As a bit of trivia, the BMW MINI First is also not type approved for towing, even though the mounting points are there as the body shell is the same as the One and Cooper - though that applies to the generally underpowered 1.4l First. I don't know whether the current 1.6l First is Type Approved as I don't have the first hand experience.
This lack of type approval on the First is something that dealers seem unaware of. The dealer we got Mrs Siddarz' MINI from, brand new, answered "yes, of course" when we asked beforehand whether a tow bar could be fitted.
It took some pestering over a 3 week period for them (and two other unconnected dealers) to tell us why they wouldn't return calls asking for a quote on fitting one. When making enquiries with BMW as to why they couldn't find a price for one, the dealers had found out about the lack of Type Approval and (IMHO) really didn't want to have to make that difficult phone call back.
(disclaimer: none of the above represents legal advice, and whatever happens in this respect, it is absolutely NOT my fault this time
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) obviously ignorance is bliss. I had the tow bar fitted at the local trailer dealer but checked with BMW beforehand to make sure I wasn't invalidating my warranty - in fact they pointed me in the direction of the local trailer dealer!! 
