NM Tie Bar & Enkei Wheel Install

Our MINI was spoiled this Valentine's day. When I arrived to the shop on Saturday morning, I was eager to get the new Enkei's mounted and install the NM-ENG billet aluminum tie-bar.


Everything is pretty straight forward when it came to installing the wheels. As long as you have all the necessary tools you shouldn't have any problems. We all agree that the car looks a lot better with the new wheels on. The Enkei RPF1 wheels are hub centric, light weight and fit perfectly. There's no guess work in lining them up on the hub.


NM-Engineering's billet aluminum tie-bar was next to go on our Cooper S. This billet aluminum tie-bar, often referred to as a strut bar, mounts easily to the top of the two front strut towers, located in the engine bay. There is no interference with the stock intake, hood or NM's high-flow induction kit. The quality and attention to detail in this strut bar is really amazing. Everything has been well thought out, including: install instructions, mounting pads and each nut and bolt. All the hardware fits flush and torque specs are provided.



An example of NM-Eng's attention to detail is the machined pockets on the mounting pads that accommodate the upper strut bearing locator pin. The less-esthetically-pleasing solution to this is drilling a hole straight through the the mounting pad. NM-Eng's method is much cleaner and better looking.





Another great detail NM includes is the two bolts connecting the rod to the mounting pad. This design prevents any pivoting that would occur if only one bolt connected the rod to the mounting pad. This, along with the billet construction, makes for a super-rigid system.

We chose the black bar to contrast well with our blue NM-ENG high-flow induction kit. We especially like the blue adjustment/locking nut that matches our induction pipe, springs, and sway bar. The nut allows you to adjust the length of the bar to fit your MINI perfectly.

After everything was buttoned up and torqued down, I took it out for a test drive. You could definitely feel the difference in acceleration, stopping and turning. The car, with the new wheels/tires and tie-bar, feels like a totally different MINI. It's much lighter and tighter.