Suspension 1st Gen R53 Most liked posts in thread: Greene Performance Coilovers / Ride Height Help

Awesome! This is why I love owning a Mini too! Working it out with Fish on a PM - looks like Saturday, June 30th is going to work for us!

 

Hi Sully - here's the latest:

Colin sent me a new set of rear coilovers around the beginning of August. I took the old ones off and removed the lower perch(es) to compare the length of old vs. new. In this pic, the old is on the left, and the new is on the right. They are the same size, but I installed them anyway just to be sure I wasn't missing anything. Much to my dismay, the car is still sitting at stock height with the shock body bottoming out in the lower perch. I still can't adjust them any lower. I did not touch the preload, per Colin's advice.

Colin says he installed these on his R53 before he shipped them and didn't have an issue with the adjustments. He also suspects something is wrong with my car. He is planning on sending me a third set with a shorter shock body.

Stay tuned.

 

Hey Dave! That's great to hear. I just sent you a PM with my contact info and the background of what's going on. I didn't think anyone would be looking at this forum during the MOTD! Glad you did!

 

First of all, Fish, let me thank you for your detailed reply. Certainly a lot of helpful information for me here and you can definitely tell you are very experienced when it comes to these coilovers. Sounds like you're also experiencing the same types of road conditions too (I am on the Wisconsin/Illinois border).

To address some of your questions/comments:

• Bushings are brand new
• Car has never been in an accident
• From rim edge to fender, my front wheels measure more than an inch more than yours

You also mention that you are "not at all near the end of the lowering range" for either front or back. This is where I am puzzled, as my mechanic says the rears can't be adjusted any lower (my plan was to personally verify this claim over the weekend, but did not get a chance to do so). Also, another member commented that my bottom spring perch should just not be up that close to the top of the threaded strut body. How do yours compare? Would there be any way you could take photos of your coilovers so I can compare them to mine? I'd be interested in seeing where your spring perch is and how much thread you have showing, especially in the rear.

Thanks again!

 

Dave - thanks for passing my message on to Colin. Certainly did not want to bother him with this during MOTD week. Hope you guys had a good time. I will be on the lookout for a call/text from him soon. I'm sure he has some ideas on how to correct what we're doing wrong over here.

And good point about the "stance" comment. This thread does seem to be focusing on the "stance" aspect of these coilovers, but the reason I did buy them is performance. I do need to get them dialed in right, though. To clarify, my main 2 concerns are:

• In the rear, is my bottom spring perch way too close to the top of the threaded strut body (the springs are all the way up around the rubber boots with no thread showing behind the springs). Is this normal?
• Why can't the rears be lowered any more than they are? What would cause this? (Again, not verified by me personally but will probably check today or tomorrow).

Again - all comments and advice are appreciated by everyone. Thanks again for the help.

 

Yes, yes, yes. Your car looks perfect. That's how I want mine to look! Any chance of you posting a photo of the rears so I can compare them to my photos above? I'm interested in seeing how much threading you have showing and where the perch sits.

I know what you mean by the improved feel! Installed mine and went straight to the track. Didn't even test drive it beforehand. Spectacular, despite the ride height issue.

BTW, I really like the Anthracite trim!