Hello,

I have a 2011 MCS. I bought it in Seattle from Chapmans VW. It had a couple after market mods, some of which didn't make total sense on there own like Hotchkis rear links with stock suspension.

It also has M7 hoses from the intercooler, but nothing else done to the engine bay, at least not that I have found yet.

Right now I am trying to figure out what was done to my strut towers. It appears that the PO had installed adjustable camber plates, and probably an upper strut tower brace. It still has the lower sub frame brace from TRW.

The mounting holes for the struts have been slotted, and some of the metal around the center of the strut mount has been notched (and poorly done)

What I think has happened is that the left strut slipped into massive negative camber and basically ripped through a brand new Michelin Pilot AS3 in a couple hundred miles. In fact, both fronts are very badly worn with just about 6000 on them. Rears still look like new.

I looked at the tire really closely about 2 or 3 weeks ago, maybe 600 miles, they were not worn. I am pretty sure the rough rural roads around here knocked it out of alignment. I don't see how the camber stayed put through the winter anyways with the holes being slotted and nothing else to hold things in place.

I will post pictures in this thread over the next few minutes.

 

 

 

 

I want to figure out if I can order whatever camber adjustment system I like?
Or, will the existing butchery not work with anything but whatever camber adjuster the mods were done for.

Should I put some of the anti-mushrooming plates under the tower? I do drive on very rough roads.

Should I get a strut tower brace? I have never felt like I needed one in this car, and I drive it pretty hard. I live in the mountains and we have a lot of fast canyon roads, but they can be rough.

I got more questions I need advice on, but lets start here.

 

I have read that the R56 has slotted strut mounts, is this correct? If so, are mine still stock? It looks like they have has a file taken to them.

 

An alignment shop can adjust the camber by moving the top mount bolts in those slots. There should not be a problem adjusting this for a competent shop.

Of more concern is the metal that has been cut out of the top of the tower. A good brace would probably help ?

That tire wear could be too much negative camber or too much toe out, or both. Did you check the alignment?

 

Looks like toe wear to me... Regardless, the mounting holes are slotted from the factory. The factory strut mounts have a plastic nub that help hold the alignment for the strut mounts. The cuts in the center hole should be an issue.

My suggestion would be to get a competent alignment performed. And if you are worried about the mounts moving in the holes, replace the adjustable mounts with new factory mounts.

 

I have not had the alignment checked. I bought the car in July of 2016 and it had 1/2 worn tires on it, and they were wearing pretty evenly. Since July I have put about 12,000 miles on it. I ran Nokian Hakka 8's with studs all winter, and they are all worn pretty even.

What ever alignment issue I am having, started recently. I pulled everything apart yesterday thinking I would find something that was definitely wrong. I didn't find a lot, but the strut mount bearing is pretty loose, the strut can be pushed in and out maybe a little too easy (spring is off).

I have known about the weird cuts in the tower since shortly after I bought the car. Not sure how I missed it while doing the buyers inspection. I am a helicopter mechanic and tend to notice everything and anything that's mechanically out of place, but I was probably blinded by the shiny new (to me) Mini and the wad of cash in my pocket.

 

Since my original post, I figured that out.

If its factory, then they were designed to stay put, at least mostly. How could the mounts be replaced with non adjustable? They are part of the body. One could cut and weld, or weld a plate with fixed hole over it, not that I want to do that.

I think what I may do is clean up the cuts in the center holes so there is not sharp edges. Sharp cuts and edges make cracks in stressed areas of metal structures. There is a spot where the cuts were made way too deep, I will weld those closed. I think if I get a decent top brace, it will return most of the strength back to the tower.

 

I may as well replace a couple things.

I am pretty sure the struts should have way more resistance moving them in and out by hand. After a particularly rough 3 hour drive on back roads on a -10 degree morning, doing 80 most of the way, my front struts felt a little bouncy. I am going to replace them.

I am part way through this thread:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...eedback-2.html

For them money, I am leaning toward the BC's.

I was driving this car at minimum 80 miles a day. Then would need to take one or two 300 miles round trips a week on back roads, and usually hauling ***. Rain, snow, fog, ice storms, 110 degrees, didn't matter. I was on call 24/7 to keep a Medevac helo flying.

I quit. Now I only need to drive about 10 miles a day and have the Mini, a Jeep, another Jeep, a Jeep pickup, and 3 motorcycles. This means I may as well set the Mini up to be a little more of a fun track toy, and go try some auto cross.

 

I think I figured out why the previous owner cut the towers.





Access to the camber adjusters on the BC coil-overs.

It weird how many people yank some of the performance parts off cars before trading them in, and not other. If you are the type of person who trades in your car every 2 years, why bother modding it?

 

Yes that ^ is exactly why. Get an alignment done, I have camber plates and am set to -2 degrees front/rear, never saw tire wear like that.

 

People who race cars cut strut tops a lot, usually to allow the actual top of the strut to move further into a more extreme camber or caster position

 

I've run -2.0 camber front and rear with minimal camber wear.

Have fun,
Mike