Got my 2005 Mini Cooper S this past weekend and totally love it! Green with white roof, premium + sport + cold weather packages. Heck of a deal....$15.2k with 26k miles.

I'm a suspension guy and work part time at Racecomp Engineering where a lot of Subaru suspension design goes on. We do a lot of KW, AST, some JRZ and design a lot of stuff in house. I don't have big plans for this car (yet), maybe a few things here and there.

Couple of questions:

1. My damn sunroof squeaks like crazy and closes very slowly. It even stopped halfway and went back to open when i was trying to close it. Do i just need to lube it?

2. The side skirt on one side is loose. The front portion is unclipped (up near the wheel well) and a screw is missing up front. Are all the screws needed for the side skirts identical? Just so i know when i get a replacement. And am I gonna be able to clip that front part in without taking out the whole side skirt? So far i haven't had much luck.

3. There is no stock camber adjustment front and rear on an 05, correct? Are camber bolts possible up front? Is there much wiggle room without bolts? I want even camber settings but don't want camber plates set at different settings since it will give me a funky roll center.

4. Anti-mushrooming plates. It seems the "under" plates are known to work better. I do also kind of want some extra camber, so the IE fixed plates are appealing. Do these prevent mushrooming?

I'm thinking I'll just get the Mini Madness strut tower plates or the Craven under tower indurators. Really i'd like to just make my own....but i'll probably go with the cheaper Craven ones from Helix.

That's it for now....glad to see a good active Mini forum! Oh and anyone want to buy my S-lites?

- Andrew

 

Hello Andrew and Welcome to NAM. Sounds like a cool job you have too.

There is no camber adjustment in the R53 up front and only a little in the rear on cars built in or after Jan of 05. Check the drivers side door sticker for production date.

The IE camber plates will offer the same or better mushrooming protection as the Craven plates. But you don't need both just one or the other.

Later Dustin

 

Thanks for the help! I'll let you know if i decide on the IE plates.

Looks like mine was made before 1/05, so no rear camber adjustment. Oh well. Any place to get the OEM 05-06 rear links? I'd be happy with -1.5 in the rear if it's a lot cheaper than aftermarket.

- Andrew

 

Hey Andrew, there's only a few reasons to run aftermarket rear arms and the #1 reason is lowering springs. If you keep the stock springs you really don't need arms in the back. Let me know when you need some help, Dustin

 

Used some lube, sunroof is now quiet. Windows squeak though....

You're right, I suppose I don't need the arms. I'm sort of a stickler for a "perfect" even alignment, but I'll deal with it until i upgrade the suspension.

Just have to decide on IE plates or spend less money and just get the under tower anti-mushrooming plates.

Can't wait to get rid of these runflats and s-lites. So hard to feel the suspension with these bricks.

- Andrew

 

Dinan also makes a "camber plate", really it's a under tower strut re-location plate. This would help with mushrooming, like the Craven and move your stock bearing mount in for increasing camber. You only get about 1/2 degree more camber with stock springs, but you don't have to disassemble the stock strut/spring ***'y.

 

Nice. I don't think i want as much camber as the fixed IE plates, so that could be good. The price is a bit much for what they are though.

- Andrew

 

Andyroo, welcome to NAM!... where did you apply the lube for your sunroof? The obvious answer would be in the grooves it travels in but maybe there's a simpler answer? My '05 sunroof makes a squeaky/groaning sound when closing and I know it's go to be the lack of lubrication. Where did you get the grease from?

 

White lithium grease in the sunroof track. If you have the sunroof closed, it would be the narrow slots on either side of the rear portion of the glass. You gotta push the applicator in and squeeze. I then opened the sunroof and put some on the tracks up front, but when i closed the roof it didn't smear those spots at all so it didn't do any good.

I do wish i could quiet down my windows....they squeak when I open or close them. Lube makes everything better, just don't know where to put it for the windows. :(


- Andrew

 

I think i'm gonna make my own strut tower defenders. 3 or 4mm of steel with 3 bolt holes isn't hard to do.

I'm gonna see if i can make them offset the strut so maybe they'll add some camber and/or caster. so sort of like the dinan plates but you know....not 200 bucks for a plate of metal with some holes in it. i need more free time though.

if i can't, no big deal, but everytime i hit a bump i'm picturing the strut towers deforming. :(

- andrew