Worn rear shock absorber bushes is a very common problem on a Mini Cooper R50, Mini Convertible R52, Mini Cooper S R53 (2004 – 2006), and MINI Cooper R56 (2006 – 2013). The car sent to our workshop is having some irritating sound from the rear wheel. Our mechanic jack the car up and find out both the rear shock absorber bushes has worn out seriously. As you can see from the image here, there is almost nothing left!

To remove the rear shock absorber on a Mini Cooper, you will only need to remove 3 bolts, two on top of the shock absorber and one at the bottom. This is the bolt that hold the shock absorber.

Now the entire shock absorber is out. Check out the bushes, it has nothing left on it!

This is how a new bush look like

The new bushes cost about RM120 ($40) for both sides. It is relatively cheap compared to many cars in the market today.

Here’s the product code for the bush.

Bring the car for front and rear alignment. Many tire shops often say that it is not necessary to do the rear alignment for a Mini Cooper. Some shops even don’t know there is a need to do it. It is a MUST to do the rear alignment especially when a new shocks absorber is replaced.

Now the car run smooth without any irritating sound! See also: Mini Cooper Maintenance Cost at 100,000KM (62,000 miles)