Okay, I know there are tons of threads about suspensions on here but I am at a serious crossroads and need some advice...

'06 R53 checkmate. Usual power mods and happy. Brakes are solid. Suspension is next. I have just under 50k miles but my suspension feels less than stellar especially when I hit any potholes (even minor ones) or road plates, the car is extremely harsh and makes a banging noise I'm just not comfortable with. I recently had Cravenspeed STD's installed and much to my surprise didn't have any mushrooming on the passenger side and only slightly on the driver's side which was addressed prior to install. I also just put on brand new 17 inch wheels that are 4lbs lighter than stock and a new set of Bridgestone Driveguard Run Flats (markedly better than the Potenza Runflats I had on the car!)


My original plan was to get Koni FSD's and retain stock springs. This is a daily driver and the roads in NY, well, they just suck. Then I was at Helix having Jan/RMW tune my car and after speaking with him and other owners got talked into Billstein sport shocks with stock springs or even swift springs that lower the car 1 inch (the max I'd be willing to go). I was told by one owner (and Jan, keeping in mind the owner had FSD's and switched to the Billsteins) that the FSD's tend to bottom out a lot and can make some horrible banging noises at times. Jan wasn't trying to sell me a suspension and even directed me to other sites to purchase the Billstein's for a great price. He does however sell the swift springs... The price difference between these two is negligible and I know I shouldn't run FSD's on lowering springs so if I go with those I'll use my stock ones.


Here's the deal, I want the car to handle well, it's a big reason why I got a Mini! However I've owned numerous cars with coilovers (TEIN, Billstein PSS9's, Vogtland, Moton, etc) and while those cars (no MINI's, but Audi, VW, BMW, & Porsche) handled awesome I also lived in a different state with much smoother roads. I've also driven some of the new MINI's 2014/2015's and those cars on stock suspensions drive like a Cadillac with air ride compared to mine. Yes, I know it's apples and oranges as my car is an older R53 but there has to be some option for a suspension in my budget (around $800 max) that offers handling and can take bumps in the road, potholes, etc without being jarring or creating banging noises. I'm at a loss and don't know what to do here...FSD's on stock springs? Billstein Sports with stock springs? Billsteins with Swift springs? Or is there a coilover setup within my budget that'll meet my needs? I'd love the car to handle well, be comfortable enough that when I drive around town with my family/kids that it won't scare the crap out of them when I hit a bump/pothole and be somewhat "cushy", etc. My concerns about lowering come from just replacing the oil pan which had a nice dent in it (old one) and the car not being too low when winter comes. I have no problem with raising the car for winter and lowering for spring/summer even if it means getting an alignment done 2x/year.


Also, what else should I change/upgrade when changing the suspension? I have Powerflex control arm bushings. Really inquiring about the minor/maintenance things like boots or bump stops, etc. Not looking to upgrade the sway bars as they're out of budget right now and I'm not road racing the car.


Looking for help and advice from those in the community who have R53's with FSD's, with Billsteins, or with coilovers that are within my budget. Appreciate all feedback. Thanks!

 

Let me start by saying that I don't autocross or track my car, but I enjoy a spirited daily driver....so FWIW.....

I recently put FSD's on my r52 cooper-s on stock springs. I have absolutely no complaints. The car handles just as well if not better than it did on the old stock sport struts, but the ride comfort is TONS better than it was before. When reading up on struts prior to buying the FSD's the reviews seemed overwhelmingly positive except for a few reports of early failures here and there. The koni's have a lifetime warranty so I didn't consider that to be a real big issue. I did read just a very few reports of folks saying that they were "bouncy" or bottomed out. The only thing I can think of is that those folks must have gotten a defective set or something. I don't think any decent quality strut regardless of brand or type should be banging around unless it is broken, defective, or just not installed properly. It has been my experience that they are neither bouncy nor have they ever bottomed out....and not noises. For me They handle great with the added bonus of having a greatly improved ride on bumpy roads. As I said....no complaints at all.

As for additional parts....unless you have a damaged bumpstop, bushing, etc.... there's not really anything else you need. I had a cracked drivers side strut mount when I bought the car, so I opted to replace both with Ireland engineering fixed plates. Besides helping with front end handling (improvement was noticeable), I have noticed better tire wear (more even) on the fronts.....so that might be something to consider adding while you have the front struts out anyway.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for that! Yes; it's the bouncy/bottoming out thing that makes me nervous to buy FSD's especially when I heard it firsthand from another R53 owner who had them and changed to Billstein Sports with stock springs. I don't know if my bumpstops or bushings need replacing and won't know until I get this suspension off so we'll see but in the meantime I'm looking for as much feedback here as possible to determine my purchase. I did just replace both front strut mounts with OEM units within the last two weeks as one was torn and from my personal experience it's better to replace both than just one so that's what I did! Happy to hear your experience with the FSD's is a good one. Both Koni and Billstein come with lifetime warranties but that only covers the part, not the labor to remove and reinstall so really hoping to avoid that at all costs!