I installed my Mini Roof Rack today along with a Thule Fairing and 2 Thule bike fork mount trays. On the fairing I was able to cut four 4” strips of aluminum to extend the brackets and allow the fairing to move out far enough to clear the sunroof and windscreen. I cut 1” off the trays so they would clear the rear spoiler as others have mentioned here on NAM. I had ordered adapter kits for my Thule trays, but ended up only using the T Screws. The adapter kit used a special plate to mount the tray to the rear rail and it was kind of bulky a bit of an eyesore, so I just drilled one hole in each tray and used one T screw to mount tray to the back rail.

Overall pleased with the install. I kind of hate having a rack on my Mini, but I haul my bikes often and want to drive my Mini when going to bike rides.

 

nice, was thinking about getting a roof rack myself! looks very clean

 

That's a nice look on a black roof. How's the wind noise with your sunroof open?

 

Nice. How easy is it to take the rack off, and put it on? I could use it for occasional carrying, but wouldn't want it on all the time.

 

Very nice. I have same set up but did not add the extenders to the fairing. That meant removing the sunroof windscreen that pops up. Enjoy! Having the rack always there makes it very convenient to load the bikes and go.

 

Not sure on the wind noise. We had extremely high winds in our area today, so it was hard to tell.

 

This rack is a little tricky to install and I personally would not want to remove and reinstall it very often.

 

i actually find the rack not so hard to install and remove. I can probably get it done in like 10 minutes.. on or off.

 

Does the Fairing help with the wind noise? I am going to add the rack, but just wanted to see what the Fairing does. Thanks and looks good Brooks!

 

Nice - looks great on the car!!

Donna

 

Yes, the fairing is suppose to cut down on wind noise. I drove the car with just the rack for one day and did not notice any difference in wind noise. I installed the bike trays and the fairing at the same time and I did notice some wind noise around 70 mph on the highway today, but it was not that bad. I may have to try it without the fairing just to see if it makes a difference. I do like the way the fairing looks and either way I will be keeping the fairing on. I wonder if it was out further towards the front of the roof if it would make any difference.

I don't think the wind noise was any worse with the sunroof open since it was quite noisy before installing the rack. I have only had the car a couple of weeks and it's really hard for me to remember how much noise their was before the rack was installed.

 

Looks Great.

 

Not that I have a lot to add, but when I picked up the car, my MA said there was a bulletin about a fix for this, but the parts guy had not heard anything. He HAD heard not to sell me a rack.

 

how can i do the same as you do/
I have all the same except what I get from Thule is not as nice as what you have done.
bguy1954@yahoo.com
please reply

 

Good job! Missed this the first time around, a bit before my time here. A note about the wind noise- it can't be any worse than my sunroof when it is closed...

 

which fairing is this? the 40" one?

 

I am running a straight Thule setup without a fairing. I have found that the square bars of the Thule do not set up the kind of howling sound that round Yakima bars do, but there's no way around it, any roofrack is going to create some wind noise. I can open my sunroof at around town speeds with the rack on, i.e. 50mph or less, but at highway speeds it would be pretty pointless. Initial set up on mine took about an hour but I can now take it on and off in around 10 minutes. I ride my bike almost daily but leave my home on the bike most of the time so I don't need to leave the rack on all the time. Just as an example of the drag induced, I recently took a bike trip 10 hours each way with rack and one mtb on top. With cruise set on 80, I still got 28 mpg, think it would have been over 30 without the rack.

 

So I have the cross bars for a '10 Clubman with factory rails so I'm not sure how much, if at all, they differ from yours, but did you use the XADAPT9 to mount the front and if so were the plates substantially smaller than the track?

I just got my system all mounted, but I don't know how I feel about that plate not fitting as snug as it could despite there being virtually no way of it slipping out. Drilling a hole for the back plate seems like an interesting idea, but I don't know how I feel about doing that either. I don't like how that XADAPT9 plate does not stay flush with the crossbar tho.

Thanks.

 

Hi, I juste installed the MINI factory Bike rack. It doesn't have a wind deflector as the THULE one but I was positively surprised with the low eind noise, I was expecting it a lot worse. There is one problem however, my Mini is a Mini S and the rack is too long, it bumps with the tail spoiler if you want to open the tail gate. You can't so I'm going to have to take it somewhere to cut it short. You can open the sunroof perfectly with it. Hope this helps. Anybody with the same issue?

 

If you don't mind your bike going backwards you can reverse the rack and have the rear wheel in the front, then the hatch will open.

 

jluisfm, I just installed the factory rack on my '07 CooperS, and like you founf the wind noise to be far less than expected. In my former Saab, it positively howled, even with the fairing (my mini has no front fairing on the rack). As for the hatch interference, I am going to put my bike on there, and hopefully trim the bike carrier to add clearance so the hatch opens. This does seem like quite the design oversight...

 

Hi Brooks,

We've got the Mini Cooper branded rack on our 2009 S, which is what it looks like you have. It's a nice looking setup, and we'd like to duplicate it. Do you have model numbers for the parts you picked up? Did you need adapters at all?

 

I'm picking up the yakima setup and wondering which fairing works best. I figured the 38 incher would be the best..

I'll post some pics this week when I pick it up and install!

 

What are your brackets like on the rack? Can you take a photo? I struggle with getting the flange on the nut to grab and bring the brackets "down" when tightening.

 

I am considering buying a fairing and I don't know how great I would be at modifying it.
Is there something new on the market since these posts. We have the Mini factory roof rack and touring bike holders. (Thule design) We love traveling with our bikes, but the wind noise from the rack is enough to drive us crazy. Thanks for the help