Kansas City MINI Enthusiasts

Hi fellow Mini drivers! I acquired a JCW R53 last December with mushroomed strut towers (among other issues).
Baron BMW/Mini replaced the power steering pump and fan under warranty (good thing, else it'd cost me $900+).
While in for this service, they offered to "fix" my towers for the low, low price of $1200. When I inquired as to the process of fixing them, I was told that they'd simply use a template made of wood over the tower and bang down on it with a mallet. I found this unacceptable. I told them I'd think about it. And think about it I did. I researched extensively and found the "underator" or what I call "steel-plate-under-the-strut-tower" option as a viable and economical fix. I ordered some off of ebay from a guy just outside of Omaha, NE. They were in my mailbox 2 days later. I used the plates to make a plywood template of the same general dimensions, but with a channel to allow the ribs of the tower to fit through. I then sandwiched the strut tower between the plates with the wood as a "buffer". I tightened the nuts down evenly and the towers bent down flat. Then finish up with the plates underneath the tower, and the problem is fixed and future recurrences prevented.
Pics follow:

I think the under tower plates are the best way to reinforce this area, I just take a 4X4 and a BFH and flatten them out, it doesn't take much.....glad you got yours fixed!

I went overkill. After blowing strut mounts I finally replaced them with fixed camber plates and just for good measure reinstalled the strut tower defenders back on top. Overkill yes but it's as solid as you can get.

Reserved for pics. I can't upload them directly. Guess I'm finally gonna have to give in and get an photobucket account.

Yes you can, just resize them to 600X800 and they'll load just fine.....

Example.....