Are the Mini's that are having this problem - have they been lowered or is this happening to non lowered Mini's

 

It happens to both. It comes from hitting something hard enough to force the strut to bottom out and transmit the force up through the body causing the mushroom effect.

I would imagine that lowered cars are more prone because of the limited suspension travel.

 

mine is lowered and hit some nasty bumps (to the point tracking was
slightly affected), but no mushrooms. running the H-sport bumpstops
which are significantly smaller so the stroke is really not compromised.

regardless, if the strut full bumps with the bumpstops forcing the
piston to shoot into the towers, it will mushroom.

i got an alignment yesterday.

 

I had mushrooming on my 100% stock suspension MCS.

 

I DO NOT have it and this is how low my MINI sits on H&R c/os:

 

I have a lowered MCS on h-sport springs... no mushrooming. I am going to pick up the m7 SRP anyway...

 

I got a 2006 MCS sitting on stock struts with the M7 springs - almost a 3 1/2 inch drop. I ordered the M7 Strut Bar from customminishop.com and even living in the chicago area, my tower are as smooth as the day I took delivery!!!

 

I have a 2005 MCSa and 18700 miles with H-Sport springs. Last weekend it was pointed out to me that my passenger side strut is badly mushroomed.

 

Hey Rich, glad to see you here. Brad and I got back last night after a 15 hour drive from Rock Springs, WY. Thanks again for the stay in Chicago and the fun driving at MTTS. My eardrums thank you, also.

Steve

 

Your's was the worst I saw during MTTS, but one car had mushrooming with only 2500 miles on the odometer. After driving on roads in NY and NJ, I can see why the towers get mushroomed. Drivers there must get their fillings replaced regularly, too.

Steve

 

Are there pictures to see what this looks like? I have never heard of this!

 

i was checking out those SRP's yesterday and while comparing it to
M7's strut bar, it almost seems like the strut bar mounts do about the
same amount of work of the SRP's.

is my assumption correct? if that's the case, why not just buy the
strut bar? kill 2 birds with it.

 

This may or may not be a good representation of the mushrooming.
Copied from my blog.

"
Well it happened to me. Well more like it was pointed out to me. I had my bonnet open while showing the guys from “MINI Custom shop” on Sunday my baby.
My passenger side is mushroomed. So bad I cannot reinstall a M7 STB.

See the back screw? Either way I push the plate I cannot even start 2 of the screws. The passenger side is also the side I hit very hard back in February causing a bubbled runflat.
Compare it to the driver’s side which Is just fine.

So what do I plan to do? Well its a hard one because I am running on H-Sport springs. So I plan to mention it at my next scheduled service on Sept. 21st. We’ll see how they handle it or call me crazy and say its not a problem.
UPDATE - I spoke to my SA about my upcoming appt on Sept 20th and mentioned the mushroomed tower. She said its a common issue and they have fixed several. Interesting no? But that they should have the part in stock so it shouldn’t take to long. And if I have to pay is up in air or not depending on if they blame my springs for it or not. Regardless if Stock or JCW suspension equiped cars have the issue."

 

The SRPs are about $90 cheaper and some people just want to help stop the problem and don't care about the bar.

Steve

 

I see... that's good to know. so the stb mount is basically the
SRP themselves with extra mounting holes for the bar.

im going to measure and compare the distance from tower bolt to
tower bolt L/R and see if my car has any mushrooming.

visually, there is none... but who knows.

 

That's right, though you are NOT able to add the bar later to the SRPs. Your strut towers are probably not too bad yet, but I believe it's only a matter of time until you hit the right bump. If you notice the tower bolts pointing away from each other, you have a problem.

Steve

 

yep. hense i am thinking about getting something before it happens
to mine.

if it's already pointing outward at tad (if over 1mm), i'll probably have a
hard time putting the mounts on, so i'll just let it be until im done with
the car or until it gets worse and have it repaired.

 

i measured my tower bolts and they measure evenly left to right....
i think even perfectly even.

but my question is, are the tower bolts completely vertical? i might
have a very mild case of mushroom as the inner tower bolt is slightly
pointing inward towards the center of the car. not enough to really
consider it a mushroom, but not sure if that's going to cause issues
when i place the M7 plate on the top...

 

mdsbrain: I'm not sure what part your SA counld be talking about. From what I understand the just use a hammer and 2x4 to pound it back in shape

But that they should have the part in stock so it shouldn’t take to long.

 

Man, I really need to get the SRPs & install them ASAP. I don't want to have this problem.

Maybe a lame question, but if you have mushrooming, does this affect handling or performance in anyway? I'd assume that it will.

 

The part is the 2x4. They probably need to make a trip to HomeDepot

 

I agree with your observation. I do not believe the twin towers are perfectly flat. The inner bolt on each tower does point very slightly towards the center of the car. I used a ruler to measure both, they are identical to my naked eyes, but they both are not perfectly flat. That's what I try to figure out how other owners installed the SRP when the plates look completely flat.

 

A real indication of mushrooming is looking to see if the bolts (studs) are starting to point outward from the center of the tower. Once this becomes very visible, you may have a hard time getting the SRPs to fit and need to do the 2x4 and hammer job or get the dealer to replace the tower.

Steve

 

I'm sure it does but to what extent, I don't know. Surely the alignment will be off a little.

Steve

 

thanks for the info. also, from one of the posts i read, someone
posted that the bottom of the SRP plates are rounded to match
the contour of the towers. can someone reconfirm if this is true?

i was about to place the order, but these 2 tower studs slightly
pointing inward towards the center of the car pushed off my
purchase... if they are mushroomed, i want to replace the
strut mount than just banging it all down together just to fit
the SRPs.... if you know wat i mean.