Does anyone have the rear wipers on their Clubman deleted?

I would like to see how this makes the rear end look.

Thanks!

 

Why??

 

You don't want to do that. You really do need the rear wipers on the Clubman.

 

+1

 

Wow...love the negativity here.

I haven't seen any pictures of that done, but I bet the back end would look a lot better. How are your photoshop skills?

 

It is not so much negativity as it is reality.

I had one side off for one day while waiting for a replacement since I broke one of the arms this past winter. It was a real problem. Could not see out of that window after about 1 mile on the road.

Even during the summer my rear windows get so dirty that I use the rear wipers EVERY day. If I did not I would be washing the back end of the car every time I got in or out of it. And then would have to stop on long trips every few hours.

Yes the back end may look better that way, but I for one would rather be able to see out my back windows.

 

The question wasn't whether or not it was a good idea or not, but 1) has anyone done it, and 2) what would it look like.

 

Well given the fact that they are needed so badly I would say no one has done it.

 

Bingo. That's all I was trying to say. Even if it's not raining, those rear windows will get completely opaque if you don't use your wipers.

It doesn't seem to be as big an issue with the coupes.

Your mileage may vary.

 

I thought about what it might look like with no wipers for about half a second. Then I actually drove my Clubbie for about a day before I realized that they are even more important than the one on the coupe.

 

It hasn't stopped the non-clubman owners. Doubt it would be any different with the clubman owners. Only reason you don't see any done on a clubman is that clubman owners are generally less interested in modding their cars. The majority of the clubman thread is stock cars. Nothing wrong with that, just makes things like this less common so you see it less often.

Not sure why everyone is being negative about it in here. Probably the same people who would be upset to hear that I removed the reflectors off the back of my clubman . NAM has really become less and less helpful recently.

I see no use in the rear wipers. Sure I can't see out the rear window when it rains and the rear window gets all dirty....but at the same time when I push the rear wipers it just smears the whole window and makes things worse (eveb with new blades). I gladly removed mine on my R50 without any regrets and plan on doing the same with the clubman. Only issue on the clubman is that it's no longer on the window and is part of the body. To do it "properly" you'd have to weld those holes up and have the rear hatch doors painted again. I was planning on going that route at some point down the line, but I've been contemplating the simple plastic plug as a temporary solution until then.

 

Here's a photoshop that someone did of my car a while ago. They also removed the door handles, which I would personally leave....but you get the idea.

 

If you clean your car once a week, like I do, you don't really need them. Plus I have a decal on my back window that I don't want peeling off.

We could try to plug the holes as flush as possible and paint/wrap them in body color.

 

The clubman hatch is just like the coupe hatch but with a giant obstruction right down the center. You're better off using your mirrors anyways

Yah I was thinking along the same lines. The plugs used on the coupe but sanded down and painted to match the body.

Scion owners are faced with the same situation and that's the solution they use. It's obviously not the cleanest solution and welding/bodywork would be much better...but it still looks 10 times better than OEM



unpainted

 

Not true...

 

I guarantee there are fewer modded clubmans than modded R56's or first gens. Not saying they don't exist, but their numbers are much smaller

 

I like the look of the back without the handles or wipers in the photoshop pic.

 

That can pretty much be attributed to the fact there are fewer Clubmans than R56's or first gens.

 

I'd be interested in seeing the percentages of modded/stock for each model. I'd still be willing to bet that the clubman percentages were lower.

 

On topic again. Here's how it looks truly shaved with welded and repainted holes (you'll notice the antenna was shaved as well)

 

Found some pictures of a car with unpainted plugs installed. Clubmans get modded more often over in Japan

 

What I really like about the HC above is that they lost the reflectors below the tail lights.

 

Yah, it's of my favorite mods. I did the same on my car although I did mine teamed up with the wood grain. Removed the badges as well. Rear wipers are the last thing left before finally cleaning up the cluttered rear end of the clubman.

 

I was just thinking about this... Just a little mental exercise.

I'd be willing to bet that when you consider the sheer volume of R56s and Gen 1s spanning multiple production years that are on the road driven by 40-something divorcees, college-age co-eds, and commuters that have done nothing more than put a "Coexist" bumper sticker on their cars, versus the few Clubmans on the road, it's entirely possible that the percentage of "modded" Clubmans is actually higher.

The population of this board or a Mini club meeting or event probably isn't representative of the population of Mini owners in general. There are a whole bunch of drivers out there to whom their Mini is "just a car."

 

Well you are wrong there. There are a lot of modded clubman out there.

This may not be very scientific but here goes. At the MOTD 2010 car show there were 4 clubman, and by my count from some pictures at least 16 coops. Lets forget about stripes and graphics as this would make the clubman number of modified cars at 100%, and not realistic. So of the 4 clubman 2 had major modifications, or 50%. And of the coops there were 5-6 that had some major modifications, or about 30%.

Again not really scientific but does show the possibility of higher percentages of clubmans modified than coops.

And BTW I know of at least 3 other clubmans at MOTD there were "highly" modified that were not in the car show. One of those was yours.

Wrong again. As I stated before it is not negativity but REALITY.

As for shaving your reflectors I think the consensus was that it was a very good idea. Just look at at the thread about doing it. And in fact that is one thing I would like to do but time an money are very tight right now. At first I did not like the idea but after seeing it I think it looks great.

That may be your experience but it surely is not mine nor many others. If you use the windshield washer fluid you may have better luck at cleaning the window.

And where I live I can't even go 2-3 miles even on nice sunny days without using the wipers to clean the back windows.

see line above about even needing them on clear sunny days. Where I live they are really needed.

And BTW I wash my car at least once a week if not twice.

Surely not my idea of a safety car if they have trouble seeing out the back windows.

Quick off topic: I do like the rear bumper and exhaust on this car though.

+1 See my comments above about the car show at MOTD 2010. I totaly agree with Xeraux on this one.