[Apial]

After over 7 months of waiting, my MINI has been fitted with Mk3 front suspension which actually works!!!!!

The steering is now so straight that the car will travel in a straight line for at least 1/4 mile with no need for correction. Hard braking from 60 mph may be performed with no need to correct the steering. Turn in is just as sharp as before and very quick. In a word, BRILLIANT!

Some of you may be wondering what work was done. The front top suspension mount, the shock absorber strut, the springs, and link arm have all been changed. This process took 2 days to complete. One day was taken up by the car having to go to Thorne for the suspension alignment to be done on the BMW KDS machine.

The most obvious difference is to be seen in the engine bay. The tops of the front suspension design has changed radically from a protruding top to a sunken design with an allen headed bolt top.

An additional white plastic gater top has appeared on the top of the struts.I hope this aids identification for you.
Better still, take a look at my gallery for all the pictures.Click here for the pictures.

All has not gone well though. On return of my MINI, I started up the engine and now the airbag warning light has come on and refuses to go out. Also on turning at almost full lock to the right, a terrible scraping metallic rattle noise came from the nearside wheel! (mr.bill,this car needs an exorcism, I think.)

After telling the dealer that he would be seeing me again, I went to investigate. His suggested loose airbag wire under the drivers seat was discounted, so tomorrows visit is still on.

The rattling metallic noise was found to be a disc backing plate that had been bent backwards so that it almost made contact with the track-rod end. On full lock the two actually touched and made a noise like a Steel Bands drum being scraped. A quick bend and all was silenced.

These pictures are conclusive proof that there HAS been a steering problem with earlier (OCT 2001) build cars. I have been told that this MK3 design was being fitted from week 9 build on the MINI production line. Can anyone confirm that the Mk3 design suspension parts shown in my Gallery are the same as their post week 9 build MINI?

 

[Apial]

Looking forward to mine being done on the 10th June!

Its like getting a new car!!!

 

[Apial]

I can only speak from my limited experience concerning all MINIs produced prior to week9 2002. I personally have driven 4 MINI ONES that have driven with a left pull that was excessive. I have not driven one that did not pull left. It would seem likely that my random sample was representative of what the rest would drive like too.

I am under the impression from my dealer that this left pull has only been complained about by relatively few customers due to its mild nature, usually. Furthermore that all of the MINIs that they had sold upto that point, Dec 2001, were pulling to the left in varying degrees.

BMW are fixing cars when a complaint is received. There will be no recall letter to you. If you are dissatisfied with the steering then it is upto you to complain about it.

At one stage it was necessary for the car to be KDS checked first to see if rectification to the geometry would cure the fault. With so many complaints some dealers appear to be skipping that and just booking the car in for new front suspension. A drive of your car will confirm to any dealer if you need the fix doing.

Take a drive in a March build or newer MINI and you will feel the difference. Check the top of the MacPherson struts to see which suspension type you have. The difference is very noticeable, both in physical appearance and in driving.

I don't expect that BMW will want to talk a lot about this problem. They are willing to rectify cars that have unhappy owners to their complete satisfaction.

 

[Apial]

The suspension on your MINI can not be correct. The ride height should be the same BOTH sides. I would get it back to the dealer and get them to check that they have fitted the correct spring pair.

FYI on my One the distance from the top of the rear wheel arch to the road measured through the wheel centre is 64cm.
The new suspension,when correctly fitted, is far superior to the original.

My dealer also informs me that there are still some problems being found with post March 02 build cars steering. Realignment seems to fix these cars problems.

Some dealers are reluctant to do the suspension swap. Our other MINI(supplied by a different dealer) is now scheduled to have the steering fix after we threatened to take it to another dealer for them to do. The threat was not idle - we had already been offered it should the supplying dealer decide to be difficult. They would have got the servicing work too. We will see how things proceed.

 

[Apial]

Apial,

what was the problem with the airbag light? I had that problem but couldn't quite figure out what the service guy was telling me about a cable. I'm not technically stupid, just not yet fully bilingual.

The problem is in the connector beneath the drivers seat. Once triggered the ecu fualts have to be cleared doen to reset the airbag light. This problem has happened twice. The next time that it happens that section of wiring loom will be replaced.

 

[Apial]

Quicker rectification on left pull fix NOW!

The previous system of ordering a replacement front suspension is now changing. Originally BMW had to be sent the chassis number so that the correct springs could be calculated according to the spec of the car. Now the dealer is responsible for the calculation according to a points system, so many points for a/c etc. Points=spring colours. This should speed up the rectification process.