Your thoughts on roof racks on a E90 sedan?

[mdosu]

^ ah yes, Thule and their "fit kits"... So you got the Thule's BMW fit kit adapter, and Thule universal bar. Then you buy each rack seperately (bike, boat, box, ski, etc)?

[NSE92M3]

Originally Posted by izzyM3

Thule's are perfect and makes the car look aggressive but wind noise is an issue so they don't stay permanent.

Does that E92 have a carbon fiber roof? I thought you can't put a bike rack on if it's a CB roof?

[izzyM2]

^^ The OEM mounts are located on the pillars on the sides not on the CF part.

[mdosu]

Originally Posted by NSE92M3

Does that E92 have a carbon fiber roof? I thought you can't put a bike rack on if it's a CB roof?

with the expection of the E93, there are mounting points regardless of moonroof/CF/or standard roof. So biscally you can mount on any E92 or E90 car.

[anselmw]

Originally Posted by slicer

That sucks; I have not had this issue. Cross-threading a screw isn't something I would blame on BMW. I think cross-threading falls under the user-error category. I can see how it would happen if you didn't have the width of the towers set properly (causing the screw to not line up with the nut). Mine were not correct out of the box. I had to first loosen the towers/cross beam connection, then screw the towers into the car, then tighten the screws securing the tower to the cross-beam. I hope this helps.

The screw was not cross thread. I cleaned the screw hole first with the cleaning screw, then thread it in properly. When I was tightening the screw, the top of the screw head stripped, not the body.

You are lucky not to have an issue, if you search you will see others that have stripped the head as well. They seem to not be able to take the torque with the wrench supplied, I am going to get some replacement stainless screws when I get bacl.

[anselmw]

Originally Posted by mdosu

it looks familiar b/c I took it off a thread @ NSXprime which I believe you're part of


Re box fitment: I've done extensive research on this, but have yet to buy or fit a box, but the Thule boxes and most other boxes are universal. The clamps at the bottom of the box is adjustable fore and aft along the length of the box to fit basically any bar length. So I currently use the OEM BMW bar, and since I'm buying a used box (and selling it after I'm done), I'm open to buying all brands. You can even buy a Volvo or Subie box too (most are made by Thule, or Yakima, or Mont Blanc)

Make sure the box is the clamp type. The oem boxes like the BMW use bolts instead of clamps.

Also you need to see how much overhang to the front you can live with on an suv. You can only move it so far back before the rear hatch hits it when you open the hatch. We use ours n our q5 and m3. M3 could have fit a longer box but not the q5 due to the hatch opening.

[mdosu]

I tested this 1200 cubic box today. Thule, undecided at this point.

[anselmw]

looks similar length to my 16 cubft one, is this box more narrow?

[mdosu]

Originally Posted by anselmw

looks similar length to my 16 cubft one, is this box more narrow?

Correct, he had this and an 18, he said the larger box is just wider, maybe just a bit longer.

[///mawana]

Originally Posted by davesaddiction

When you have four kids, you have to get creative to avoid the minivan.

[Sedan_Clan]

I think E90's with a rack look pretty sick.

[badbeef]

Originally Posted by mdosu

Correct, he had this and an 18, he said the larger box is just wider, maybe just a bit longer.

I have the 16. Do you know if it'll work on the e90? I was afraid of stability problems.

[anselmw]

Originally Posted by badbeef

I have the 16. Do you know if it'll work on the e90? I was afraid of stability problems.

16 will work fine, that is what I have used on a 10 hr trip last summer.

[SammiK]

Thule's aero blades are very quiet. You don't even need a fairing. I used to have square bars and these are so much better

[zorrro]

My contribution!

Sound is pretty loud above 50mph...

[HaroldC]