After some more investigation. That is part of the reason for Factory only intall. They put upgraded springs in the rear.

I will update when i have more info.

 

To put the OEM 'Under the bumper' tow bar on an MCs - it seem like the 's' exhaust system would be changed also, as that is were it hangs. - never mind - I'm thinking of the R56

 

As this is a thread about clubmans here we are only talking about the towbar for the clubman.

But your point does bring up the fact that the towbar CAN NOT be installed on a MCs. The exhaust is in the way.

 

Yep....uprated springs are fitted at factory

The parts are available in the UK for retro-fitting, but this does not include a rear springs package.

 

Yep....having got my nose right up underneath mine, I do believe that it would be a conflict between tow-bar chasis and the exhaust on an MCS that would inhibited fitment.......HOWEVER....if you are intending on fitting a custom made exhaust to an MCS then may be, just may be, this could be "worked around"

schatzy62.......in relation to your request for a dealer to contact....can I recommend that you try Chris @ Woodmans BMW on +441253 607500.
He/they are a site sponsor on mini2, and he has previously run a discount purchase offer on the retro-fit parts for this tow-bar installation....linky....

http://www.mini2.com/forum/derek-woo...e-tow-bar.html

Chris is probably best placed to assist you with part numbers etc. Hope this helps.
If anyone requires more photos to be taken, or more details, then I will try to assist as best I can

 

Hey there - I tried Classic Mini and they are no longer selling them. Anyone else have some feedback on where the current rack could be still purchased at? I've tried a couple of local places and they are a no go there as well.

 

You can try Herb Chamber Mini of Boston at 617-731-1700 then press 3 for parts.

 

Thanks for all your help on this i will call Chris at Woodsman tomorrow from work to see if i can get more details.

Can you provide the part Thule or Mini part number for the bike rack. Mini does not have that styole listed for sale in the US and Thule Customer service has not idea what i am talking about and also do not show it on their website for us purchase.

 

OK someone in the CT area needs to test a Thule rack for the clubman
http://www.thuleracks.com/cars_needed.asp

 

Hmmm, thats encouraging...

 

Y'd think they'd have done that before their brief release of the version that didn't work...

Do I remember incorrectly, or can you not just buy the R56 rack and install it on the Clubman? Are the web dealers not selling that rack, or just the Clubman P/N?

 

The R56 (coupe) and R55 (clubman) racks are the same. Some dealers that were still selling them seem to have stopped for some reason, but i do not know why.

 

Seems to vary by dealer - I took one home on with the car on Saturday.

 

Received this e-mail back from Thule

Eric,
[We currently have a test subject for this vehicle. But I will keep your information on file incase something changes.
Thank You

Nick

Nick LeFort
Fit Specialist
Thule Inc.


Thule Inc
42 Silvermine Road
Seymour, CT 06483

 

This is all so, shall we say interesting? Are we talking a Thule roof rack here? If so - a few pages back I posted about it...with a copy of an email,etc, that said Thule had come up with the rack...but it sure didn't look as though it would work to me..which I wrote back to them and even gave them a link to this thread, if my brain still works.. Here's where the Thule rack discussion gets involved.https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...le#post2292973

Forgive me if we've evolved from a roof rack to some other kind of Thule invention now. However, if we're still talking about roof racks, then clearly it seems that Thule has realized the error of their ways from my discussions and emails with them back in June.

 

It is kind of ironic that just a few days after you posted that info i tried the Thule parts and they did not work. I posted that info here and the next day Thule pulled the rack system from their website.

I did not realize that you had sent them info about this thread but i am sure that it helped in their decision to pull the link they had up.

I responded to the e-mail i received from them stating to them that there was a possibility of having a slightly incorrect part on the Mini they are using as a test. I was very polite and also told them that i know mine works correctly with the OEM rack and that i would not require any compensation if they want to check their parts on my car as well.

Hope fully this means they will have something soon, although i have waited two years for another item from them to be completed thru the design process and make it into manufacturing and it was still not what they had originally planned on, It was the Hullivator.

Al we can do i keep our fingers crossed that they work quickly on this.

BTW the only advantage i see to Thule doing this is that they may be able to put a longer bar across the roof. The weight limit I am sure will still be the same or less.

 

Thanks Schatzy - appreciate it. Yup, it's kind of like "As sands through the hour glass, so are the (roof rack) days of our lives." - for all you who might not know that's the intro to an old, never ending tv soap opera, that I am proud to say I've never watched.

By the way, I got a unhelpful but polite response from my Owners Lounge inquiry...basically saying to ask my parts department. Not surprised. Still hoping to hear something more specific from my dealership's resources. So back to the sands through the hour glass.

P.S. I love to note the number of views your Roof Rack Installation sticky is getting.

 

I finally got the rate your dealer call from MINI. I did give them 5's but appended the problems with the out of date information on the Owner's Lounge and the lack of a straightforward response from MINI on the Clubman Roof Rack.

 

We all certainly appreciate our resident expert, Schatzy's, work on the rack installation.

I know there are still some owner's that want to see the caution lifted and a rack solution provided by MINI.

I hope we can give this thread an occassional "bump" until we finally see something official.

Thanks Schatzy for all your hard work !

 

Finally got my bike attachment on and it works great so far Sorry for the bad phone pic.

 

So What brand of bike rack is that and are the bolts the originals or did you have to get longer ones.

Also what is your feeling about how the OEM rack goes on the car.

 

Yes...do tell. And the pic's fine. No worries.

 

That is the Yakima Highroller with Yakima universal mighty mounts. The mighty mounts are 35.00 and work with most Yakima attachments. They come with a few different sizes and the small ones work on the stock bars just fine. No mods to the rack or attachment and went on the car just fine. As above I did have the rear bars on wrong to start and it pushed the seal out on the club door just a bit but after I fixed that it was fine and I have no leaks or anything. The front did take a bit to get it in but the second time it went on fine and took less time. All in all I am happy with the rack but never like to be forced into stock stuff. Maybe one day we will have Yakima and or Thule make bars and feet for us

 

Schatzy- sorry if I'm being totally daft as I do recall this being mentioned in an earlier post- you're saying that the R56 spec'd rack is the same and therefore will fit on the Clubman? I remember pics of same some time ago (seemed a little different, my post #82 on this thread), but before putting down the cash..., and not wanting to be stuck with a useless rack... Interestingly, morristownmini sells the R56 rack for $12.25 less than the Clubman version (I always love a deal). Assuming then that your excellent instructions work for the R56 version onto the Clubman.

 

Yes from what my dealer and a few other have told me the R56 and R55 are the same rack. One even told me if I came in to say it was for the R56 and not the R55 LOL