Hey all!

So I have the OEM roof rack. I love it and I love the look, but it has a whistle while driving. I have it measured to the manual specs exactly (it gives the measurement in mm so I had to convert them to understand). Is there any position like moving them forward or back to make it not whistle? Or is this just something I'll have to deal with for the look. I know to put stuff on them the measurements in the manual need to be right to get the weight ratio right, but just for driving around does moving them help? Anyone know?!

 

A pic or 2 would help.

 

I also have the bars. But no CM to put them on yet! Should get the car Tuesday; I'll experiment with positions then... Also plan to get a Yakima box for the rails.

 

Good Idea!! Done or 2

 

sooo...I would love to help but I'm still LMAO at the pic with your wonderful dogs!!

Try moving the rack back a bit, it looks like the dealer installed it so it's not in its "optimal" position.

Again, great photo with the dogs, glad I asked!!!!

 

Sorry to hear about the whistle ! I'm currently having my OEM bars vinyl wrapped, so as soon as I get them back and installed I'll take a listen. Not sure if the wrapping will make the whistle better or worse....

 

Thx Bigpea! They make me laugh all the time! I just wish I got the mini logo in the pic!!

The whistle isn't super loud and my music is usually louder, but it is noticeable... So I was just checking! I may try moving it back a bit. I installed it and did it to the exact measurements of the manual, so maybe best for driving is back and best for carrying is where they are now!

Tata can't wait to hear the results!!!

 

I have mine mounted further back where the front bar crosses the interior divide of my panoramic sunroof. I still have whistling at about 45 mph. It's nothing really annoying. Just slightly noticeable.

 

With no accessories or box on the bars, have you tried removing the rubber channel covers on the cross bars? That is supposed to help with whistling...

 

I have an `05 MCS with roof rack, and I had the whistling noise too. I found that removing the rubber channel covers eliminated the whistling.

Dan

 

Yes, I can confirm that removing the rubber channel eliminates the whistling.

 

AWESOME!! Thanks guys! I knew I could count on NAM Will remove them maybe even before the drive home today...

 

*Just and update: Taking the rubber out does in fact remove the whistle!!!

Thanks All!

 

Has anyone experimented with moving the front and/or rear bars either further forward or back from what Mini specs? Thinking about either pushing the front bar way forward or back in between the sunroof panels so that the front sunroof isn't obstructed by the bar.

 

We installed the load bars on our All4 S per the exacting German measurements (to the mm) that were included in the instructions. We had no whistle, even though the rubber strips are in place.

I'm sure the instructions are so exact, because that's where they designed the roof rails to take the load into the roof structure. Unlike the old days, utilization of exact load points is common with most modern cars with roof rails. Moving the load bar attachment points forward or back may thwart the roof rack designer's intent and possibly would result in reducing the rack's ability to carry heavy loads. So I'd be careful about deviating from the instructions.