I was very much against getting the pepper white on her R53, but I admit it has held up well. The car still looks fantastic to this day.



Supposedly the FR-S will live on as a Toyota. Hopefully it does. It is too much fun to go away.

 

Thats a very clean R53 pepper white, wow , well taken care of.

 

The hitch will be easy, Its the factory wiring that is the most important part.
With all the new electronics adding a wire harness becomes a huge undertaking.
No more safety pins.

 

While a bit off topic, does anyone know why Mini won't offer a hitch in the US? It seems very strange to not offer a wagon or CUV with a hitch when they are supposed to be utilitarian vehicles and when other manufacturers (direct competitors) offer hitch options. While I agree, that it should be very easy to install one on the new Clubman, I just don't get why Mini won't offer it in the US.

 

Is the Clubman getting an official tow rating? If not, no hitch. Europe has very lax tow standards, so they make hitches for everything.

 

Yes, on the official BMW/Mini information page, they list a permitted trailer load on the spec sheet released with their "press kit" and draw attention to the hitch as being "the first time a hitch is being offered with a Mini." They even include a close up hi-res photo of the hitch to show it off. However, each of these three things is missing from the US-specific data.

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/globa...tem=node__5145

 

Sorry, I meant a US specific tow rating. Many times a car will get a Euro tow rating and be listed as no tow rating in the US.

 

Just contacted MINI Corp. and no word on the release yet for USA production. I will let you guys know as soon as thing are released or if not.

 

I heard from a MINI rep that US regulations tend to kill a lot of that stuff off. Probably the reason we're STILL waiting on a US rear bike rack for the F55/F56.

Don't expect a rear bike rack from MINI for the Clubman either - I asked him about this too, since there are two eyelets in the back of the F54, but he had a pretty good answer; no, because the rear barn doors couldn't open. Ah....

 

I didn't think of the doors. Guess we will have to look into roof rails.

 

Yeah, I didn't either until he said. Then I was like, "ooooooooh....."

 

That door opening answer is bogus. Any SUV with a rear bike rack has limited
rear door access. There are bike racks that swing away to access the doors. Some swing down. With a bike rack w/ bike mounted on the rack on my F56, I could not open the hatch. The swing away racks are about $500 !!! Swing down racks much cheaper.
I am amazed at some of false product information perpetuated by the sales staff (Motor Advisers).
"No spare available for the F54S" ????
The nice thing about a hitch for the bike rack is you will not need a hitch/trailer wiring harness.
I would not attach a bike rack (after market) to the rear tie down loops.
Wait for a frame bolt on or do as you mentioned, go to the roof.

 

We don get alot of options that don't make it to the US due to regulations. I know the MINI product mangers since about 2005 and this is common , it has to pass a business plain and then meet regulation for US. So there are two hurtles. Don't worry I voiced my opinion as an owner and parts distributor.

 

Absolutely. The rear door argument is 100% bogus. And what about a roof mounted bike rack? How long until you forget it's up there and you pull into your garage? The way my brain works (or doesn't), I can tell myself "DON'T FORGET THE BIKE IS ON TOP!" and within 3 milliseconds starting thinking about the General Law of Relativity and forget it's up there until I hear the crash.

It's easy to say "It's due to regulations" or "liability" or "something", but none of them hold water when the competition is selling these things for their cars. It's got to be a business decision, but I just don't understand it.

 

Hello all — this is “Fantastic Choice’s” husband; we’re totally loving our Burgundy/Silver R54S, which we were the first in Minnesota to drive off the lot on Jan. 19. Pix to come; with the weather we’ve been having in the Twin Cities I’d have to grab a shot on the way out of the car wash — by the time we got home it would look like we just finished some kind of endurance rally.

We’re recumbent trikers, and our two trikes will fold and actually fit into the new Clubman. We’re interested, though, in possibilities for tow hitch receivers to mount bike racks (we’re not interested in roof racks). I can see from the discussion here that we’ll need to wait for aftermarket products. We looked at M7Speed’s accessory for the Countryman, . They said they hadn’t looked at the new Clubbie yet, but then we noticed that even tough there are two port covers on the R54 rear bumper, only one of them actually covers a tow hook receptacle. Does anyone know what the story is on the driver's side?

 

Trikerdude's spouse,

Do you mean F54S The R54 series 2 are 2014 and earlier?

 

My bad -- I did mean F54S -- the 2016 Clubman!
T

 

" Does anyone know what the story is on the driver's side? " Do you have a pic ?

 

Here's the port, with some sort of plastic baffle inside. Under the bumper there is a channel, which looks the same as the one on the passenger side that contains the tow hook socket.

 

Some lite reading while waiting for your Clubman to cross the pond (mine is on the Galveston Highway, scheduled to land in Brunswick, GA on Feb. 23).

http://www.miniusa.com/content/dam/m...ith-screen.pdf

 

Mine is Awaiting Transport.

 

My R56 is Pepper White. Hyde Park Edition, in fact. But the Burgundy F54S really, really appeals to me. Plus, my wife informed me that the red would not work out well for me.

 

Think thats for the tow hook on RHD cars, so they just made one bumper skin.

 

Good point. It seems odd, though, that the channel would be there but no receptacle. I wonder if it could be retrofitted?
Any ideas about tow hitch receptacles (no electrical connectors) for bike racks?

 

I registered today and introduced myself over in 1st Gear just to post in this thread. My 2017 Clubman S ALL4 6MT went into production today toward early April delivery and I am psyched. Thunder Grey with white roof/caps/stripes, loaded (save for pkg assistant, illuminated sills and rear fogs.) I went with the silver 17's for New England roads, but I really like the look of the 18's and may explore them and throw snows on the 17's after seeing how next winter goes. Pretty funny that I was able to order one before MINI has any ALL4 info on the configurator, but I'm not complaining!