[beej]

Hello!

MINI has done 50k miles in 5 years and I took her to the dealer this morning to fix a leaky sump. All went well, hurrah! Afterwards I asked the service tech for his opinion about a handling issue.

Firstly, he said I shouldn't have 16" wheels on a Cooper S. Daft bugger eh. If he prefers potholes and speedbumps in 17s with runflats, that's fine by me, but I love the lighter nimbler 16 wheels and I'm not going back. Best improvement I ever made, and it's a change I made 4 years ago!

Secondly, he thought my 16" Monza X-Lite wheels weren't BMW wheels. Now c'mon, throw me a frickin' bone here pal!

And thirdly, he said I shouldn't have fitted Goodyear Eagle F1 DS3s either. Now I did a load of research here and on other sites and it seemed a good idea. Did I misunderstand wheel size issues? He said that only 195/55/16 was correct.


What should I do about the Goodyears, is he right?


A. N. Unloved R53 :|

[Richard Crofts]

Has the car done more than 25000 miles? Or the roads very poor by you?

If so the handling issues are more than likely caused by 1 or 2 main issues the MINI has. The front wishbone rear mounting bushes, or/and the front swivels! Both go very fast on the MINI and I can' stress enough how much of a difference fitting new stock or even better poly bushes can make the front of the car feel!

[batou]

Both my front bushes were split at 34-35k, just had them done @1320 and replaced with poly ones car feels like new and handles like a dream! Difference is night and day apart.

[humph]

It's amazing isn't it? You give some people, usually dealer techs, a bit of technical knowledge and they seem to think that BS always baffles brains. I find it insulting that some of them think their customers no absolutely nothing technical about their cars.

Anyway your wheel and tyre combo seems ok to me. Did you not ask why the Cooper S comes with 16" wheels as standard and why it was optimised to run on that size of wheel? I wouldn't have been able to help myself

There are a lot of reports of worn/replaced bushes on here, so Mr Crofts may well be right. Doubt it's the wheels and tyres though, unless your pressures are all over the place.

[beej]

Yes. You guys are all spot on - the bushes need replacing.

Crofty - I'd gone from 17 to 16 when I was still in London. Awful roads. But life is better now!

Humph - yes cheers. Check pressure fortnightly like any good adventurer He seemed to want seize the opportunity to critique my 16s without runflats ("not designed for the setup of the Cooper S")

[DaFlake]

Quote: Originally Posted by beej (original)

But he seized on the opportunity to critique my 16s ("not designed for the setup of the Cooper S")

In your original post, you said you asked him.... If you asked for an opinion, then that is what you got. That doesn't make him wrong, just opinionated.

I've driven a cooper S with 16's and didn't like it myself. I prefer 17s.

[beej]

Naturlich. I had asked his professional opinion and I got it.

But we stalled at the off when he didn't recognise the R53 wheels

[Ant FR]

how much are the bushes to have done, as i think mine are gone as seems to pull to right and handling seems strange, i'm at 58k so would seem about right. Also car seems to wander all the time, i sometimes feel as if i am constantly having to work to keep it straight on the motorway at say 70

getting rid of the s-lites and run flats tomorrow and putting on my new pro race 1.2's and a set of Vredsteins, they are one of the best tyres availabel and scored 2nd in evo tyre test and have come top 2 the last 2 yrs running in autoexpress test.

[beej]

Hi ant!

Sounds like the same issue, bushes need doing. Informal quote from the dealer this morning was £350 ish because of the labour required.

[DaFlake]

Sounds like a fun weekend job to me.

[batou]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ant FR (original)

how much are the bushes to have done, as i think mine are gone as seems to pull to right and handling seems strange, i'm at 58k so would seem about right. Also car seems to wander all the time, i sometimes feel as if i am constantly having to work to keep it straight on the motorway at say 70

getting rid of the s-lites and run flats tomorrow and putting on my new pro race 1.2's and a set of Vredsteins, they are one of the best tyres availabel and scored 2nd in evo tyre test and have come top 2 the last 2 yrs running in autoexpress test.

Had all my fronts changed to superflex for under £250 fitted but labor can vary due to how hard the old ones are to get off, bargin for the difference it's made. Got rid of all tourque steer, doesn't pull around when you give it the beans. You control where the car goes not the car

beej, I wouldn't bother with the stock ones. If they can split after 35k of use (10k by me and no track days) then they will only go again.

[beej]

Thanks batou. I need to look at non-OEM options, like GTT or 1320 or whoever is in the south west

Oh I remembered another gem of wisdom from my trip to the dealer this morning:

"Mr Beej, you have a non-standard windscreen"
"Yes, that's right, I had a stone chip... it was replaced 6 months ago by my insurer... MINI Cover..."

A non-standard windscreen. I mean seriously, the mind boggles! (I don't have rain sensors or the ice-melter).

[Ant FR]

think i may give paul at 1320 a call,

[Minipnut]

my compressions bushings are shot at 43k's bmw is going to replace them under warranty =)

[Joogle]

Quote: Originally Posted by beej (original)

Thanks batou. I need to look at non-OEM options, like GTT or 1320 or whoever is in the south west

Oh I remembered another gem of wisdom from my trip to the dealer this morning:

"Mr Beej, you have a non-standard windscreen"
"Yes, that's right, I had a stone chip... it was replaced 6 months ago by my insurer... MINI Cover..."

A non-standard windscreen. I mean seriously, the mind boggles! (I don't have rain sensors or the ice-melter).

MINI Cover only use genuine MINI parts for repairs, that includes the windscreen..........
Quoting their webpage: "Repairs at MINI approved bodyshops using genuine MINI parts."

[Damo]

Some MINI techs are utter *****

To be fair though there are a few jems out their (Derek Woodman to name but one place worth a 50 mile round trip for me).

[PmP]

Which brand of front wishbone rear bush should I go for?? Powerflew, Superflex, Alta?

52k miles up on originals, and cars lowered so im guessing these could do with being changed!!!!!

[Damo]

Depends on £££ you want to spend. Lohen advised me the Alta should last longer than either the power/superflex bushes as theyre completly solid but all of them should last a lot onger than the standard ones ever will. I went with the Alta for the added caster and anti lift.

Any of them should be a LOT LOT better that shot standard ones.

[PmP]

Quote: Originally Posted by Damo (original)

Depends on £££ you want to spend. Lohen advised me the Alta should last longer than either the power/superflex bushes as theyre completly solid but all of them should last a lot onger than the standard ones ever will. I went with the Alta for the added caster and anti lift.

Any of them should be a LOT LOT better that shot standard ones.

Did you notice much difference in turn in?

Think the alta's mightnt work for me, caster increase would risk clearance issues. The anti lift would be nice tho. Any rough ideas how much they were? only seen prices for them on alta's US website.

Thinking powerflex with metal collars would be half way house? Bit stiffer

[Damo]

Didn't realy notice turn in to be honest but my front is very stiff and darty anyway (GTT braces x3 and eibach front and rear roll bars). Anti lift however

As for clearence issues, I very much doubt the amount of caster they would add would have any issues with the JCW wheels clearing, expecialy with non run flats