M7 Tuning R53 Mini Cooper High Performance Strut Tower Reinforcement Plates on 2040-parts.com

 Through the years, customers and friends with MINIs have had one common complaint: the strut towers mushroom after heavy impacts from the shocks and low aspect ratio tires. The MINI's shock towers take on a slightly convex shape barely visible at a first glance, but if you would compare it to the original sheet metal, you would find the horizontal plane has been moved as much as 3/8" upwards, throwing the suspension out of any possible alignment fix.

The problem will most likely show up as a slight pull either left or right when driving depending on which strut tower is buckled. The M7 Strut Re-Inforcement Plates (SRPs) will solve this problem by sandwiching the sheet metal and shock top plate, creating a homogenous top surface that will not bend, even during hard impacts.

If mushrooming is your primary concern, then the M7 Strut Re-Inforcement Plates offer the solid solution. Adding the M7 SRPs to your MINI is an inexpensive preventative measure to what could be an expensive fix. We have customers that won't drive a new MINI off the lot without a set of M7 SRPs installed, as well as dealers that sell every new MINI with a set of M7 SRPs.

Extremely durable, the 1/2" (13mm) thick plates come in sets of two (left and right) and are made from CNC machined aluminum that is hard anodized black to prevent chipping or oxidization. Our plates cover the ENTIRE surface of the strut tower (not just where the upper strut mount meets the tower) to evenly distribute any loads over a larger area and give you the extra peace of mind.

Installation is a snap and includes simple instructions that also addresses fixing existing mushrooming. No need for new bolts, the SRPs use the 3 stock bolts on each side for installation.

The M7 Strut Re-Inforcement Plates are designed to fit both the Cooper and Cooper S.

Strut tower deformation, also known as mushrooming, is one of those problems that continues to plague MINI owners in all drives of life, from track cars to cruisers. It seems like the sheet metal that serves as the mount for the front strut towers was made far too weak for the strength of the suspension. If the mushrooming is drastic enough, it can affect the behavior of the car. Many MINI owners have had to take a 2x4 and a hammer to their strut towers to bang the metal back into place.

The deformation occurs either over time through continuous small events or sometimes all at once with a large event. Likely events can include bottoming out the suspension due to catching air, running off the road or track, or even hitting a large pothole, among other things. All of these conditions impart a force on the thin metal that holds the strut tower that it was obviously not designed to withstand. Using finite element analysis (FEA) software, we can analyze the effects of large forces on the strut tower.These first two images show the relevant pieces of a simulated strut tower. Some of the model has been suppressed to make it easier to see. This model is not meant to be completely accurate with respect to the Strut tower of the MINI, however the shape and contact points are approximately correct and the properties of the materials are accurate. From the factory the strut tower provides a flattened surface for the strut to rest against. This is important for maintaining straight alignment and proper suspension geometry. Using this model, we simulated an extreme case of the “car” essentially being dropped, as if it were to have jumped off the ground or fallen off the road. The deformation is readily apparent, but to make it easier to see we have enhanced the deformation to make it easier to see. The following image are the results of that fall. Following to see, will be a colored image. The color shows the amount of displacement from the original position. Blue means little or no displacement, moving towards red which is the maximum measured displacement. It is apparent that a hard impact to the strut tower from below will deform the metal. This has been seen on many MINI’s in the last few year, and this simulation serves only to validate the effect. While the mushrooming of the strut tower is not something that is guaranteed to happen, given the frequency of the effect it is definitely something to be mindful of.

M7 is mindful of strut tower mushrooming, and has developed a solution that will help prevent it from happening. The Strut Re-inforcement Plates bolt to the strut tower using the stock bolts that hold the strut in place, sandwiching the thinner sheet metal between two more rigid pieces of metal. This sandwich serves to distribute the force of an impact over a much larger amount of metal, resisting deformation. The following two images show the same simulated strut tower with the SRP’s installed. The SRP equipped strut tower was then exposed to the exact same impact force as the preview, non-SRP model. The results make a very strong case for the advantages of having the reinforcement plates installed. not equivalent to the previous colored images. The same green or red color does not equal the same deformation from pre-impact in the two sets of images. As you can see, mushrooming is almost completely prevented, even in one of the most extreme cases we could simulate. Even with the deformation enhanced, it is difficult to see the mushrooming occurring with the SRPs installed on the strut tower. Even in less extreme instances, it is clear that you can protect the integrity of your strut towers using M7’s Strut Tower Reinforcement Plates. The M7 strut tower bar provides the same protection with the added benefit providing extra structural rigidity to your frame. The only question now is which product is right for you?