Has anyone been able to use a Thule Bigmouth or Thule Sidearm on your Countryman with Factory Rails. I have been searching for a definitive answer with no luck..

Also if you did use bike racks on your roof what did you use / modify?

 

Ok crickets

so is my best choice the factory bike rack?

 

Not answering your specific question but my 2 cents. I am a long time Yakima user with attachments for bikes, kayaks, surfboards, and luggage boxes. For some reason Yakima does not make an attachment for the factory rails to my Countryman. I did checkout out Thule but they wanted almost $500 for just the rails and podium footpack just to attached to the rails. I opted for the Mini factory cross bar specifically to attach my Yakima luggage box which clamps over the factory rails--works just fine. That said, the Mini factory rails do not support my older Yakima bike attachments since Yakima clamps over round bars whereas Mini (very similar to the BMW racks) need to slide into the groove in the bar. I should mention that the newer Yakima bike attachments appear to clamp over different bars style--so the new attachments may work. REI has a decent selection to check out. The downside with the Mini rails is that they are for the Mini and nothing else. For example, I once purchased BMW rails and bike racks for a 3 series and quickly discovered they did not work on other BMW models so I basically ended up donating those to Goodwill after sitting in my garage for 5 years after I sold that BMW.

The bottom line is that if you have existing bike accessories, it is least expensive to try to make them work with the same brand otherwise you are starting over with new rails and accessories, locks, etc.

 

Hey Pablo - you're links don't see to work (for me)...

Picking up on what TJANK is saying, almost any modern bike tray will fit any rack - it's all in the attachment.

First, know that Thule makes the MINI branded system and accessories, so there is a very high compatibility. The MINI branded rack employs a "Euro" style T-channel, so as long as the accessory you're looking at can be mounted in that channel you're golden!

If not, many accessories can still wrap around the rack using a clamping style mechanism.

Myself, I went with a Rockymounts system as I found it to be extremely low-profile and very stealth from a mounting perspective.

Good luck!

 

Pablo,

I have the Mini factory racks and have 2 Thule sidearms on top. My son & I are out all summer mtn biking and the racks work great. I have the sunroof and have had to use shorter bolts for the Thule rack so there is enough space for the glass panel to slide open

 

+1 I really like bentyyc set up. They even matched the Rockymounts to the stripes. You can see what the base bars look like below.


http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/82712148014/ES2102224/




If you need anything else for them, accessories let me know. We also have the Rockymounts Euro pitch forks that come in multiple colors. It you are looking to match your MINI or your stripes. The Reds match really close to the JCW red.

Euro Pitch Fork Bicycle Rack


http://www.ecstuning.com/Search/SiteSearch/Euro_PitchFork_Bicycle_Rack/








Thanks

 

Thanks for the reply, this is what i wanted to know. Now that I know the sidearms work i will look for those on craigslist.

Thanks

 

I'm using the Thule aeroblades for my crossbars and the rockmounts euro pitchfork for my bike mounts. It works well and I can even put my snowbike on top with the 4" wheels if I use a Surly strap to hold the rear tire and an an adapter for front fork. The only thing I don't like is I don't use any front tire holders and occassionally the front will be pretty dirty when I put it in the car but that's really my bad.

E

 

Since nobody has actually given you an answer I will, yes the Thule racks will fit, Thule make the MINI rack in the first place, all you need to do is change the feet from the standard Thule feet to the slightly larger feet, I can't remember what the part number is but it's call the Thule T Track Adapter. The standard Thule T track adapter which you get with their bike carriers is to narrow for the MINI/BMW bar. See photo.

 

Well Thanks KiwiRob!!

This is what exactly the information I was looking for.

 

Reviving this thread to see if anyone has a part number for the MINI Thule T Track Adapter.

By my measurements, the ones Thule has are too small for the MINI OEM rack base support system.