OEM roof rack + Thule carriers/accesories = ?

[shamoo]

Small update below...still need help

I recently purchased the BMW OEM roof rack system and I'm very happy with it. It installed in a couple of minutes and it does not contact any part of the carbon roof. Even the contact points inside the little "cutouts" don't even touch the car because they supply you with little plastic protectors.

Anyway, the ski/snowboard carrier and the bike carriers provided by BMW aren't to my liking. The ski/snowboard carrier is VERY large and appears to be geared more towards skiing, which I do not do. There are 2 bike carriers. One for "racing bikes", which is good. But I also have a mountain bike and downhill bike. The tires will not fit in the "racing bike" carrier. The mountain bike carrier looks too chunky for an M3.

Anyway, I've seen Thule products on the OEM rack, but I'm not sure where I could obtain the correct Thule parts. The OEM rack is made by Thule, so you would think it would be easy as a Google search, but it's not.

Some pics...

Roof bar system.



Cap that pops open to allow accessory carriers to slide in.



I basically want the Thule "flat bottom" snowboard carrier, but I DO NOT want the type that simply clamps onto the bar. That looks ghetto.

I need this, but with a different bottom mounting system.



Does anyone know what I could get to make it work on the BMW rack system?

Also interested in getting a Thule fairing, but seeing multiple posts where the 38" fairing does not mount to the new oval bars nicely. You could just pick it up with your hands and it would come off.

Here's a link showing that.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showpo...&postcount=121

Any ideas?

[Tim B.]

I've been considering the roof rack for months now. I have a mountain bike and didn't want to use my Bones trunk rack on this car. I'd be interested to see if anyone has used this system for hauling mountain bikes.

[slicer]

I fit Thule attachments onto my BMW rack using BMW mounting parts. The rack is made by Thule but the channel for mounting attachments is wider than Thule's "non-BMW" load bars (thus the mounting hardware that comes with Thule attachments is too small). I ended up searching for the parts diagram on a BMW load box designed to mount on the BMW rack. I found the part numbers for the bolts to mount the box and ordered them from GetBMWParts.com. I had to shorten the bolts slightly but they fit into the track nicely. I will try to track down more details tomorrow.

[shamoo]

UPDATE...
Sorry for the poor quality iPhone pictures.

I just purchased the Thule 91725 "flat top" snowboard/ski carrier. According to several days of Googling and BMW forum research, this is the one I need.

Anyway, I got it today and there's a built-in clamp that's riveted to the bottom of the carrier. I need to remove this, as I do not want to simply clamp the system. That will look pretty bad. How can I remove this plastic clamp thing? The rivet is slightly under the rubber bumpers which are not removeable. The clamp side of the rivet has a flat topped head.

How do I get this sucker off? I do not have a dremmel. It was suggested that I drill it out, but go through the rubber on top (make a hole) as it really won't affect anything. I was trying to avoid "damaging" anything.

Rivet ~1 inch under the rubber bumpers that protect the snowboard/ski. This is where I'd potentially drill out, but I can't get to it. Rubber is not removable.



Stupid clamp.



50% of every Google image search of this carrier shows no clamp there. What gives? Here's an example.

DO NOT WANT:



WANT:



Searched and found this...which is how I want to mount mine. See how the snowboard carrier is flush against the OEM rack? I need to remove those stupid clamps/rivets.
http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=104766

[Bart@AUTOcouture]

FYI.. if you ever want to run a cargo box.. the Thule Evolution box mounts to the OEM bars.

[jeff@autocouture]

^^^ id be scared id scratch the carbon roof!!! id love one on my car tho

[shamoo]

**UPDATE**

I was able to drill out the rivets, which resulted in the flat bottomed piece which I want. It can now mount to my OEM roof bars with a simple T-bolt that will slide into the side of the bar like any OEM BMW accessory.

Now they look like this (not my pic).



Pics to follow soon this weekend when I go snowboarding.

[ab-ster]

I know this is an old thread, but this inspired me to have the same setup for my rack.

I was using the bottom clamp to hold the racks together. The bottom clamp, when cut in half, fits perfectly into the BMW rack slot and works as a perfect nut that stays in place.

I thought i'd share my solution for the next guy that wants to do the same thing. It was hard for me to find this info on the web.









Feel free to copy these images.

[shamoo]

Wow! Thanks for the update. This is a great way to secure the Thule snowboard/ski attachments. I was on a mission to find the perfect sized washer to "slide" in, but never got around to it. Yours looks much easier.

Unfortunately, the car is being sold. So I gotta get rid of anything haha. Does anyone want my roof rack?

[igzekyativ]

can you provide a little more details on your update? i have a Thule 575 snowboard rack that i need to modify to get it flush with the oem bars.. I like the idea of using the parts I already have..


edit: i looked harder and understood what you did, but it doesn't look like i can do that with the 575 carrier...

here is a vid... http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Nqm_UUYswVI
here is the stuff you need... http://www.orsracksdirect.com/thule-...apter-kit.html

[dakine]

Just an fyi for those of you who may do this... If you're going to be strapping 4 boards to the Thule, you may run into clearance issues, or need to remove the bindings for the bottom boards depending on your bindings. I got the thule clamp on system (requires the longer bolt kit if using with the oem racks) and the bindings for the bottom boards come pretty close to the roof.

[dakine]

found a pic of my old 335, but should still apply. you could probably tie up the bindings tight w/ some bungies or ratchet them down depending on which style you have, but might want to have a backup plan if you're going to drill out the rivets and are planning to hit the mountain the next day...