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kberg

Mini Cooper Towing

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Is the mini towable? I know that I have seen some being towed, did they have to do some special stuff. I'm certain if they are towable at all, it would have to be a standard transmission.

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Officially (per BMW) the MINI is not RV towable. Having said that, I would say that any MINI is "4 down towable", assuming you are towing a "Stick Shift".

I have Towed a 2005 MINI Cooper /S and a 2010 MINI Cooper Clubman /S -- Both 6 speed manual transmission -- for thousands of miles -- tens of thousands of miles --- without any trouble. BMW even provides a TOWING Adapter with each vehicle that is referenced in the Owner’s Manual and described as being used for "Recovery Towing". I guess that means it is OK to tow a MINI if it is broken down. It seems if you can tow a disabled MINI one should be able to tow a working one.

As to Warranty being voided - never happens, what happens is if a Transmission is damaged (or other failure that can be shown to be caused by towing), the warranty for the transmission will not provide for the correction of that fault but there is no general VOIDing of the WARRANTY, every thing else remains under the Warranty. And yes that means that if the transmission fails because of towing you’re on the hook to fix it. But, in my long experience, and the experience of many others, I believe that the chance of that happening is slight to non-existence.

As to not having t many places to fix a MINI – I have yet to have any work done on my MINI. other than annual LOF (Lube, Oil and Filter). Oh, I did have the towing brackets installed and the windows tinted – but that kind of work is not done at the dealer.

phespe

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Phespe, Great news. Read your post and now have traded my old reliable Jeep Sahara, which I have towed for many thousand miles and loved it. Only problem was it beat me to death when I had to use it for a long drive. Great cars, great toads, but it whipped my you know what on long trips. Anyway, I just purchsed a 2012 Hardback Mini (not an S, at my age I don't need the extra umph), and will tow it four down as you have done (it is stick BTW). My question is, do you pull a fuse? On the Jeep I pulled the IOD fuse so nothing inside the car was on thus wearing down the battery. Reading the manual I am having difficulty figuring out what to put the ignition switch in so it unlocks the steering yet doesn't leave everything on such as dash lights,etc.

Also, did you install Roadmaster's or Blue OX's lights or do you use a magnetic bar? I have always used the toad's lights with diodes. I have a Blue Ox towbar, and will probably use their bracket kit??

One last thing. I also used Roadmaster's Even Brake in the Jeep, do you use one with the Mini? If so, any problems?

Any help you can you can give this old wornout, beat-up, retired Marine would be greatly appreciated. I have to get this rig ready for a January Take-off

Semper Fi, Jim

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Jim - did you ever figure out the keyless ignition/battery issue? We're looking at a Mini to tow behind our motorhome and this is the question we have. Any helpful hints? Tricks to this?

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