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My plan was always to remove the luggage bar (not calling it a brace because Mini says the only function is to prevent things in the boot from making it to the front) so that my dogs wouldn't be bumping into it when I transport them. Well, I finally got the GP3, and started working on it this weekend.
Here's the underside of the bar. Notice, no bolts, or screws. The main plastic piece is only held on by the little grommet circled. You can literally just pull the plastic cover over and it moves.
Here it is slid over, and the star bolt mostly unscrewed.
Here's a top view of the bolt. I used a T45 and it came out pretty easily.
With the bolt out and the second plastic cover seen above moved over, the bar just slides out of the metal bracket that's holding it in.
The plan *was* to remove the bar, put both plastic coverings and bolt back in (to cover that metal bracket) and be done. BUT!!!!
The driver side bolt and I had a disagreement. It wanted to stay snug in it's little hole. We fought. It was winning
Well, we have tools for this kind of thing. I was determined to win.
MOTHER BISCUITS!!!
It won. I'm defeated. Next step is to put it back together and take it in to see how much the damage will be to take get the stupid bar out.
Anyway, assuming your bolts are cemented in like my driver side bolt is, this should have been an easy process. I'll update once I get it back from the dealership and with pictures so you can see what the boot looks like without the bar.
Seeing how it’s installed, I can’t imagine it provides any additional structural rigidity.
Is it not a rear upper strut bar? I was assuming the metal brackets where attached to the top of the struts, is that not the case? Seems like a waste when they could have just used a net to separate the cargo area if that's what they were really going for.
What is the purpose of removing the brace? This is what keeps the car all together and provides its handling.
I don't catch the thinking behind this.
Mini makes no claims that it's structural reinforcement. In fact, they specifically say it's to prevent stuff in the back from going to the front, and that's it's only job. Well, that and to look neat.
Mini makes no claims that it's structural reinforcement. In fact, they specifically say it's to prevent stuff in the back from going to the front, and that's it's only job. Well, that and to look neat.
What's the metal bracket mounted to, nothing structural?
M10 size fasteners usually use a T50 torx bit size, so your T45 may have been slightly undersized and caused your issue. Since the screw is now 'dead' for all intense purposes, you should be able to get a vice grip onto the sides of the head and get it to break loose. If not, then a trip to a local welder to put a nut on top of it is your next 'best' choice as robby71 noted above.
As for the strength of the bar, it may offer some slight side-to-side stiffening if the structure it is mounted to has any strength in that direction. That bracket it is mounted to is the limiting factor and not the screw holding it in place. Per the info noted, it is an M10 grade 8.8 screw, which has a rated shear strength of 22.3kN (~5,000 lbs), so not insignificant by any means. The design of the bracket can give you a clue as to what direction it is intended to be 'strong' in. Looking at it, it would be strong in the side-to-side direction and also toward the 'cup' side of the bracket. Since the 'cup' is toward the rear of the vehicle (from what I can tell in the pics), its main purpose was to hold the bar in place during assembly with the insertion of the bar coming from the front of the car...likely indicating ease of assembly rather than strength.
Is it not a rear upper strut bar? I was assuming the metal brackets where attached to the top of the struts, is that not the case? Seems like a waste when they could have just used a net to separate the cargo area if that's what they were really going for.
I can attest that any Mini HT driven aggressively will flex from the door posts. The brace has a very important purpose. I never considered a HT for this reason.
I totally understand removing the bar as I took mine out of my GP2 the 2nd week I owned the car as it just keeps you from putting anything in the back.
There are only 3 pieces to remove, not including the actual bar. In order, the outer plastic cover, then the bolt, then the inner sleeve. I didn't have to remove anything to remove the outer plastic cover, if that's what you're asking. Just a good yank, really.
