Just wondering if anyone has replaced their stock antenna with a short or stubby antenna. Really not feeling the stock one (reminds me of a certain male pig part) and wanted to replace it. Does a shorter one make reception worse or anything? Any good brands of what I should get?

 

Yes, lots of folks do this. On the first gen car many used Honda S2000 antenna. Alta is popular, too and they have several to choose from. Keep in mind that the threading is different between 1st gen and 2nd gen MINIs so be sure to get the right one that fits your specific car.

 

CravenSpeed has a few too, and they solved the 1st/2nd gen issue by shipping with a the parts to make either work.

 

I just put an outmotoring one on mine yesterday ... Reception seems the same ... they have both adapters as well as silver/black

 

alta super stubby 2" loses a very small amount of reception but then again sine I put the xm in the car I never notice anymore.

 

I've noticed minor, if any at all, loss of reception from the cheapest stubby mod out there: cut the OEM antenna down to about 1/4" of the metal and recap with the rubber cap.

 

I've also got the outmotoring antenna and have had no reception issues. See my gallery "MINI-side-resize" photo.

 

I've had the OutMotoring one for over a year. No reception & way better looking than the stock one. I did a write up and took some pictures of my install. You can view it here:

http://www.russellcory.com/blog/?page_id=19#Project3