I stopped by Sandia Mini today and MA says he learned that it is extra antenna due to roof antenna having too much assigned to it.

 

Now I'm even more confused ! What do you think he meant by too much?

 

Possibly all the bluetooth stuff, or various extras like XM and Sirius??

 

Gotcha...thanks

 

XM? There's no XM on a the Clubman. (I wish there was, though)

 

Hey, what do I know? What I was grasping for was the other accessories that needed access to an antenna.

 

Still waiting to hear from my dealer on this topic.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...2&postcount=19

 

I have an 03 with factory NAV. The grid in the glass is the radio ant. They replace thr ant. on throof with the sharkfin NAV ant.

 

Yeah that was then. But now the satellite and radio are both embedded in the roof antenna. Before 2005, MINIs with factory NAV had the roof sharkfin antenna for the NAV and the radio's was embedded in the rear quarter glass (Passenger side I believe). Since 2005, all MINIs come satellite ready and both the sharkfin and glass embedded antennas were discontinued.

 

My dealer (Boston) said it is side defroster; isn't on right side read because Club door splits up window.

 

Thats funny. That was my initial thought when we were checking out the car in the garage the first night we had it. Then I got to thinking that it was too easy...its got to be for something else.

Guess not. Good call Zeddy!

 

Sometimes life is just simple, but not that often. Maybe I just have to start the SHARKFIN owners group.

 

Nope, it's not a defogger. I had to use mine a couple of times this week, and it did nothing.

 

Defroster doesn't make sense to me because the driver can't see out that window in any practical circumstance. I can't anyway.

 

As I posted in the link above:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...2&postcount=19

As you can see it didn't go away.

 

I can think of a few other parts with which I'd like to see this approach. Punch leather. Chrome line. Floor mats.

 

Okay Here is a difinitive answer:

It is part of the automatic diversity antenna system for the car. It can be used for AM or FM and TV in Europe.

The antenna on the roof is sued for NAV, Satellite Cell Phone and AM/FM.

For those not having a sunroof the diversity antenna system chooses the strongest signal it can for AM/FM and uses that signal for the radio.

The same goes for the cars with a sun roof but it is a little more technical with the sun roof. When the sun roof is open (tilted) there is a slight degradation of the signal at the roof antenna, son most likely the side window antenna will get used but it still is determined by the diversity antenna amp. when the sun roof is open (slid back) there is a much greater degradation of the signal at the roof antenna for AM/FM signals due to the frequency thy are at. And again the diverstiy antenna amp decides what is the best to use but most likely (unless you are in the city where buildings get in the way and reflect signals) most likely the side antenna will be the strongest signal. If for any reason there is a building causing bad signal reflections thenthe diversity antenna amps will usually swap to the roof antenna even though it may be a weaker signal due to it orientation.

This is why most people that put on a "Shorty" antenna do not see a reduced signal. The car automatically compensates for it.

Now if you are having problems with your radio signal and want to test to see if the side antenna is working or not cover it with aluminum foil that is grounded to the chassis of the car and remove the roof antenna.if you get no or very low signal remove the aluminum foil and you will find that the signal should get better if the antenna is working. Now this has to be done with a distant station or the signal may be to strong and just be picked up by the wire.

Now if the signal does not get better then it is possible that the side antenna is not working but this test in no way a definitive test procedure. The only way to really know is to have it checked by the dealer or someone with the correct equipment.

After about 6-7 years there may be some corrosion build up between the contact connected to the window and the wire running to it that can cause degradation o the signal as well. I had this happen on my BMW and after the dealer took it apart and cleaned it everything was back to normal until the rear window antenna (by BMW has three antennas) went bad and that them they had to replace the window to correct the problem. But it was under warrant so it did not cost me anything, It would have cost me over $1000 to have it replaced if not under warranty.

And for those of you who have dogs that get slime on the window that will also reduce the efficiency of the radio signal on the side antenna. It's a proven fact, my dog slimes the window regularly and after i clean the window it works much better.

 

Wow... leave it to you to get to the bottom of these things. Thanks! I wish my '04 Murano (which had a sticker price of 10k more than my Clubman) had such a "diverse" system. That thing had the worst FM reception of any car I've ever owned. However now, I only use XM through the aux. jack, so I don't even need great FM reception. But it's nice to know it's there.