I've had great luck with these guys: http://www.orsracksdirect.com/

AND, importantly, email or IM them with questions and discount coupons seem to appear...

 

Thanks a bunch. Grew up in Pittsburgh but haven't seen it in 50 years. They say it is quite different now. Stay well.

 

I just installed a 2nd hand factory rack, and got to say, the washer trick is absolutely essential - it not just keeps the feet from sproinging out repeatedly, but by holding things together more securely makes everything go together much faster. I'd been fussing with the rack for about 45 minutes, unable to get any of the feet to engage when I decided to try the washer on one of the towers, did so and it went right in, as did all the others when I added the washer. In addition to keeping the feet from snapping out, it seems to hold them flat more securely so the go in more evenly.

Oh, I also recommend not trying to cut the rubber unless you can REALLY CLEARLY see the cut lines - otherwise its just too easy to cut short, and the extra rubber will make it hard to get the feet in the slot, possibly requiring extra trimming and making more of a mess than if you just tore it along the dotted line as directly. Take the tweezers and tug, as directed, if you have faith it will break where it is supposed to (actually, long before it snaps you can see the row of holes elongate which gives visual confirmation that it is going to break in the right place). You can always clean up with an Exacto later.

Oh, am I the only one worried that moisture will get trapped in the pockets and rot out the roof?

 

With the help of my son (I recommend a helper for the 1st install)...I installed my new roof rack on my 2011 MCS. I read the instructions and the information available on this forum in advance of installation...I would recommend this too.

I loosened up all the appropriate nuts and screws and gently "wiggled" everything in place then tightened everything down. The roof rack seems very solid and after a test drive at highway speeds...no whistle, just a bit of wind noise. With a sunroof, I don't think a bit of noise can be avoided at highway speeds.

This was not a complex job if you just exercise your patience and don't force anything into place. From start to finish I think we spent about 40 minutes....but, we were very careful and checked everything more than twice before the final tightening of everything.

My only concern post install is water seepage or leakage around the rain-gutter in the location of the cut-outs. That being said, I don't see anyone having a problem with this and I was sure to only cut out the material marked with the dotted cut-out lines.

Next-Up: Install the Cargo Box as we prepare for a significant Father-Son Road-Trip!

 

It's really great now. Economy's back, really active Mini club, LOTS of local and regional events, and now THREE decent sports teams (The Penguins, some baseball team, and some other football team).

EXCELLENT words of advice! How many of us have broken stuff using the "larger hammer" technique? ESPECIALLY with roof racks, whether you have the gutter style or the "pads on the roof" style, it only takes one screw-up and you're looking at a dent (or worse) every time you get in the car. That's one of the reasons I went with a hitch and hitch-mount carrier for either bikes or gear.

My son's 19. We took a Significant Father Son Road Trip when he was 9 that we STILL talk about. We've taken many since. Take as many of these as you can.

(OK, back on topic now!)

 

thanks for the reply. would you be able to show me a picture on your car what it looks like w/out the plug and with the plug installed? thanks

 

bump for anyone that has a photo of what it looks like w/o the plug

 

Sorry, been traveling. Will be out of the country probably until late December.

 

eek! no worries thanks for the reply

i just received all my yakima stuff, if this doesnt work well, its all going back and i'll just order the oem base bars

 

So I have had my MINI a few days now. I do a lot of kayaking during the summer so it was a no brainier to get the factory roof rack along with it. As soon as I hit 62mph, I notice a low volume/high pitch whistling noise. I assume it to be the roof rack. My friend's Subaru does something similar, as well and my other friend's VW. Is there a simple fix?

 

My bars came with rubber strips that fit the slots in the bars. Makes no noise at all. Does yours have those in place?

 

I'm not sure honestly. I got a kit with all the mounting/un-mounting hardware... There are several rubber strips in there. Maybe that's what you're talking about. Where do they go? Does yours whistle if you take them out?

 

The rubber strips would be what you are looking for. You lift the lock plate on one side like you are going to take the racks off the car and they slide into the slot when you don't have something like a bike rack attached. I have no whistle.

 

What Baskets are people using? I love the Luggage Basket from MINI but its so expensive.

 

Any tips for removing the OEM base support system? I had the dealer install one as part of my new mini purchase but I'd like to remove during the winter months. I tried loosening the brass nut but I can't get the feet to free from the car.

 

Loosen the hex nuts under the bars.

 

I wiggle it and "encourage" the feet to move inward with a screwdriver. I have also removed the stops so I can take the nuts off.

 

-

 

I have the wheel on from thule and i am still able to open the sunroof.

 

-

 

Flyinace2000,

Did you end up finding a solution? I have the same setup as you do, and clearly won't drag my skis around for for the sake of preventing the whistling. I'm going crazy with this whistling business...thoughts?

Thanks,

Pasha

 

I have the base only on my R56 with sunroof. I took off the 3 little plastic wings to wrap my cross bars and never put them back on. Noisey as all get heck. Looking at Yakima pages, it looks like they have some attachments that allow OEM cross bars to adapt to any Yakima product, thinking fairing. Going to the bike shop later. Also, looking at the Thule pages, their rubber strip is grooved with the purpose of directing air for less noise as well. My son has Thule Aeroblades and is measuring the slot for me today. I haven't put my Rockymounts tray on yet.

 

I have a clamp on ski rack that works great.
http://www.prolineracks.com/mont-bla...ski-racks.html

Takes 5 minutes to put on or take off, so I don't run with it on all the time. Most of the time, I just put the skis in the car when I am going by myself.

 

Factory base rack took about an hour to install, Thule sidearm another 45 minutes

 

First off, thanks for a great thread. Lots of good info here.
I wanted to mention a great How-To in case anyone had a hard time making heads or tails from some of the instruction manual's details ... I did! Here's the how-to:
http://turn17.com/?p=261

Secondly, for everyone who has installed their roof racks - how many of you take them off when you're not using them? I want to make sure that the four "sealing caps" in the MINI Roof Rack Kit suffice for plugging the slots well so there's no water leakage into the roof.

Thanks again!
Alan