R56 2010 MINI S trailer hitch?
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1st Gear
Joined: Jun 2010
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2010 MINI S trailer hitch?
I will be buying a Vespa in the springtime, so I am looking to add a trailer hitch to my 2010 MINI S. Can anyone suggest good or bad designs? Web searches have provided vague results.
Thanks!!
Phred
Thanks!!
Phred
I had a minidomore hitch on my r50 and now have a Curt brand hitch on my 08 MCS. Both are good quality. The curt is significantly cheaper, but I believe the design was a ripoff of the minidomore (they stole his design basically). If I had known that, I probably would have paid the extra cash to support the guy who created the original.
Whichever route you go, have fun towing. I've trailered everything from motorcycles to pianos, lumber, and countless things for thousands of miles. I also had a popup for a while and now a small home built teardrop camper that gets pulled by the MINI.
Btw, when you are ready to install trailer light wiring, feel free to PM me....can give you some helpful hints to aid in install. The mini's light wiring is a little strange compared to a lot of other cars. There's more involved than just tapping into the tail lights.
Happy towing!
Whichever route you go, have fun towing. I've trailered everything from motorcycles to pianos, lumber, and countless things for thousands of miles. I also had a popup for a while and now a small home built teardrop camper that gets pulled by the MINI.
Btw, when you are ready to install trailer light wiring, feel free to PM me....can give you some helpful hints to aid in install. The mini's light wiring is a little strange compared to a lot of other cars. There's more involved than just tapping into the tail lights.
Happy towing!
I had a minidomore hitch on my r50 and now have a Curt brand hitch on my 08 MCS. Both are good quality. The curt is significantly cheaper, but I believe the design was a ripoff of the minidomore (they stole his design basically). If I had known that, I probably would have paid the extra cash to support the guy who created the original.
Whichever route you go, have fun towing. I've trailered everything from motorcycles to pianos, lumber, and countless things for thousands of miles. I also had a popup for a while and now a small home built teardrop camper that gets pulled by the MINI.
Btw, when you are ready to install trailer light wiring, feel free to PM me....can give you some helpful hints to aid in install. The mini's light wiring is a little strange compared to a lot of other cars. There's more involved than just tapping into the tail lights.
Happy towing!
Whichever route you go, have fun towing. I've trailered everything from motorcycles to pianos, lumber, and countless things for thousands of miles. I also had a popup for a while and now a small home built teardrop camper that gets pulled by the MINI.
Btw, when you are ready to install trailer light wiring, feel free to PM me....can give you some helpful hints to aid in install. The mini's light wiring is a little strange compared to a lot of other cars. There's more involved than just tapping into the tail lights.
Happy towing!
Fastlane, is it possible to discuss the wiring here? There is minimal stuff on this topic and it's all I have left to do. I have the hitch installed in my R55 but I have delayed the wiring because I am cautious due to the way the MINI works.
Sure I'd be glad to. I can't give you specific wires to tap since it's been a couple of years since I did it, but I'll tell you what I learned.
First of all, you will need to get a "powered" light converter. This is the type that allows you to tap the various lights in your car's wiring and then, through a separate power lead to the battery/fusebox/cig.lighter, power the trailer lights. These are generally in the $40-$50 range and can be obtained from etrailer.com, uhaul, tractor supply, etc. Just to show you what I mean, here is the one that minidomore.com sells....it is very overpriced IMO at $95, but it will show you what I'm talking about....I'm sure they include a wiring diagram and tell you exactly where to hook it in to the car with their instruction sheet....if that's worth the extra $50 to you, then have at it...
http://minidomore.com/mini_cooper_to...ng_harness.php
As I recall, I picked mine up at a uhaul store for around $30.
The powered type of light relay is needed because the regular type takes power directly from your car's light wiring to power the trailer lights. The car doesn't like this and thinks that a bulb is out and you will get an alert from the computer. The powered type simply uses the car's lights to "trigger" the relay to power the correct trailer lights that are then powered directly from a separate source/wire. I have mine on the passenger side compartment behind the trim in the boot ('08 hardtop MCS). I have the convertor in there with a power lead going to the cigarette lighter/power outlet on the opposite side of the boot (wire running under the trim). Each time I tow something, I just pull the trailer plug pigtail out and run it under the boot hatch. I carry a roll of blue masking tape to lay down on the spot where the wiring rests on the rear bumper to keep it from scratching while in motion.
As for wiring, this is where I was stumped at first. The 2nd gen MINI (up to '10 anyway) has tail lights that work on "dual voltage". In other words, there is not a dedicated wire for the brake lights and running lights to each tail light assembly. The two bulbs in the tail lights (in the red portion) are both single filament and sometimes work together and sometimes they don't depending on whether the lights are on, the key is in or out. When the car is running and the lights are on, the two bulbs are dimmer and are less than 12v....when the brake is depressed, they both brighten to indicate stop by shooting up to 12v. This is why the tail lights can slowly come on and dim off when you hit the lock/unlock button on your remote. Therefore, you cannot tap the tail lights for the running light and stop light functions on the light convertor. You MAY tap the tail lights for the two turn signals, though....they work like any other car.
For the running light function, I tapped the wire that goes down to the little amber light in the back passenger wheel well. The wire runs right down through the back compartment on the passenger side where I put my light convertor. You will have to figure out which wire it is as I don't recall the color.
For the stop function, I ran a wire up to where the LED stop light is above the rear window. There may be (and probably is) a wire in that right side compartment that goes up there to feed it, but I did not find it and chose to run the wire behind the boot trim up to where the wire goes from the boot hatch to the car.
Hope this makes sense and is enough to get you started.
First of all, you will need to get a "powered" light converter. This is the type that allows you to tap the various lights in your car's wiring and then, through a separate power lead to the battery/fusebox/cig.lighter, power the trailer lights. These are generally in the $40-$50 range and can be obtained from etrailer.com, uhaul, tractor supply, etc. Just to show you what I mean, here is the one that minidomore.com sells....it is very overpriced IMO at $95, but it will show you what I'm talking about....I'm sure they include a wiring diagram and tell you exactly where to hook it in to the car with their instruction sheet....if that's worth the extra $50 to you, then have at it...
http://minidomore.com/mini_cooper_to...ng_harness.php
As I recall, I picked mine up at a uhaul store for around $30.
The powered type of light relay is needed because the regular type takes power directly from your car's light wiring to power the trailer lights. The car doesn't like this and thinks that a bulb is out and you will get an alert from the computer. The powered type simply uses the car's lights to "trigger" the relay to power the correct trailer lights that are then powered directly from a separate source/wire. I have mine on the passenger side compartment behind the trim in the boot ('08 hardtop MCS). I have the convertor in there with a power lead going to the cigarette lighter/power outlet on the opposite side of the boot (wire running under the trim). Each time I tow something, I just pull the trailer plug pigtail out and run it under the boot hatch. I carry a roll of blue masking tape to lay down on the spot where the wiring rests on the rear bumper to keep it from scratching while in motion.
As for wiring, this is where I was stumped at first. The 2nd gen MINI (up to '10 anyway) has tail lights that work on "dual voltage". In other words, there is not a dedicated wire for the brake lights and running lights to each tail light assembly. The two bulbs in the tail lights (in the red portion) are both single filament and sometimes work together and sometimes they don't depending on whether the lights are on, the key is in or out. When the car is running and the lights are on, the two bulbs are dimmer and are less than 12v....when the brake is depressed, they both brighten to indicate stop by shooting up to 12v. This is why the tail lights can slowly come on and dim off when you hit the lock/unlock button on your remote. Therefore, you cannot tap the tail lights for the running light and stop light functions on the light convertor. You MAY tap the tail lights for the two turn signals, though....they work like any other car.
For the running light function, I tapped the wire that goes down to the little amber light in the back passenger wheel well. The wire runs right down through the back compartment on the passenger side where I put my light convertor. You will have to figure out which wire it is as I don't recall the color.
For the stop function, I ran a wire up to where the LED stop light is above the rear window. There may be (and probably is) a wire in that right side compartment that goes up there to feed it, but I did not find it and chose to run the wire behind the boot trim up to where the wire goes from the boot hatch to the car.
Hope this makes sense and is enough to get you started.
4th Gear
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 332
Likes: 0
From: DFW
Good info, my MiniDoMore I picked up barely used from a metroplexmini member is going in this weekend and then I'll be on the hunt for the wiring. I'll share info here if others will to if they do it first.
Not such an easy search on Amazon but I found these two.
Not such an easy search on Amazon but I found these two.
Last edited by gixxerjasen; Jan 11, 2013 at 07:57 AM.
Good info, my MiniDoMore I picked up barely used from a metroplexmini member is going in this weekend and then I'll be on the hunt for the wiring. I'll share info here if others will to if they do it first.
Not such an easy search on Amazon but I found these two.
http://www.amazon.com/Tow-Ready-1191...railer+harness
http://www.amazon.com/Hopkins-46255-...=pd_sbs_auto_1
Not such an easy search on Amazon but I found these two.
http://www.amazon.com/Tow-Ready-1191...railer+harness
http://www.amazon.com/Hopkins-46255-...=pd_sbs_auto_1
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1st Gear
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 13
Likes: 2
From: Kitsap, WA
Sure I'd be glad to. I can't give you specific wires to tap since it's been a couple of years since I did it, but I'll tell you what I learned.
First of all, you will need to get a "powered" light converter. This is the type that allows you to tap the various lights in your car's wiring and then, through a separate power lead to the battery/fusebox/cig.lighter, power the trailer lights. These are generally in the $40-$50 range and can be obtained from etrailer.com, uhaul, tractor supply, etc. Just to show you what I mean, here is the one that minidomore.com sells....it is very overpriced IMO at $95, but it will show you what I'm talking about....I'm sure they include a wiring diagram and tell you exactly where to hook it in to the car with their instruction sheet....if that's worth the extra $50 to you, then have at it...
http://minidomore.com/mini_cooper_to...ng_harness.php
As I recall, I picked mine up at a uhaul store for around $30.
The powered type of light relay is needed because the regular type takes power directly from your car's light wiring to power the trailer lights. The car doesn't like this and thinks that a bulb is out and you will get an alert from the computer. The powered type simply uses the car's lights to "trigger" the relay to power the correct trailer lights that are then powered directly from a separate source/wire. I have mine on the passenger side compartment behind the trim in the boot ('08 hardtop MCS). I have the convertor in there with a power lead going to the cigarette lighter/power outlet on the opposite side of the boot (wire running under the trim). Each time I tow something, I just pull the trailer plug pigtail out and run it under the boot hatch. I carry a roll of blue masking tape to lay down on the spot where the wiring rests on the rear bumper to keep it from scratching while in motion.
As for wiring, this is where I was stumped at first. The 2nd gen MINI (up to '10 anyway) has tail lights that work on "dual voltage". In other words, there is not a dedicated wire for the brake lights and running lights to each tail light assembly. The two bulbs in the tail lights (in the red portion) are both single filament and sometimes work together and sometimes they don't depending on whether the lights are on, the key is in or out. When the car is running and the lights are on, the two bulbs are dimmer and are less than 12v....when the brake is depressed, they both brighten to indicate stop by shooting up to 12v. This is why the tail lights can slowly come on and dim off when you hit the lock/unlock button on your remote. Therefore, you cannot tap the tail lights for the running light and stop light functions on the light convertor. You MAY tap the tail lights for the two turn signals, though....they work like any other car.
For the running light function, I tapped the wire that goes down to the little amber light in the back passenger wheel well. The wire runs right down through the back compartment on the passenger side where I put my light convertor. You will have to figure out which wire it is as I don't recall the color.
For the stop function, I ran a wire up to where the LED stop light is above the rear window. There may be (and probably is) a wire in that right side compartment that goes up there to feed it, but I did not find it and chose to run the wire behind the boot trim up to where the wire goes from the boot hatch to the car.
Hope this makes sense and is enough to get you started.
First of all, you will need to get a "powered" light converter. This is the type that allows you to tap the various lights in your car's wiring and then, through a separate power lead to the battery/fusebox/cig.lighter, power the trailer lights. These are generally in the $40-$50 range and can be obtained from etrailer.com, uhaul, tractor supply, etc. Just to show you what I mean, here is the one that minidomore.com sells....it is very overpriced IMO at $95, but it will show you what I'm talking about....I'm sure they include a wiring diagram and tell you exactly where to hook it in to the car with their instruction sheet....if that's worth the extra $50 to you, then have at it...
http://minidomore.com/mini_cooper_to...ng_harness.php
As I recall, I picked mine up at a uhaul store for around $30.
The powered type of light relay is needed because the regular type takes power directly from your car's light wiring to power the trailer lights. The car doesn't like this and thinks that a bulb is out and you will get an alert from the computer. The powered type simply uses the car's lights to "trigger" the relay to power the correct trailer lights that are then powered directly from a separate source/wire. I have mine on the passenger side compartment behind the trim in the boot ('08 hardtop MCS). I have the convertor in there with a power lead going to the cigarette lighter/power outlet on the opposite side of the boot (wire running under the trim). Each time I tow something, I just pull the trailer plug pigtail out and run it under the boot hatch. I carry a roll of blue masking tape to lay down on the spot where the wiring rests on the rear bumper to keep it from scratching while in motion.
As for wiring, this is where I was stumped at first. The 2nd gen MINI (up to '10 anyway) has tail lights that work on "dual voltage". In other words, there is not a dedicated wire for the brake lights and running lights to each tail light assembly. The two bulbs in the tail lights (in the red portion) are both single filament and sometimes work together and sometimes they don't depending on whether the lights are on, the key is in or out. When the car is running and the lights are on, the two bulbs are dimmer and are less than 12v....when the brake is depressed, they both brighten to indicate stop by shooting up to 12v. This is why the tail lights can slowly come on and dim off when you hit the lock/unlock button on your remote. Therefore, you cannot tap the tail lights for the running light and stop light functions on the light convertor. You MAY tap the tail lights for the two turn signals, though....they work like any other car.
For the running light function, I tapped the wire that goes down to the little amber light in the back passenger wheel well. The wire runs right down through the back compartment on the passenger side where I put my light convertor. You will have to figure out which wire it is as I don't recall the color.
For the stop function, I ran a wire up to where the LED stop light is above the rear window. There may be (and probably is) a wire in that right side compartment that goes up there to feed it, but I did not find it and chose to run the wire behind the boot trim up to where the wire goes from the boot hatch to the car.
Hope this makes sense and is enough to get you started.
What did you use to power the black-box signal converter? How do you convert the cigarette lighter in the boot to a straight dc power line for the black box?
Thanks!
Jakers
Thanks for this info. I'm about to wire up my Countryman, and as I was using a multimeter to figure out which wires did what, I started getting really confused. The dual voltage thing makes sense. I'm going to try to find the wire for the third brake light, and I'll post pictures if I do.
What did you use to power the black-box signal converter? How do you convert the cigarette lighter in the boot to a straight dc power line for the black box?
Thanks!
Jakers
What did you use to power the black-box signal converter? How do you convert the cigarette lighter in the boot to a straight dc power line for the black box?
Thanks!
Jakers
Since I wrote that I did some poking around and found that this type of light wiring is becoming more and more common. It's called Pulse Width Modulation (PWM). You can now get light converters that take signal directly from these types of lights, but they are way more expensive. If you look up a second gen MINI on etrailer.com or another place, it will come up with a converter that does the job for about $90. I'm too cheap for that, though....went with the uhaul powered converter for about $30 instead and went searching for places to tap the leads.
Good luck and happy wiring!
1st Gear
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 13
Likes: 2
From: Kitsap, WA
Awesome. I got a converter with the trailer hitch that I ordered from Cooper Crap, so I'm all set there. Might be a n00b question, but how did you power it from the boot cigarette outlet? Did you plug something into the outlet, or did you splice into the wire behind it?
So now I'm just trying to figure out where to splice in the wiring. Seems like, from reading above, the taillights are the best place to splice in the turn signals, but for the running lights and brake lights might be better to go for the rear quarter panel side light and the 3rd brake light. Any good ways to access those?
Thanks for y'all's help!
So now I'm just trying to figure out where to splice in the wiring. Seems like, from reading above, the taillights are the best place to splice in the turn signals, but for the running lights and brake lights might be better to go for the rear quarter panel side light and the 3rd brake light. Any good ways to access those?
Thanks for y'all's help!
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