I am thinking of replacing a pretty glaring item on the MINI....the tall stock antenna.

Are all stubby antennas all the same....pretty generic? Reception wise, durability, and looks? Just buy the lowest price and done....or is there a difference? Any suggestions?

 

The Mini sport short antenna is not that great. Our's broke in half.

 

I changed mine to the Outmotoring one. Nice build and finish. I don't notice any negative effect on the radio but I rarely use it.

 

Replacing the antenna should have no effect on FM reception, as the FM antenna is built into the rear window glass. The base of the antenna has the satellite radio antenna in it. The antenna mast is just for AM. Realistically, you could go without an antenna and not see any reduction in reception.

 

That is really good info about the antenna mast only for AM radio.

I typically only listen to Pandora or a CD. However my wife for some unknown reason listens to FM. Go figure. No matter how rarely she would drive the MINI I have to have FM.

Not having any antenna mast would make it look like a pseudo shark fin

?? So if I remove the mast should I plug the screw socket?

 

Probably not a bad idea to plug the socket. You might try a dollop of black silicone, smoothed over to make it look clean. That way, if you ever sell it, and decide to put the antenna back on, you can simply pop out the silicone plug and screw the antenna back in.

 

I might go for the antenna delete!

I hope also that it ruins my reception so my wife will drive even less because no radio.

I could plug it with the recommended black silicone or might try the clear bath silicone temporarily as a trial.

I just don't want to leave the hole exposed to avoid corrosion and odd chance something plugs it so I cannot screw in the mast in the future.

Just in case....any one else have suggestions for shorty antennas just in case wife wants radio reception?

 

It was the first mod I did to my R56, but I'm constantly taking it off when I street park. I'm afraid someone will steal the stub antenna, but it's becoming a pain because of the screw thy attaches the stub to the shark fin constantly falls to the ground. I'm going to end up losing that screw before having the stub stolen. Either way, if I forget to put it on, FM and SAT is fine

 

I would plug something in just to protect the threads and the connection in case you ever want to put the mast back on. I have the OEM sport antenna and can see how it would break in half. It feels pretty cheap but it matches the black plastic on the housing.

EDIT: I have also heard of people cutting the long part off where it transitions to braided wire!

 

Here is the one I installed. Works fine. Looks good.

 

The hyperlink indicates it is for a Mazda. Does the Mazda part fit a mini?

 

Yeah, it's pretty much universal. It was packaged with several different mounting studs for different vehicles.

 

http://www.altaperformance.com/speci...6-mini-coopers

I have the shorter stubby. The finish of the antenna doesn't match the base, but it's barely noticeable. Since it's shorter, i feel there's less leverage to accidentally bend it and break it in half, like the longer ones that others have.

 

Or... unscrew it, take it to Lowes/Home Depot/Good Neighborhood Real Hardware Store and get a short black bolt to screw in where the mast was. Put some grease in first to keep the threads from possibly seizing.

I use the CF antennae from GoBadges. It was on sale. Check ebay for some cheapies.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-CARBON-ALUMINUM-SHORT-RADIO-ANTENNA-POLISHED-BLACK-SCREWS-BASE-CAR-TRUCKS-VAN-/190830898570?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&fits=Model%3ACooper&hash=item2c6e686d8a&vxp=mtr

 

I use the MINI shorty antenna. Works and looks perfect to me.

 

I changed ours with a shorty from the dealer on our R57,with the top down the 3ft long antenna bugged me.I don't see any change in reseption. we mostly listen to SAT radio,and the NAV didn't change either.love it!!!

 

I'm pretty sure I may never listen to AM radio. I removed my stock antenna this morning to test the info above and as expected, no effect on FM or HD. I put it back on for now, but I am going to look for a plug and will post up here when I find something that looks suitable.

 

So I'm wondering about a plastic rivet to do the delete. The base on my R57 is 5/8" wide, does anyone know what size the screw/hole is? I don't have carpenter's pincers to get a precise size. Stick something like this in there: http://www.hudson4supplies.com/en.us/product-7392

 

Never mind, just took it off and realized its a dome underneath so a flat rivet won't look proper. I'll probably just got the 3-4" stubby route.

Now - do i go plastic, black metal, or shiny chrome? What do you like on your Mini?

 

I replaced mine for about $20 from Way Motor Works. Looks much better! Same reception. Wish I'd done it sooner.

 

Stubby from MINI

 

The threads measure .230"

That works out to 5.842mm

I don't have a metric gauge, but it is a little smaller than 15/64 drill gauge.

I want to plug mine so I can easily use a cover during the day at work. We sit near a plant that makes Lime and often our cars are dusted slightly. But on a day where you get a light rain, it adheres to the car and must be hand washed off. I have a cover for my motorcycle that is made to keep off sun and dust, a UV cover. Nelson Rigg UV-2000.

 

Alright. With all of this talk, I went out and dug through my container of bolts and found several that fit perfectly. So I can take one to a hardware store and look for some type of rounded bolt to fit the hole. At most they only screw in about 1/2 inch.

 

I threw this one on today.. Sirius reception remained great although from what I just learned in this thread the antenna I replaced is for AM. This one is pretty high quality and came with different sized screws for multiple fits. Looks and fits great on the Mini. Dabbed on some loctite so it's never vibrating off. It measures 3 inches.