Rear sway bar

Rogue Synapse

Rogue Synapse

Member
Has anyone upgraded their rear sway bar/anti-roll bar? I’m having some fun autocrossing my SE but wanted to stiffen the rear to correct some of the understeer. It’s a well-known and very common upgrade for the Cooper S but I thought I read somewhere that there was a different/nonstandard rear sway bar for the SE due to battery geometry. I don’t want to order a generic F56 rear sway bar and not have it fit.

Would you believe I emailed Mini and they said they didn’t know the answer to this question?
 
Thanks, super helpful. I was actually going to pull the trigger on that NM engineering sway bar a week or two ago before I realized the website attesting to fitment might not be the most definitive source. But it turns out there really aren’t any definitive sources.
 
Well if you buy one and install it successfully, you'll become the definitive source.

I'm not super pumped to remove all the under trays myself.
 
OK so I did wind up getting the NM 25mm rear sway bar because it was compatible with F56 and F57. In an effort to avoid messing it up, I wound up having a local BMW/Mini shop put it on for me. They said it fit fine and was no big deal compared to a standard Cooper S, even though the subframe was different because of the battery pack. The sway bar came with step-by-step instructions with pictures in case anyone wanted to DIY it.

I am also happy to report that it made a huge difference in autocross! I shaved a full 3.5 seconds off my times from the previous event with the stock sway bar. Huge! The biggest difference was the tendency to understeer/push/plow through sharp turns was massively improved. I dare say I even got the rear end to swing around a little bit and cornering was a dream. If anyone has any inkling to autocross the SE, I would say an upgraded sway bar is absolutely mandatory to fix the stock understeer. I am a fully converted believer.
 
Rogue Synapse said:
OK so I did wind up getting the NM 25mm rear sway bar because it was compatible with F56 and F57. In an effort to avoid messing it up, I wound up having a local BMW/Mini shop put it on for me. They said it fit fine and was no big deal compared to a standard Cooper S, even though the subframe was different because of the battery pack. The sway bar came with step-by-step instructions with pictures in case anyone wanted to DIY it.

I am also happy to report that it made a huge difference in autocross! I shaved a full 3.5 seconds off my times from the previous event with the stock sway bar. Huge! The biggest difference was the tendency to understeer/push/plow through sharp turns was massively improved. I dare say I even got the rear end to swing around a little bit and cornering was a dream. If anyone has any inkling to autocross the SE, I would say an upgraded sway bar is absolutely mandatory to fix the stock understeer. I am a fully converted believer.
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That is great to know! I put the NM 22mm swaybar in my 2019 Cooper S, dropping the rear subframe wasn't to bad. I do want one for my SE so that is good news knowing it will work!
 
MarkSasaki said:
That is great to know! I put the NM 22mm swaybar in my 2019 Cooper S, dropping the rear subframe wasn't to bad. I do want one for my SE so that is good news knowing it will work!
Click to expand...

Did you have to drop the subframe? On the SE, the rear of the battery is mounted to the rear subframe so it would be a bit more difficult to do
 
Carsten Haase said:
Did you have to drop the subframe? On the SE, the rear of the battery is mounted to the rear subframe so it would be a bit more difficult to do
Click to expand...

It does not need to be removed, just lowered enough to get to the front sway bar clamp bolts. I have not looked at my SE yet, but I’m sure it just needs to be unbolted and supported by a jack.
 
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