this be a wonky rear hatch sound or one of several potential non-suspension noises OR does this sound like my aftermarket suspension (stops, rubber cushions or faulty Koni strut or WHAT?)
-Thank's for your input!!!
-PS: I do not work on my car other than oil changes & tire rotation so I am not well versed in actual suspension installation.

 

Ive yet to try the Koni's but on my TEIN's I use on my other cars, when
the stiffness is set pretty firm the struts start squeeking as if a mouse
was living in my car.

I would suspect lack of lube in the swaybar bushings or coming from the
strut valve itself.

I would try:
1. Spray WD40 onto the swaybar bushings to see if that take it away.
2. Soften the firmness on the Koni.

If the WD40 works, then I would take off the bushings, wipe down
the WD40, lube it with lithium grease (inside and out of the bushings).

Hope that starts you off, at least. :smile:

 

Yeah, lube up those sway bar bushings ! grease is best for them, as the light oil will dissapate quickly and go away, bringing back the squeek!

 

One of the bolts that secures the shock perch to the body had loosened & caused all the noise. It took a while to track down but now Mini runs a silently as stock. The Koni/HSport set-up is simply outstanding! Excellent city manners and great progressive responses' for aggressive driving (no track time yet.)
If only everything were so simple.

 

Great to hear. I am thinking about getting Koni's later on, so this is good
news to me too. :smile: Do the Koni's adjustment ***** have a click action?
If so, how many clicks does it offer from full soft to full hard?

How did you set up the shocks firmness to? Med soft, soft? How many
clicks is that? (Im kinda want to know a good starting point would be
for street setup especially for the rears since its a pita to adjust them
once on the car).


Also, I think I read something where we would need to drill the top hats
on the rear larger to accomondate the piston shaft of the Koni's...is
that true?

Thank you.

 

Yes, you do have to drill out the hats, not a big deal.

Konis do not have clicker adjustment, and the adjustment range is two full turns. I set the rears in the middle, one turn out from full firm. I started with the same in the front, but added another 1/4 turn towards firm after driving. Seem pretty good (with H&R springs) at this point.

hope this helps.

Phil

 

Thank you, Phil! :smile:

 

My Koni/Hsport set-up sounds pretty standard:
-Rears need to be app. 25-35% softer than fronts (you can play w/ this but too much rear damping is a no-no)
My current sertting:
-Front are set at 3/4 full
-rears at 1/2 +
This is good for daily driving and is outstanding for backroad racing (I live where there are many winding blacktop roads w/ fast banked weepers.) In Dallas traffic the car is great, very slingable, aggressive city driving.
-My HR sway is set to the stiffest position .

As the recent owner of a new E46 M3 w/ a Dinan/Koni suspensiion I think the Mini w/ the Koni/Hsport set-up gives the car a more "polished", solid German car feel and at the same time sharpens the already excellent suspension to a degree that is really very impressive. It's a little M3 ! I drive on a local 1.7 track and have yet to take Mini out but my hunch is the car will do very well w/ these settings (I doubt I will change it.)

I have done what Alex at Tirerack advised me to do on the Mini suspension and I think he's 100% correct in his council: "best of both worlds" sums it up nicely.

 

Thank you for the tips. Now I know where to start from.

I too think the H-sport on stock struts are 'ok' but not polished the way
a performance street setup should be. I want those Koni's!