1st Gen | R52 Convertible JCW MINI DIY R50 Two-Door Hardtop (Cooper) R53 Two-Door Hardtop (Cooper S)
For all those that have been taking advantage of that recent MotoringFile special on the JCW strut brace ($250 from Knauz MINI) we’ve now got your install instructions!
Install seems fairly straightforward as they list that only a half an hour is needed. And for all you with the JCW cold air intake, yes, this will indeed fit over it. Enjoy!
[ JCW Strut Brace PDF ] MotoringFile
By popular request we also have another photo to check out of the bar installed.
Big thanks to Eric for the file.
<p>Thanks Gabe & Eric, I did not have the opportunity to get down to my local dealer this week for the official installation instructions. Now I can re-install strut as per Mini.</p>
<p>NICE</p>
<p>And thanks for the pic of it installed!</p>
<p>Whew, intimidating installation. Not something for your average shade tree mechanic.</p>
<p>Any opinions on the JCW hinged design vs. the Dinan non-hinged design?</p>
<p>I’m not into hi-po mods, but I’ve read the strut bar makes a significant difference on the cabrios, so I think I’ll do one.</p>
<p>Thanks Gabe. I’ve been looking for these.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m not into hi-po mods, but I’ve read the strut bar makes a significant difference on the cabrios, so I think I’ll do one.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I can’t say for the convertible, but on the standard coupe the added benefit is slight since the MINI is already rigid and there’s very little infront of the bulk-head.</p>
<p>It appears that the hinges are not intended to pivot in operation and are mostly an installation aid, because the final step says to tighten the nuts to lock the hinges in place. This isn’t as unyielding as a non-hinged design, but IMO hinged/non-hinged doesn’t matter.</p>
<p>A strut brace is very effective at one function, which is to keep the top of the struts at a constant distance from each other. However, its geometry is such that it can provide little rigidity to prevent one strut from moving up and down, or forward and back relative to the other. On this issue, I believe that being hinged or not should make little or no difference.</p>
<p>By the way, a question that comes up periodically is how tight the strut brace mounting nuts should be torqued to, but these instructions provide no information!</p>
<p>Oops, my bad. A little diagram in the corner shows 35 Nm.</p>