Thanks Z and all others for the info.. I'm posting this pic of my Roadster, because I believe that the 4 holes at the end of the tunnel on the aluminum end will mount to the 4 bolts on either side of the cross brace that ties all the braces together. In which case, at least those 4 bolts are accounted for? Does the Coupe/Hardtop have this small cross brace? Sorry about the run on sentence





-Steven

 

I would think any fastener that's threaded the same and of s proper length should be perfectly fine. I've used fasteners I had lying around my shop more than once to replace those cheap plastic Philips head expanding rivets.

 

I forgot all about those four holes on the very end of the metal piece because I don't have that cross member on my 2009 factory JCW. Those four holes are not attached on my setup. I was talking about the 3 holes on each that screw into the bracket. I wish I had that cross piece because it does indeed look like you reuse the screws from there to bolt the very end of the diffuser to the car.

 

Thanks for the help. What/where do the brackets attach to the car?


-Steven

 

the rear part of the muffler (cat back) has a hanger on each side that attaches to the chassis with two bolts. You can see them in the picture above where the heat shield has the two cut-aways in the middle. You undue the bolts, slide the bracket underneath, and re-attach the bolts. I did each side one at a time, and I was laying on the ground. It will be much easier up in the air. It will all make sense when you hold them up there. Just use the right one on the right side - left on left. I made sure I matched up the part nos. correctly.

 

What "cross brace" are we talking about?

 

If you look at the picture above on the Roadster - there are braces that come from either side and meet just forward of the muffler. They meet on either side into a rectangle piece that has two screws on either side. I don't have this piece or that bracing on my hatchback. I think it may be bracing for the Roadster because it has no roof. It looks like the rear two holes on each tunnel may screw right into those using the existing screws in the chassis.

 

Aaaargh this is killing me being out of town for so long. Once I get home I will back my R58 up onto ramps and look this over. I do not know if the Coupe has the bracing or not.

Do you have to remove the muffler heatshield to fit the center tunnel or not?

-Z

 

Ohh okay thanks. Yeah, the hardtop definitely doesn't have that bracing.

 

I've had my 2009 JCW on a lift before and as of kfmuller confirmed, the cross braces shown on the Roadster above are not there.

Maybe the GP2 has the necessary bolts underneath the car already attached to something. Doesn't it also have flat panels running under the car to smooth out the air flow making the diffusers more effective?

Just making a guess as to why the necessary bolts are not included for some reason.

 

That explains the two holes on each tunnel on the very end, but I'm not sure why they didn't include six more screws that attach the tunnels to the brackets and screw into the included clips. However, since you can take a clip and a screw and get something from the dealer or hardware store that matches the screw in length and that will thread into the clip - it's not a big deal, and ultimately, a really easy install.

 

We need to see the underside of the new GP. I'm really curious now.


-Steven

 

Oh okay, that does make it easy then. I thought the bolts went into the chassis somewhere so I was wondering how to find the correct size/thread pattern.

 

Here ya go! I grabbed these from a MINI promotion video for the GP after its reveal. Their not the greatest shots but might help a bit.

Of particular note to me is the Skid plate like ground effects up front. I've glanced over realOEM without luck so I'm not sure if this part has made it onto the production GP's or not. Pretty cool.

 

^ That diffuser doesn't even have those metal plates.

 

Thanks Andrew It's interesting that they added the aluminum plates to the production pieces. I also read they spent a good amount of time developing the engine bay tray, and that it does a good job of drawing air off the back of the intercooler, as well as getting rid of hot air in the engine bay. Hopefully, this piece will become available.



-Steven

 

Same diffuser otherwise. I'm guessing they added them to strengthen that area due to failures they were seeing.

 

Just wanted to attach this image (posted earlier in this thread) that kfmuller used successfully in his install.

 

Since our add on diffuser wont be connected to flat under-trays, is there any potential for hindering overall aerodynamic performance instead of improving it?

 

I'm no aerodynamics engineer but I don't think performance would suffer as a result.

You can buy the under panels though from Mini if it's a concern. They aren't new as a part of the GP, they were originally included as part of the Aero body kit option (not the JCW body kit).

From what I recall they're not expensive and it's also an easy install.

 

I think someone should email MINI asking them for installation instructions and what screws should be used to mount the tunnels and the brackets. The person (probably customer service) might not know the answer, but see if they can forward it deeper internally to the department that deals with parts. It seems like they forgot to include additional screws.

 

Personally I'd rather keep MINI out of the loop on this. I'd hate to upset the apple cart for folks looking to buy these in the future.

 

I don't think it's any mystery, Mini is selling all of these parts themselves so far without regard to what they are for.

Mini is in the business of making money. If they were concerned with exclusivity they never would've have sold JCW parts to anyone who wanted them.

 

I could certainly be wrong but I know of two individuals who've tried to order these through their dealer and when they input the part numbers it required at GP2 VIN. The GP1 did require a VIN number for exclusive parts. MINI may intend to sell these parts to whoever wants them. Lets hope so but I know BMW's logistics system is a huge lumbering beast and it may just take time for them to catch up with it.

 

Whoa, that's not cool. Hmm, okay. So for those (6) screws... I went to RealOEM and looked at some of the screws used for the bumper. There was a large list: http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...83&hg=51&fg=17

I picked out a few. Could it be anyone of these?