I finally got my Yakima roof rack installed on my Clubman. I had to purchase the Q-towers and clips. I already had the 48" bars, bike mounts and luggage basket. I will likely install the basket before my next vacation trip. The towers install similar to the OE racks. It is not a quick installation, but it does seem secure. Getting the clips behind the rubber for the rain gutter and into the appropriate slots, while having the rubber fit smoothly up against the outside of the clips took some practice. I actually deviated from the instructions to get the clips into the slots with a bit less hassle.

As I mentioned, I had much of the Yakima set-up from previous cars, so it made sense for me to stay with these. If I were to order a new Clubman, I would definitely order the roof rails as an option. I much prefer that set-up for a roof rack as it is much quicker to mount and remove the towers.

Perhaps someone with the MINI roof rack can assure me that I won't have any leakage problems with the rubber now pulled away from the roof a bit where the clips fit into the slots. I am sure they thought of this in the design and there must be internal drainage channels. Still, I did wonder about this during the installation.

 

I have no leak problems as the opening do not actually go into the cabin area

 

Could you tell me which Q clips you used? I have a 2010 Clubman S that I want to install my yakima rack onto, but the yakima site is less than clear about which clip to purchase-apparently they'd rather I buy a completely new system...