’06 MINI downtubes

Posted on by Ian C.

I received the following details and pictures from Chuck, who recently installed an auto-up windows MINI circuit in his car – he did not want to do a “blind install” but found that the traditional downtube removal instructions can be modified on newer MINIs …

If the 2 torx screws on each side of the down tubes are removed then the tubes can be pulled downward a couple of inches allowing them to be pushed to the outside of the car a bit.
I have read before about newer MINIs having downtubes that could not be pulled up from the bottom trim, but I did not realize they could be pushed down – by doing so, you avoid the need to partially release the dash trim around the speedometer, which is a significant benefit!

Doing so exposes the 2 torx screws that hold the switch panel in place; once those 2 screws are removed from the switch panel it just pops out. Unplug the connector & then pull the lower cover under the switch plate down. Pass the wiring & connector down through that opening. Now I put the circuit in. To protect the board I wrapped it in some closed cell foam. I thought this might also prevent a possible future dash rattle:

Once I set up the auto up & the DSC track control I buttoned everything back up. The total time for my install was 20 minutes. It took me longer to type this.

Owners of newer ’05 and ’06 MINIs who are not confident with the blind install are recommended to follow Chucks instructions – and THANK YOU Chuck for the detailed description and pictures!

8 thoughts on “’06 MINI downtubes”

  1. Yes, this is how I did the install on my ’05. Took out the toggle bank and the whole job still took less than 10 minutes.

  2. Wow…do you need much downward force? I wonder if that will work in my 04. Perhaps the downtube plastic is just slightly shorter in the new ones to allow for this? Great tip.

  3. Josh, I am 99% certain the downtubes were significantly redesigned in early 2005 – I suspect the older design cannot be pushed down in this way.

  4. My ’05 is a 06/05 build, so that is the only experience I have. You don’t need much force, in fact I was all set to spend an hour taking things apart but when I took the downtube screws out, the tubes just dropped! Then I thought, “Huh, I could just move these to the side…..”

  5. I am liking my ’06 MCS more and more cause of little design changes like this B^p …

    I have been sick lately, so I haven’t taken the time to install the AutoUP Circuit that I bought from Ian just after ordering the car last year.

    This will make the job even easier!!! THANX!!

  6. I did this install a few weeks ago in my ’06 MCS. I didn’t know that you couldn’t lift the downtubes out, so I tried for 2-3 minutes until I realized that all of the screws were exposed, so why bother…

    I did this while self-installing my official MINI iPod adaptor, so the auto-up circuit only took a few minutes more to install since everything was disassembled anyway.

  7. I followed these instructions in my ’06 MCS with no problems. Ian, you might consider including them in with the hard copy instructions for ’06 owners; I got lucky because I read this here.

    One more thing, though: the above pix seem to show the driver-side down-tube pulled away in a car with the Euro parcel shelf. If you don’t have the shelf (as I don’t) then you need to remove the large plastic piece that covers the underside of the steering column to gain access to the upper screw of the down-tube. Give it a good tug from the front of the piece directly under the steering column — it’s held in by “pins” (a kind of elongated snap) close to the driver; the other side (near your feet) is hinged (breakaway hinges that allow the piece to come free).

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