I have a 2006 MCS with 129 K. Everton - my Mini, has been great since I picked him in OKC with just a few exceptions. They are as follows:


1. Tires/205-45 17 - I have been going through a set it seems about every 20 K. The insides will wear out. I have had to change the struts (front and back) because I found a pot hole (more like a pot cavern) so I put Monroe struts on the car. Same issues. Since I am running stock - are tires just a cross a mini driver has to bear? I live 150 miles from a Mini dealership and I am getting ready to buy another set of tires (starting to like General All-Season tires). I read in one forum where there is a small adjuster at the bottom of the rear suspension. Do I still have this if I am no longer running stock? Also, I heard that a normal alignment machine can't do a Mini. Could this be the issue.


2. Developed a noise behind the driver that is metallic in nature. Thought it was the rear strut but it only happens on uneven roads. Interstate driving the noise goes away temporarily until you hit the off ramp. Have checked out all other possibilities (Seat belts, noise in the boot, even put some duck tape on the back hatch). No good. Cannot duplicate when the car is stopped or on a rack. Very, very annoying! Also tried turning the music up louder....sorry, still hear it!

Any help in these two areas would be most appreciated!


Thank you,
Everton

 

you prolly need control arm bushings and a proper alignment. I haven't had an issue with my car on an alignment rack. you could also take a look into how much camber you have up front. take a look for strut tower mushrooming. its a known problem in our cars. and a few people make plates to prevent it again


also a good tip a 215/45/17 tire is a lot cheaper, and there are many more options, and should fit the stock wheels no problem.... I run them first hand on both my sets of wheels

 

I was also told at a local Firestone shop that they "couldn't" do an alignment on my 2006 R53 JCW. When I inquired as to why, they said that the car needed to be ballasted with 300 pounds (150 pounds in each front seat) and a full tank of fuel. This is just how BMW/MINI set up the alignment specs. If you do not add this extra ballast (and have a full fuel tank), the alignment measurements the shop will take won't correspond to the specifications that are in the alignment machine. Usually a shop will say that they don't have the ability to perform an alignment on a MINI because they don't have the needed weights to ballast the car properly.


The 2005-2006 R53 has a small range of rear camber adjustment (about a 1 degree range), compared to the pre face lift R53. You will still have this adjuster if all you changed were the struts. The adjuster is a cam style bolt at the connection of the rear trailing arm to the chassis.

Camber usually isn't the main driver of tire wear though, since all camber does is define the contact patch of the tire to the ground. The toe alignment has a much larger impact into tire wear, as the toe determines the amount the tire scrubs. A toe value of just 1/16 inches will cause a 1/4 mile of scrubbing every 100 miles. It is also important to note that some amount of toe-in is good for straight line stability.



As for the rear noise......did you make sure the rear anti-sway bar links are good? A noisy or broken link could be the issue.

 

Don't go back to that shop.
You can't change front camber or caster without adding camber plates (or beating down
a mushroomed strut tower), but you can adjust toe-in (unless your tie rods are frozen,
in which case they need to be replaced anyway. You also need front control arm bushings
in reasonable shape to get a stable toe-in setting.
If you need more camber adjustment than the rear allows, you can do it by adding
adjustable control arms in the rear. You can adjust rear toe-in (loosen the three
trailing arm bolts, shift, and retighten). It's a little bit of a pain in the *** hit or miss
adjustment without the eccentric socket tool BMW has that makes this easier, but
with a little patience, you don't need the tool to do it.

 

For the noise... also check your rear cup holder, when I have a water bottle in mine I get a scraping rattle noise that sounds like a creak from the suspension that drives me nuts.

Lots of complainants about the rear camber causing rear tires to wear out way to early, (wearing the inside tread really badly). Several people I know of have made minor changes to rear camber adding as much as 2 degrees positive to straighten up the wheels and end the wear.

Others (like me) just add tire rotation to normal maintenance trying to maximize tire life.

But before doing anything... a full inspection of the complete suspension system should be completed (including the wheel bearings).

More information here:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ar-camber.html

Motor on!

 

Thanks to all of you who answered my post. I have written all of these possibilities down and will check them out!!


Thank you again!
mobl1 and Everton

 

Just a note on this issue. Bought a strut mount for the back rear and had it installed this morning. The sound is gone!! Only problem was getting the new strut mount to fit so the first thread would grab it. Apparently a C-Clamp and a 2X4 was needed! Thanks again for all of your help!