JCW Cooper S tow bar

[r1_kde]

Hello,

Owning my JCW cooper S is excellent for almost everything, though I am also working on my house, I have just about had enough of filling the car with all my rubbish and items from local DIY stores.

I thought to myself “what I really need is a tow bar”. I already own a trailer but have nothing to pull it! I did a search around the inter-web and came across a couple, one which put holes in your bumper and looks very ugly, another which requires the centre exit exhausts to be moved and a third a stealth type install. I chose the stealth looking product which also happens to be the only tow bar tested to a good standard.

The company I chose was www.minidomore.com where the owner Brent was happy to produce and ship the product to the UK from the USA, which in the current market state meant my pound got me a whole lot more. "I will do a cost brake down further on"

My order was received promptly and within a reasonable amount of time my order was confirmed, it took a few more days to be dispatched which I was OK with.
It arrived into the UK on the 10/04/2008. After visiting customs it disappeared with the tracking reporting stating “attempted delivery 12/04/2008” It happens that USA postage gets taken by parcel force whom sat on it till the 30/04/2008 when I had finally found out where it was I drove to the depot and collected it.
As with the UK postage the box was a little tired but had been packed very well.
Upon opening the box I was greeted with some Mini do more flyers, instructions, cable ties, draw bar in a mini "type" bag - similar to the jack bag and looks very stock and the tow bar its self. “A good start”

With the package safely in my hands I decided I was going to fit it on the weekend and therefore I am able to take my old carpet down the tip sometime soon.

The instructions seamed to be very simple though I do not feel the rear wheels need to come off and I did not remove them, just jacked it up a little.

I set about following the instructions just to ensure that everything went well, they do read quite well though in some areas require a little logical thinking. Over all good use of pictures and relatively good Layman’s wording.

With my rear bumper removed I set to removing the bumper bar and some other metal bar and foam, in the assembly they are removed and the tow bar takes the place of them. at this point you will realise that the reversing light now need to have the wires cable tied to the tow bar, not a problem just easy to forget.

With the bar in place I put the draw bar in and found fitting is very tight, even for my small hands. I decided that I would remove the section of heat shield from above the exhaust which really does nothing, now I can get my hands in no problem. This is not in the instructions so this is down to you. Following cutting the heat shield and my hand, its sharp! I folded the edges of the heat shield and fixed them to the tow bar using a cable tie. I then took my saw and removed the plastic off the bumper as stated within the instructions. This was easy to follow and after a little sanding left a good smooth finish.
I then proceeded to attach the bumper in the reverse of removal. This was easy to do and did not take too much time. Once on I tried the draw bar and this fitted really well, I had enough room to fit my hands in, thanks to the extra heat shield modification.

I then set about fitting my reversing light and found that it was very tight up against the tow bar, it fits but I think its a little too tight. No problems really it fits, just think it may need modify so it fits without it being so tight.

I decided to get the trailer down and fit this on to the car, I have made the board using relays and a on/off switch in the boot, this is connected to the battery and the lights, it works without a flaw but you do need the relays off the battery. "NEW - I decided to buy a 7 way relay from halfords for the electrics, its for a light board and costs £39.99 - easy to wire in and works very well."

The car pulls the trailer well though it soon became noticeable that I can't see the trailer what so ever! I need a marker on it so I know where it is when reversing. When I say you can't see it, I mean nothing until its on fill tilt. This is my problem and not the tow bars fault.




** Details;

* Time taken: 2 hours at a leisure speed
* Problems: Heat shield left little room for my hands
rear light it a little tight

** Costing; At time of shipping £-$ rate dependant

Tow bar: £162.50
draw bar: £42.50
shipping to the UK: £40.00
Customs and VAT: £58.00
7 way relay: £39.99
Total: £342.99
(would be better without the customs and VAT but "welcome to the UK!" home of the $5 ice cream) Anyhow...

Pictures!

[coded2112]

Nice one! And thanks for showing me how it worked at Himley!

I have a soon to be with tow bar GP!

[r1_kde]

Glad I helped you, when your done post a picture on here. Will be good for the GP stand next time

[M.O.S]

Don't put a towbar on a GP! However, for a normal S, that looks superb - what about your rear fog light - they are a legal requirement you know!

[r1_kde]

I have a pre face lift so my fogs are ok! as for others if you remove it then consider adding it to your towing equipment, and you don't need a reverse light when towing, though a fog light would be useless on almost every car when towing so I am not sure about that.

[KevinPR]

I know this is an old thread, but I have only just joined so my apologies for coming in late. I wanted to put a towbar on my Cooper S(2003 R53) and after searching the net found this forum.Great! someone has done it. I could not understand how you could get an american made towbar but nothing in the UK. So I rung a couple of towbar suppliers and they gave me the answer. Basically it is illegal to make of fit a towbar to my Cooper s in Europe. It all starts with the manufacturer they have to state how much a car is capable of towing then the towbar manufacturers can produce a towbar to suit. BMW have never catagorised the Cooper S JCW for towing hence nobody is allowed to make or fit a towbar. When I mentioned the American one I was told that it would be illegal to tow with it and further more should I be involved in an accident my car insurance would not cover me. I dont know if this is the case with all Cooper S or just the 53 model but it might be worth looking into. Remember that even if the accident was not your fault you would be to blame because you have fitted something that should not have been there. Again apologies if this is covering old ground.

Kevin R

[richard hobbs]

intresting as i went into bmw asking if i can get a towbar fitted on my cooper s works r53 and they said they havn't made one for it end of, now weather they ment they dont make them for any mini or just that model no idea.