I'm considering completely removing my roof antenna on my 2010 and covering the hole with some sort of diy plate. Currently, I have no antenna mast installed (just a black plastic plug in the hole) and my reception is fine. What can I expect if I totally remove the antenna base?

 

Probably will not cause you any problems. There is a secondary antenna in one of the side windows. There is also a diversity antenna amp that chooses between the roof and side window antenna for the best signal. The only real time this may be an issue is in fringe areas like 60-70 miles from a strong station or with weak stations.

 

Thanks for the info. I don't listen to the radio that much and rarely drive out of my local area so long range radio reception is not really a concern. I'm either going to remove the antenna completely or switch to some kind of shark fin cover. I'd really like to find an old antenna base and modify it so it will fit under a shark fin.

 

There are usually 5 antennas, roof 2 side windows hatch window and 1 or 2 in the body. However if you have satellite radio or nav you can kiss those goodbye. They are solely in the roof antenna

 

Great thread, because I had wondered about this as well. I had no idea there were other antennas. I keep my Clubman covered and sometimes forget to grab the antenna from the hatch after removing the cover, and I always wondered why I could still get the same stations. Now I understand!

 

Well this info is totally incorrect for FM/AM reception.

There is only two (2) antennas for FM/AM reception. One is the whip on the roof and the other is in the driverside rear window. The rear window only has defrost and is not an antenna in the MINI. Many BMW models use the defrost as an antenna but not the MINI.

As for antennas in the body those are not for radio reception but are for the comfort access system and there is 4 of them one in the rear bumper, one in each door pillar, and one in the dash.

There can also be a bluetooth antenna under the center console back by the hand brake if bluetooth is installed.

Yes the NAV and SAT antennas are in the roof mount so if it is removed you will loose those.

 

I believe there is also a mobile phone antenna (for the cradle connection) up there (could be shared, however).

 

There is on some models but the only way it can be used is if you have the correct cradle in the armrest and your phone supports a hard connection to the antenna.

It was that way on my old Motorola E815 but i dont think there are any current phones that have that capability. I have never seen a cradle that has a passive antenna connection built in for use with the external antenna.

 

I took my antenna all the way off, I have sirius radio too (no subscription tho). Reception is complete ***** now, so be ready.

 

What are people doing with their Roadsters? I plan on ordering one and I've been trying to decide what to do with the flexible antenna on the back-passenger corner of the car.

It's a little silly that there is (in addition) a little shark fin sirius antenna as well. I don't understand why they didn't combine the two into that. My Mazda 3 has GPS, Sirius, and Radio all bundled into a little fin with a 6" antenna sticking out.

 

My husband completely removed his and everything is fine. He went to remove my antenna, cuz I like the shaved look better. The Sirius radio did not like it...now we're trying to figure out how to make it work again, even though he reconnected all wires correctly :/

 

How did he deal with the two holes left in the roof?

 

He did a little DIY. Covered it with a little piece of plastic and painted it white. But he just had the roof painted black, so it doesn't show now anyway.

 

I don't mind the sirius antenna, just the RC car antenna lol

 

I don't want to remove the whole mount on the top, just the antenna. Any idea where I can get a plug for it? I don't want the stubby antenna and I want to keep the NAV/SAT part on the top, just the RC car part. I can't seem to find a "plug" anywhere.

 

Just use a black plastic plug similar to this http://www.autozone.com/autozone/acc..._&target=shelf. They're available at all auto parts stores in a variety of sizes. The one I used had a head about .4" diameter and a shaft diameter of about .22".