Hi All:
My mother has begun to need dialysis treatments three times a week. She currently uses a fairly large walker, which just barely fits in my 2016 Cooper Convertible (F57). Knowing she will eventually move to a wheelchair, I started looking at bike rack options to avoid having to change vehicles. Other than the factory bike rack, the only options for the convertible I could find were 1) installing a tow bar mount that a bike rack could be attached to, or 2) installing the VIP modification bracket to provide an additional bumper mounting point for non-factory bike racks.

My car was not equipped with the S3ARA Rear Luggage Carrier Preparation option from the factory. After doing a ton of research online, I found a thread in this forum where people shared they had retrofitted the factory bumper bar with the two mounting locations for the MINI bike rack. After looking at the install videos for the tow bar mount and VIP bracket, I realized the install process for all three options was the same: Remove the bumper cover, remove the bumper bar, install the new parts, and put it all back together. I settled on having the factory mount installed, only to learn neither deals in Phoenix would retrofit it. So, I decided to try it myself, even though I have very little experience working on cars. That said, I did successfully remove my ECU to send to ByteTronik for an remap, and reinstalled it without blowing up the car. Here's my saga:

1) I found the correct part number for the replacement bumper bar (51127349623). This is a common part number across the F5X range, but for some reason doesn't show up as applicable to the base Cooper Convertible. This is odd, especially considering the factory photos for the bike rack show it mounted to a base Cooper convertible. I wasn't able to find an alternative part, and decided I'd order this part and take a chance. Of course, once I shared my VIN with the website they emailed me the part wouldn't fit. I shared my research and asked to order the part anyway. I also ordered the bike rack at the same time. The prices were great - $158 for the bumper bar, $542 for the rack, and free shipping.

2) The parts arrived about a week later in a huge 4 ft x 3ft box. The box had some minor damage, but all the parts were surprisingly there, since they had unboxed the items individually and put them in the same box to save shipping costs and didn't bag the keys, manual or wrench for the rack.

3) Surprise! The bike rack came equipped with the lighting kit installed - it was supposed to be an additional part. I'll have to remove it though, as I don't have the wiring for it. It weighs a bit too.

4) I followed the directions of at least four YouTube videos, and one tow bar mount video to remove the bumper. The lights were a pain in the *** - all the videos make it look like they'll just slide out, but it took me an hour to understand how the clips work and that there was a bit of force needed to remove them. I don't think I'll try that again for a while.

5) The base Coopers have a secret screw you need to access from underneath the bumper. Mine was blocked by the spare tire mount. I'd never removed the spare - it's an interesting design. It did take a some research how to lower it and remount it. To locate the screw, it's directly behind the right lower backup sensor, up inside the bumper.

6) The replacement bumper bar is heavy - at least two times as heavy as the original. It's heavy gauge metal, and a shorter length as well. I was worried it was too big and wouldn't fit - but everything worked out great! The new bar is the black one in the photo

7) Compared to the 2-hour removal process, reinstalling the bumper and lights took maybe fifteen minutes. I'm going to test it out with bikes tomorrow! Don't worry, I'll pull the plug covers off before driving.

 

Nice work! I ordered my F57 Cooper from the factory with the bike rack prep option, but looks like the retrofit (of at least the mechanical parts) is a pretty smooth process.