[profiteroles]

Bike rack preparation has appeared on the configurator.


Guess that's the answer to those who wanted a towbar to support a bike (but can't because the F56 isn't available with a towbar)


No description as per usual for a new option.

 

[littleblackdog]

Glad you brought this up; I want to know if the dealer knows anything more than where it attaches, would like to see a picture and get some idea of capacity.

 

[Angib]

I got bike rack prep on my Roadster and that was two things: a second towing eye for the rack to fit into, plus a swing-down trailer wiring socket behind the bumper to work the lights on a bike rack.

Since the F56 comes as standard with two towing eyes, I'm guessing the bike rack prep is just the wiring socket behind the bumper.

On the R56/7/8/9, the bike rack still needs a control unit added to the rear wiring of the car to make the wiring socket live, and do things like disabling rear PDC when the rack is fitted. Again, I'm guessing the same system will be used for the F56, where the control unit comes with the bike rack and the fairly high cost of the bike rack includes fitting the control unit into the rear wiring of the car.

None of this would apply in the USA, where it doesn't seem normal to fit extra lights on a bike rack. For them, every F56 must have bike rack prep just by having the second towing eye.

 

[Angib]

An update/correction to this. A US supplier has pointed out that without 'bike rack preparation', there is a second pop-out plastic panel on the left side of the bumper on all F56s, but there isn't a threaded hole in the bumper bar behind it for a bike rack or towing eye to screw into.

So 'bike rack preparation' is - probably - fitting the second threaded hole in the bumper bar plus, maybe only in Europe, fitting a (inactive) light socket behind the bumper.

Anyone with a standard F56 could check this by opening up the left pop-out panel (a very small screwdriver in the slot at the bottom pops it open) and seeing if there is just a plain bumper bar behind it.

 

[uke]

An update/correction to this. A US supplier has pointed out that without 'bike rack preparation', there is a second pop-out plastic panel on the left side of the bumper on all F56s, but there isn't a threaded hole in the bumper bar behind it for a bike rack or towing eye to screw into.

So 'bike rack preparation' is - probably - fitting the second threaded hole in the bumper bar plus, maybe only in Europe, fitting a (inactive) light socket behind the bumper.

Anyone with a standard F56 could check this by opening up the left pop-out panel (a very small screwdriver in the slot at the bottom pops it open) and seeing if there is just a plain bumper bar behind it.

This might be a good item for the "Read this before you order" thread.

 

[humercedes]

An update/correction to this. A US supplier has pointed out that without 'bike rack preparation', there is a second pop-out plastic panel on the left side of the bumper on all F56s, but there isn't a threaded hole in the bumper bar behind it for a bike rack or towing eye to screw into.

So 'bike rack preparation' is - probably - fitting the second threaded hole in the bumper bar plus, maybe only in Europe, fitting a (inactive) light socket behind the bumper.

Anyone with a standard F56 could check this by opening up the left pop-out panel (a very small screwdriver in the slot at the bottom pops it open) and seeing if there is just a plain bumper bar behind it.

I ordered it on my 2015 F56, and it includes a wiring harness under a cover in the bumper (below the two cut outs in the painted bumper). You are paying for the wiring harness because with the bike rack, the rear lights are covered, so the F56 bike rack has lights on it and has to be hooked up to the car's electric.

 

[Angib]

Interesting. I though that Mini didn't put the extra rear lights on US bike racks - or at least I don't think they did for the R56.

If anyone wants to use a F56 for towing, the bike rack prep is probably the cheapest way of getting a towing electrical socket fitted.