The instructions out of the box are rather vague. Anyone actually seen, obtained an installation document? What Koni provides out of the box appears to be a generic picture diagram of which one is suppose to extrapolate what needs to be done.

Currently working on the rears. Do or did you resuse the bottom OEM rubber spring isolator upon reassembly?

Sometime later today I'll have to figure out what Koni thinks should be done with these two large white composite material washers.

 

I ended up reusing the bottom OEM rubber spring isolator. Reused all the top components except for the new slightly larger 17mm nylon locking nut. Ended up using one of the large white washers on top of the shock base, as sort of water barrier like the caps on the stock shocks? I don't know what the actual intent was for these washers.

One thing I did do and glad I did, was put silver alignment marks on every part up and down the shock. Its very easy during the reassembly or when tension is being released on the spring compressors to not get everything clocked back in the original orientation.

Seem like decent shocks, only did the rears for now. Too bad there's no inventory of parts provided, nor anything past generic 2nd grade picture page. Horrible really for a product of this level.

 

can you please post back on how has the driving experience changed ? I am interested to hear if the ride is smoother, and how much so.... My wife hates the harsh ride, most likely will upgrade to Koni's if that much better or sell the car in spring...

 

Impressions are subjective I've only put about 10 miles on it and replaced only the rears. Initial thoughts lean toward a slightly more compliant ride, separated concrete joints don't quite have the harsh impact as they did previously.

I'll provide more feedback after replacing the fronts. Plan replacing the fronts before this next Monday.

 

Works great on a BMW e46. Would put them on the R60 if they made the Koni Special Actives for the R60. Ride is still responsive and quick in the e46, smooths over joints, less body roll, drives like a new car. Hope that helps. Tell them the R60 needs them.

 

Got the fronts installed, The assembly of the fronts was easier than the rears, go figure. I still stand by my original subjective remarks. The harshness of cracked concrete is slightly better. It's marginal but the impact harshness is improved. Now is it improved enough for a person of the opposite sex to confuse the ride with a Cadillac? Probably not. So far I'm content.

Here's the instructions that came with the fronts FWIW.

 

Thanks for your feedback... I was tempted to buy them in order to reduce the harshness of the suspension, but it does not seems like a good idea... @WayMotortWorks is preaching these shocks just to make a sale, but they don't actually make that much of a difference it seems..

Many thanks again!

 

After putting about additional miles on the Koni shocks I would like to increase my star count for the FSD ( Active Suspension) product. I got a much better sense of the shock compared to the OEM units with 64k miles difference while driving 35 miles up and back on I-35 north of Dallas, south of Dallas and back again. There is a notable difference in road isolation that wasn't there previously. I would best describe as removing the harshness with a more compliant road manor.

 

Sorry I don't "preach" anything just to make a sale. If you talk to anyone that has talked to me or asked for my advise I often talk people out of a sale on things by telling them the truth.
I stand by my recommendation on the FSDs. I've installed more than I can count and the cars do ride better and I would encourage people to take a ride in their friends MINI that has them if they want to make their own opinion about it. As everyone is entitled to their opinion, but also may feel differently, my customers have reported back they like the ride better.

 

what size are your rims? Anything higher than 16" and the ride quality gets harsh real fast. If you are running run-flat tires the ride is harsher too. The FSD's take the skittery nature out of uneven roads going around a turn. They are subjectively softer than stock at low parking lot speed and do not compromise handling by firming up nicely at high speed. It is not recommended to lower the car with FSD's. Hope that helps.

 

Hi,
I have the stock 17" rims, stock everything, apart from tires, which are replaced with non-run flats... It is extremely harsh and it bounces both front and rear at every pot hole... you feel every pebble in the road.
Which is nice for sport driving, but the matter of fact is that we commute only in that car on shitty Boston roads..
I do believe it has the sport suspension too... here is a pic, it does look stock, no? I bought it like this, with Sumimoto HTR A/S P02 tires , all seasons.

 

I think the sport suspension lowers the car by 10mm. So that's 10 mm less for the FSD's to "work their magic" and worst case lead to premature failure. You could try a regular adjustable shock that isn't sensitive to ride height differences from stock and dial it to a comfortable setting. That's probably cheaper than going to a 16" wheel and tire.