Hello all,

The mod bug is starting to bite hard. I have seen some posts on a local FB group of Clubman's with their rear wipers mounted such that the wiper arms are vertical when off rather than horizontal. It actually looks pretty awesome and has the added benefit of keeping crud from building up on the wipers and degrading them. Has anyone on here done this? I searched but I couldn't find anything on it.

 

Sounds like an interesting mod but I think having the wiper vertical in the middle of the rear window would bug the heck out of me every time I look in the rear view mirror.

 

The FB posts I have seen indicate that the wipers park in the band that is blocked by the barn door window frames. Folks are saying it actually improves visibility as you cannot see the wipers at all vs seeing them at the bottom of the windows.

It looks like the trickiest part of this is pulling the wiper arms off the motor stalks. It is a 13mm nut but they could be seized onto the stalks. If the arms come off clean the rest of the mod looks like cake. Here is the process I have read:

1. Pop open the covers on the wiper arm pivots and remove the 13mm nut and then the wiper arms.
2. Remove the interior trim on the barn doors. They are 100% held on by spring clips so you just need to pull firmly and the trims will pop free. Tip: do not pull using the pocket, try to pull the trim panel away from the door frame itself.
3. Unplug the electrical connector to each of the motors. Unclip any other wiring that is attached to the wiper motor assembly.
4. Unbolt and swap the wiper motors left for right and vise versa. They are held on by three 10mm bolts each. They will bolt right up on the opposite side.
5. Plug in the connectors to the motors and dress any wires previously removed.
6. Reattach the wiper arms setting them pointing straight up. Secure with the 13mm nut.
7. Reinstall the interior trim, it just snaps back on.
8. Test out the functionality to confirm they sweep down and back up as expected.
9. Enjoy your slightly more unique Mini Clubman!!

One other thing the posts have suggested is to remove the chrome trim at the base of the barn door windows for a cleaner look. They just pull free as well. Not 100% set on this but I will look and see if this is an option I want to do.

 

Oh yeah durrrr I forgot your were talking about on a Clubman. I have an R56 and was thinking in those terms...lol.

 

This sounds like an intriguing and potentially fantastic mod! I am glad I checked this out. I am almost positive the wipers would work significantly better and streak a lot less if they started vertically and wiped down. No collection of streak/damage causing dirt and sand on top of the wiper blade, and since it wipes down and then releases, it will push everything down and away with gravity, instead of pulling it up towards the middle to deposit it there. Seems like it would've been smarter for mini to do it that way in the first place ....

 

Agreed on all aspects!!

I completed the mod yesterday. The hardest part was getting the wiper arms off the motor stalks. It is sort of a press fit onto a spline. Once you remove the nut you have to carefully pry the arm off the stalk to get it to pop off. If I had a very small bearing puller it would have been a little easier but it wasn't too bad in any case. The motors themselves are 100% identical left to right (with the exception of the internal gubbins that determine wipe direction). They bolted right up on the opposite sides and even had all of the attach points for the various wires that route with them. I got them bolted up and set the wipers pointed skyward and I was off and running. Had to be careful when I set the wiper arms so they would be symmetrical but got it on the second try. Looks so much better!!