Making my ladies mini feel like new again

[Sam]

Just come up to 100k and the little mini it starting to feel a little 'looser' than it used to. What can I do to make it feel like new again, I assume a good service and a set of tyres would be a good start but I was thinking about putting in all new bushings etc or even replacing the suspension completely whilst im at it... any thoughts?

P.S. don't bother with any 'sell it and buy a blah blah...' or minis are sh!t etc style comments. The car aint going anywhere as she loves the little thing but doesn't like the way its starting to feel.

Cheers in advanced, sam

[Ant1981]

The ladies mini usually doees feel a little lose with some milage on it.

Pelvic floor exercise.

[Sam]

The ladies mini usually doees feel a little lose with some milage on it.

Pelvic floor exercise.

Brilliant...

[Agreeable Slick]

If you want to stiffen it back up, tyres won't do owt.

Suspension bushings, checking rod ends, CV's etc should help.

[Sam]

If you want to stiffen it back up, tyres won't do owt.

Suspension bushings, checking rod ends, CV's etc should help.

Well its on f**king wanky runflat bags of sh!t at the moment and I wanna f**k them off and start using proper tyres. You would not beleive the amount of punctures she gets, I get less on my mountain bike.

So you think simply strip and replace bushings, what about engine/gearbox mounts too?

[Agreeable Slick]

Run flat tyres are hard as you like, so that will give a stiffer ride.

The mounts are worth checking, but depends on how it's driven. They could be fine if it's not lots of hard stop starts, and slappy changing gears.

It would be worth having a look at all the suspension top mounts as well.

[Bandit127]

I would start with 4 wheel alignment.

For £70 or so you can transform the way a car feels. At the same time ask the workshop to give it the once over for further suggestions to improve it. Rather than replace every rubber bush and mount they will be able to find the ones that need doing (or perhaps find the bent wishbone you didn't know about). You should get that inspection included if you ask nicely. And they will probably be more than pleased to quote on anything they find...

Wheels in Motion is Chesham are the gold standard in my experience for that. But any Protyre place will do - they have standards for geometry setup and my experience of them has been very good.

[Thom89]

Top and bottom ball joints... re shim them.
Track rod ends, replace them.
Engine stabiliser bushes, engine mounts, replace them.
Rear Radius arms, swap them for reconditioned units.
Replace the bush ay the top of the steering column

I reckon on way less than £100 for that lot, and a morning to fit it all, car will handle like a go kart again!

EDIT Proper Mini, or new Mini Sam?

Thom

[PenguinGTI]

From the original post I'm guessing it's an R50/R53 - so an "original" New MINI.

[Thom89]

So not a proper one then

Sam, ignore my post.... the parts wont fit

Thom