I'm wondering how you got a hitch there a week after you bought your car? I am a dealer for MDM and love the product. but every time I order a hitch its 3-4 weeks before it gets to socal. Do you have the license braket relocate kit? could you show it on the car in another photo as I haven't done a clubbie yet.
Hahahaha library time.
I publish process logs on my site (well sites) usually bike related. I enjoy it!
MM can't speak to lead times as I'm not affiliated with mdm. I contacted them about 6 weeks before I got the car. I had the hitch here mocking me, and mdm anxiously awaiting confirmation that it fit the 2011s, so the wait for the car to finish production and get over here on the west coast was brutal. Being my second install it went so much faster than the 06.
I don't have the plate mount. Can't help you there!
"I don't have the plate mount. Can't help you there!"
where does you plate go when your bike rack is in the hitch? hang it from one of the bikes? Not having worked with one yet, that's the part I am wondering about
the fact you had that much lead time on the car explains how you had the hitch first, sounds about the same.
MM
Certainly the plate mount system seems like a great feature. In my case, I don't leave anything on the hitch for long. Bike rack on, off to the ride, and then off again when I get back. You can move the plate down and solve that issue. I just chose not to get the mount.
Yeah I ordered the car from the factory and had some time to plot and scheme. It was what I consider a mandatory mod for me, having done it on the last MINi so I was looking into it right out of the gate. I wasn't sure how the system would work on a clubman without the rear light hole on the coupe bumper, so it was hard for me to imagine the solution, until I saw that you drilled through the rear license plate mount. It's a great system. Completely invisible!
I was always wondering how do you lock the hitch once you slide it in? Is there a pin inside? How do you access it? Under the bumper?
I am also looking doing this on my Club in the spring...
Thanks for reading it, allayall
Throw this in the library, yes. Good idea!
Tata, it takes all traditional hitch-mount tongues, from the familiar ball hitch to the bike racks, trailers, cargo platforms, etc. As long as you don't exceed towing capacity you're in good shape. It's 1 1/4 not 2": I sold my old rack to get a bigger one when I had the Element this past year, so now I have to sell THAT one and go back to the smaller size. Cotter pin through the tongue, yes. Accessed from underneath. That's always been the most inconvenient part, but it's a necessary evil if it's going to be concealed. My advice, from years using this design on s model MINI: let the heat shield and pipes cool down before you hop under there!
Hitch mount arrived few weeks ago, swinging plate hardware as well. Now, I need this f-in' snow and cold to go away so I can work outside.
Can you check one more thing: what is the distance between 1 1/4 receiver edge and inside wall of the bumper (at the hole opening)?
Just want to calculate the measures of how close my bike rack will sit in proximity to the rear of the car...
Thanks for the write-up and cool GIF pics. This gave me the courage to tackle the install myself. It wasn't nearly as difficult as I had planned. Instead of drilling a circular hole, I used a sharp knife, and cut out an exact 1-1/4" square from the plastic bumper cover and license plate plastic. I was worried about not getting the hole correctly centered, so this way I could slowly ensure exact placement.
