Here's a possibly interesting bit: http://new.minimania.com/web/Item/G2.../InvDetail.cfm

 

I know this had to be posted somewhere, but searching has gotten me nowwhere.

The rack looks awfully far forward, and the cross bars too close together. As I continue my research and excitement building towards buying the Mini, I need to make sure my Thule Mountaineer pod will go on top. Is that where the rails must go (looking a rack pics), or can they slide along the gutter system and be attached almost anywhere along the roof?

I had a T-slot Thule made OEM rack with my 1997 Jetta and luckily still have all the T-slot hardware convert back my bike mounts. The roof rails mounted to specific shallow indent spots under a rubber trim in the concealed rain gutters, so it was fixed position. It came with a torque wrench so it was tightened correctly. Nevertheless, with 2 bikes on the OEM Thule upright mounts at 72 mph, in a stiff headwind, the entire rack with bikes still attached popped off and flew 20 feet in to the air end over end before crashing down onto the highway - and luckily not killing anyone. (perfect landing - bike fine, saddles destroyed)

I am now very apprehensive of gutter gripping roof racks that rely on opposing compression forces to prevent vertical pull forces and really like my integrated roof rails on our wagons. After that incident, I ditched the uprights for fork mount and increased mount torque by 30% which dented the roof in the process - but the rack didn't fly off again.

Please tell me the MINI has deep indents or wrap-around tower foot hooks and doesn't rely on the same opposing horizontal compression force and friction to keep the rack on. I want to know that metal would have to snap or bolts break, and on all 4 corners at once, to have the same thing happen.

 

There are fixed, pre-determined mounting points on the Coopers...

 

You ordered either the 398 321 or the 435 846 and received a box that said "for R56" which fits your R55 to your satisfaction. Based on a limited knowledge of the BMW part numbering practices, the 435 846 is either Clubman-specific or is a modified part intended to replace the 398 321 for use on both R55 & R56 models... suggesting in either case that there is some reason why BMW/MINI is not satisfied with the use of the 398 321 for the R55. Looks like this summer will bring us a third rack for 2nd Gen Coopers.

My question is... if someone orders a 398 321, does that part still exist, or is that customer then sold a 435 846?

I think there's no more dead horse left fo me to beat...

 

Yes, I would like to get the answer to this question above before I take the "plunge" and order a Mini rack. If for some reason there is a difference between the two parts, I would sure like to get the same one you got Jim.

 

anyone successfully used a "safari" type roof rack on their mini?

http://www.everythingsuv.com/surco_s...racks-esuv.asp

or;

http://www.prolineracks.com/car-rack-special.html

Wind noise? Drag; Milage reduction ?

 

I don't know- I copied the pics from the Mini parts site for the Coupe and the Clubman and Jim Ray's pic, re-sized, cropped and put them on the same page. The Coupe and the Clubman, as best I could tell with the quality and different perspectives, look different. The Coupe seems to sit higher up with the Clubman mount having a shallower slope. Jim's appears to look like the Coupe version as he said. If you're as **** as I am, you could do the same. The t-slot will be my salvation in any event as my previous fork-mount bike trays should fit fine provided they carry over to the new design.

My road bike fits in the Clubman fine minus front wheel, the rigid MTB was a bit more of a squeeze and definately not how I'd like to manage going forward as it's wedged in at a couple points.

It's been asked before I think, but has anyone found a trunk mount that will fit? I tried my older Stealth Rack but was very uncomfortable hooking to the door tops for fear of shattering the glass and could not find a really stable place to hook the bottom straps to/under the bumper.

Mike

 

Looks cool, but how would you mount it? Would you use the Mini rack or go with the some tracks that look like they would need to be screwed into the top of the Mini?

 

Keen observation, Mike...
For all we know, though... that rack in the coupe pic could be a pre-production mock-up... but notice the distance from the bottom of the silver insert stripe to the part of the foot the bends toward the raingutter... bigger space on the coupe foot... if that's a pic of the actual R56 rack, then I'd say JimRay got the R55 rack... impossible to say without looking at the part number on the box it came in...

 

...while chatting up this issue at the dealership this week, I was told that the JCW will have a rail rack included or at least an option. Wondering if MINI is thinking to use this as a possible fix to the one now no longer available?

 

This would be very cool - I guess the dealer would then do the "drilling" to mount the Mini rack if it comes out.

 

I will wait a while, I guess. Looks like some great options are coming out.

Once a suitable stable roof rack is avialable, I will mount a "tray" or safari rack atop.

 

When I go in on Tuesday, I'll see if I can get any hints. I think the Clubman would look great with the normal racks that such cars as the Volvo, etc., have on them. We shall see.

 

Hey everybody I'm pretty new to this forum and just got a clubman a month ago and just installed my roof racks myself. I was reading the threads here about issues w/the roof rack. I have to say its not that hard to install if your pretty mechanically inclined but I did run into some issues installing it cause its not that install friendly if your not mechanically inclined especially the weather strips can break if you don't know what your doing. The issues i ran into was the tools that you used to press down on the rack to lock down so you can tighten it w/the socket wrench really sucked which was alittle hard and I noticed that once the rack was on, the weather strip wasn't snapping in very well because of the bulkiness of the rack especially at the rear on the third door but I managed to install it in 30 min. What I didn't notice because of the bulk on the weather strip the glass on the third door was not sealing correctly at the top back corner of the glass. The reason why I found this out was when I took my car to the car wash water was leaking inside and noticed there was a little crack where water seeped through, so what I did was adust the racks to make sure the little snap buttons lock in place on the weather strip so the door will seal correctly. I suggest making sure the rack really locks in especially on the 3rd door so that most of the bulk is gone so that the snap button doesn't come off. Another idea I had for the leaks was to buy some of that thin weather seal strip and line it on the inside of the glass where the black paint is around the edge of the glass but thin enough to make sure it seals flush but not too thick where the glass will push out and not line up with the weather strip then you would have a glass that looks like its sticking out. I didn't do that cause I was able to fix my problem I tested it and everything rack is great w/no problems.

 

Francisg, thanks for your comments on this thread. I just orders a roof rack for my R55 and I'm sure I will have to refer to your comments. Right now since I don't have the rack yet, some of the items are not clear to me, but may hit you up for further detail when I get mine.

 

taskmaxter no problem hit me up anytime another thing is if you plan on not leaving it on and removing it and putting it back on certain times of the season like some people like to do not such a great idea. Goodluck w/yours

 

Yeah, I'll probably just leave it on top full time - I'm just to chicken to opt for the permanent rack install. The part about "drilling" into the roof makes me cringe!

 

Of the people that have had issues, I'd like to know how many were dealer installed versus self installed. I have a feeling that the "issue" with the rack is in the difficulty some people have had in the install or possibly even "skilled" installers not paying attention to detail.

Not everybody has had problems with their R55 rack.

 

Side question on this topic: Anyone have an idea what effect on gas mileage a roofrack/bikerack might be? I'm working hard to get 24mpg mixed driving and while this is double the SUV we replaced, I was expecting a bit better (no, we don't drive in sport mode)... I began to wonder if the rack has something to do with that...

 

peet;

I have the same question; especially if I install a tray or "safari" rack atop the mini cross-bars.

 

True not everyone has had problems - thankfully!! - but there are definitely some who've had them installed by MINI who have... The two I know of for sure are - Laurendesigns, here on NAM and holdenontoit who posts on MINI2 a great deal and on NAM a bit. I believe they've both posted in this thread and I am pretty sure I posted some MINI2 links. Here's the one for MINI2, page 7, where holdenontoit explains the whens and whys of his rack problem: http://www.mini2.com/forum/mini-club...ml#post3416927 there are several posts. This is the same thread in which Jim Ray so nicely posted his photos, and more.

From what both Jim Ray and holdenontoit have posted it appears that there may be a fine line between a clean and clear install and one that will impinge on various gaskets of the club door. **Oh yes, and francisg23's recent, helpful post, corroborates it as well.

P.S. Interesting question about mpg...I'd have to guess that it could impede mpgs due to drag but, again, I'm no techie.

 

Peet, not sure if you have a fairing on yours, but you might want to put one on to see if it helps increase your gas mileage. I'm going to do what this person did and mount a Thule fairing on mine when I get it:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ight=roof+rack


Looks like they did a little modification to extend it forward so the fairing would sit in front of the sun roof.

 

r.e. MPG changes with a roof rack:

I did a lot of internet searching for hard data on the effect of empty or loaded roof racks on mpg. There is clearly an effect with a rack and it is magnified when there is cargo loaded on the rack. At the very least the recommendation is to remove the racks when not in use. Some people use their racks so frequently that this isn't a suitable solution--so then the suggestion becomes to use a hitch mounted rack which pops off very easily and doesn't have the same effect on aerodynamic drag.
This link:
http://www.metrompg.com/posts/roof-racks.htm
posts the results of an experiment showing 55 mpg w/o rack; 49 mpg with rack; and 42 mpg with bike on rack (done on a non-mini 2-door hatchback).

Both Yakima and Thule make attachments to put on a hitch bike carrier so that it'll be a ski/snowboard carrier. Once there is a Clubman specific hitch mount I think this is the way to go.

 

based on these points by FrancisG, I'd feel pretty confident in purchasing and installing the R55 rack myself

 

Auto or manual? Are you using 91 octane? I don't have a rack yet, but I've been averaging 39 MPG on Lucky. (Manual)