Anyone ever tow an 09 JCW clubman with an RV? Just trying to find out the best way. I wanted to do 4 down, but am finding that the brackets are not made for a JCM car. Also, not sure I want to cut anything that is not easily replaceable. Thanks in advance!

 

JCW Clubman :

I would not pull it with anything as the lower bumper would get ripped up.

I would get a small trailer and then tie it down and pull it, of course all four wheels on the trailer and flat.


Or you will have to really mod the front bumper, which I would not do :

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ly-towing.html


Or the Correct Way








Another corrcet way , the Clubman become the tow(er )

 

It's an ugly situation for me. I seen a great deal on a 2010 Clubman S, but the wife wanted this JCW cause it was so much better looking. Well I gave in and ordered this one, it is on the way. Biggest issue now is that the ONLY reason I bought a Mini is to two it behind my RV......Towing with a full trailer is not an option as it is too large to bring to camp sites. I preferred 4 down, but it appears as though that is also not an option on the JCW Clubman. I am not into cutting anything, but if it was just that black screened looking area under the bumper, I may be willing to do it, and just buy a new one to replace it with if I ever remove the base plates. Again, I do not think this is possible though on the JCW Clubman. That leaves me with two down dolly towing......This is a tough situation...

 

If you do 2 wheel dolly , just make sure you pull it by the front wheels and watch the body kit , it sets pretty low.

Link above for the bumper. You might have to just get a new bumper grille and brake ducts ( if you added them ) and replace them after you get there.

Diagram.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/show...diagId=51_7634

Let me know , we can get you the parts after the mod.

The Factory JCW in 2009 with the Aero kit did not have the brake ducts on the front , just that lower grille.

Which one do you have.

no brake ducts




Or


Brake ducts









Or do you have the Rare Hypersport kit

 

I am not seeing the difference in the pics....I am looking at the front right? Mine is not here yet. Here is a pic.

 

Well it looks like you dont have the JCW aero kits or the hypersport ( Sport Aero) You have the stock Cooper S bumper , but the lower lip and arches are painted. So its the same set up as the Cooper S .







At that time the JCW aero kits and above kits were an additional option.

 

Thank you! So that means I can just get the base plates for a 2009 Clubman S then correct?

 

You are welcome. Yep.

Heading down south for the winter ?

 

Heading down south for the winter ?[/QUOTE]

Not really. Just go the RV like a month ago, third trip planned for Labor day already. Just found out quick that you should bring a car along. That was the soul purpose of this car, but the wife wanted the JCW cause on this one, all of the black is painted to match the car all the way around. At least with it looking nice, she will likely drive it other than just when we go away.

As for me, we have an Alpina B7, and an M6 vert. Not sure how much I will be driving the Mini....lol

 

I believe Blue Ox makes a base plate for towing:

http://www.blueoxtowbars.com/base_pl...#result-anchor

I tow a 2008 Clubman S with this setup. Required (2) 2" holes cut into trim. Not a big deal.

 

Thanks! I actually sent you some questions over on irv2 in a thread about your setup.

 

Feel free to PM me and I can send you cost and installation details for the complete setup. It takes me 5 minutes to connect and disconnect. My RV is 33' long and I do not feel the Mini at all when towing. I also purchased my Mini primarily to tow. I had so much fun driving it that it's now my daily driver as well.

 

Not really. Just go the RV like a month ago, third trip planned for Labor day already. Just found out quick that you should bring a car along. That was the soul purpose of this car, but the wife wanted the JCW cause on this one, all of the black is painted to match the car all the way around. At least with it looking nice, she will likely drive it other than just when we go away.

As for me, we have an Alpina B7, and an M6 vert. Not sure how much I will be driving the Mini....lol[/QUOTE]

Great,

B7 and M6 vert, very nice. e34 Alpina B10 is one of my favorites. Well and I really like the Alpina MINI , but sadly they never did continue it, they did just a couple from what I remember. Just the wheels are about the olny thing left.

 

I have been reading a lot more on towing the car 4 down. I have a question. I see that the front is the same as an S, so no issue there. However, I believe the JCW suspension is different. Do you think that will have any impact on getting the Blue OX base plate (for an 09 S) installed or even towing it 4 down?

Such a touchy subject. Some think that the fluid heats up too much even in a manual mini when towing 4 down, and prefer a dolly due to that. Some argue and say they have done it for 1000s of miles. It's a larger investment than I thought to setup a car to tow 4 down....But the dolly seems like a big pain. Checking tires, storing, stopping to tighten etc.

 

The JCW did not come with the JCW Tuning kit suspension stock. Unless it has the sticker logo struts and the Red JCW springs which only lowers it 10mm.

The stock JCW has the sport suspension which is a hair lower the the stock Cooper ( NON S ) .

So you should not have tow worry about ride height unless you have the JCW tuning kit suspension or a modified suspension.

On the transmission I don't like it being pulled on all fours , but that's just me I guess.

 

So from the sounds of it, you would use a dolly for this car?
Thanks again, you have been great with this whole topic.

 

At minimum. So the transmission on the front takes it easy. Saves wear and tear on that end.

 

We just bought a 2010 used Clubman S as well to use for a toad behind our rv. I have not started the conversion yet, but for short trips I have used a dolly and towed a 318ti, but with front wheels up! We had lots of discussions about "dragging" the car with the rear wheels down, and I changed the lube in the diff and tranny to Red Line--would have done that anyway.

I just looked at the Blue Ox's installation documents, and the Roadmaster says they are suitable for JCW and appear to need less modification: no bolt cutting, but I have to ask my rv shop if there are any preferences. Then I will buy and install it myself, and change the tranny/diff fluid to Redline. http://www.roadmasterinc.com/pdfinst/521877-1.pdf

You could buy a replacement for the grill that needs cutting so the car could be restored but you would probably have a marketing advantage selling it as a toad. I tried to buy a Clubman in Las Vegas that was ready to pull but the deal didn't work out, glad it didn't because it wasn't an S.

 

I have reviewed both, and it looked to me like Blue Ox has less cut out on the Grille, and is less visible when the bar is not connected. The RoadMaster has almost like an L shape cut which is larger.

 

The difference that I find more important is that Roadmaster removes the bumper core and uses the Roadmaster-supplied hardware in place of it. BlueOx does not appear to do that, so there may actually be a strength and safety difference between the two. I will try and talk to my rv guy who does a lot of toad installations and get his opinion.

I do like the first example in the ECSTuning photos, pretty cool, but I'll stick with my Airstream 30'.

 

Let me know what you come up with. I will be doing mine soon, but not in a major rush as my season is about over. Thanks!

 

Finally got out of work early enough to get the rv guy. He says they are both baseplates are good but he prefers Blue Ox, thinks they do a better engineering job. He also likes the Patriot brake system. I had talked to him about the Night Shift Ready Brake surge system but now I am leaning toward a more responsive braking system, and will probably also have him integrate the lighting instead of doing an add-on.