2007 R56 Hatchback; 120,000 miles; daily driver but because I'm an old retiree, only drive it 2-3 days a week.

Does the front suspension have ONLY struts with coil spring, or, is there a shock absorber inside the coil spring?

Rear end is making noise, thumping. Checked and both shocks are leaking. I ordered replacements -- the replacement is the whole assembly: coil spring over the shock. Found a replacement shock only but damn if I'm going to wrestle with that coil spring.

Is the front the same thing or only a coil spring strut?

No noise in the front end, handling is fine.

Thanks.

 

Check realoem.com. For your model this is a fiche listing
my r56 2012 they are separate.

 

Shock absorbers all the way around on '07 MCS. I replaced my shocks with a set of Koni FSD's. Sometimes you can find them at a pretty good sale price. Harbor Freight has a reasonable spring compressor that is pretty easy to use. Hardest part was finding the right tool to disconnect the top shock bolt.

 

What you are referring to in the front as “strut” IS the shock absorber

 

Yes, it's the same all around. Each corner has a strut, which is a combined spring & shock absorber unit.

It's not that hard to just replace the shock, but you need a set of spring compressors to safely disassemble the strut and remove the spring. Many auto parts stores will rent you a set for fee.

 

Thanks to all.

The rear shocks are leaking; ordered replacements from RockAuto, will install after Christmas.

The front looks good -- no leaks from the shocks, no noise from the front end -- the rear end "knocks" and "bumps" when I am driving.

Found Youtube video of replacing the front shocks, so, I'll probably do that because of the high mileage.

 

That's the same video I found. I've got some Konis waiting to go in, and it looks pretty easy.

The shop manual procedure for the fronts is a lot more complex...like, they have you remove the tie rod and the lower ball joint too? No idea why as from the video it looks completely do-able without any of that crap. I guess I'll find out next week when I do the job.

 

Let me know how it worked out for you.

I pulled a front tire yesterday and poked around the suspension, looks as though it's as simple as the video shows.

I will put Cooper on jack stands Monday, spray rust-buster on all the bolts on the rear shocks for a couple of days just to be sure they're ready to remove before working on them..

 

Mine’s getting a tiny bit clunky but I remember a big source of noise is the sway bar end links. The OEM ones don’t last forever and even a minuscule amount of slop you can’t even feel will make annoying noise.

 

Installed the Konis today, it was reasonably easy. The video instructions for strut removal were pretty dead on.

Getting the bottom of the strut back into the lower arm took a little wrestling and turning the wheel, then was a bit tricky keeping it lined up while I jacked it into place from below. Wasn't really rocket science though.

R&R of the front shock from the strut was a bit tricky: there wasn't a ton of room to get my spring compressors on there, and it can be hard to tighten and loosen the top nut without the proper tool. I first just broke the nut free with an impact wrench. Then I put a bare impact socket on the nut, used a long 6mm Allen socket on my ratchet to hold the top of the shaft, and turned the socket using a long punch though the hole in the side of the socket (where the ball on the impact wrench normally seats).

Rears are a lot easier because the shock nut is more accessible, but on the fronts it's down in a well hence my MacGyver'd solution.

 

In retrospect, should've picked up something like these. IIRC the front stock nuts were 21mm and the Konis were 19mm.

 

when I changed the struts I also swapped the swar bar end links to Moogs - now I'm getting a clunk noise over any sharp bumps but nothing when I push up and down on the car when stationary...yes I greased the Moogs.

any ideas?

 

Found these on Facebook Marketplace. Good option for replacing ones that are worn out?

 

2013 Mini Cooper s Sport struts

$250
Listed a week ago in

Minneola, FL" target="_blank">Minneola, FL

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Door pickup
Message AgainDetails

• Condition
  Used - Good

2013 Mini Cooper s Struts with H & R Sport springs - Front and rear - good condition. Please message if interested.

 

I mean, that's pretty cheap. On the downside, the stock shocks are annoyingly harsh in my experience, and I think the absolute last thing they need are stiffer springs.

Last week I just replaced my shocks with Konis and kept the stock springs: I'm a lot happier with this setup than with the stock shocks.

 

Gubi, which Konis did you go with? I have about a year and will be looking into doing this on my Coupe. I am thinking the Koni Special Active (red) when I do. I am not out to build a track car but a daily driver and enjoy some comfort.

 

Yeah, I went with the Koni Special Active FSD shocks. They are by no means cushy but they're way better on rough roads than the stock shocks. Between that and ditching the run flats for standard tires the car is a lot more pleasant to drive on the street now.

https://www.waymotorworks.com/koni-s...7-r58-r59.html