I've been trying for some time to ascertain the correct part number for the rear mounted bike rack on a Countryman F60. You might think that it's straightforward but it would appear not. MINI Genius (There's a misnomer if there ever was one) blithely gave me a part number but when I pointed out that the PDF on MINI accessories gave two different part numbers all they could say was that they looked the same. Live chat then became non live! The part numbers are: 82 72 2 364 449 & 82 72 2 413 420.

Earlier I had almost pressed the "buy now" button on E-Bay as the MINI site had the 420 rack at a cheapie £449. BUT before doing so I gave them my VIN. I had thought that that was a formality as their "will it fit" clearly showed that it did! The reply was..........no it doesn't fit!! When I queried this the ad was taken down and hasn't re appeared.

Now just to confuse the issue there are two racks on E-Bay at £260.40 & £249.99 showing the 420 rack. Both show that they will fit the F60 but when I queried it one said that no it didn't fit and the other said that might. You'll note the considerable saving.

The car is a Cooper S All4 F60 fitted with the rear rack prep and I have the "tow ball" supplied from the dealer. The dealer incidentally can supply (MAYBE) the correct rack but if I want to try it on the car (just in case!) and it doesn't fit then I'm over four hundred quid down the drain. I.e. They wouldn't take it back.

Now I'd really like the rack as I had one on the previous Paceman and it was a joy to fit and the bikes fitted on great and the mud didn't get anywhere near the interior. I'm not often moved to tears but you can probably hear me sobbing quietly in the background. Off now to kick the cat............only joking cat lovers.