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Hi eveyone,
I am upgrading my sons bike on Friday from a Trek Jet 16" to a Carrera Blast 20" from Halfords (in sale for 169!!). Both our bikes will no longer fit in the car so I need to get a carrier of some kind.
The car roofline is pretty low and I think I would prefer a roof mounted carrier over a rear mounted. Can somebody recommend a set of roof bars and roof mounted bike carrier for a BMW 330d .
Has anyone actually got one? Are roof mounted better than rear mounted? Hopefully I won't swing into the local multi-storey with the bikes still attached!! I don't do mega miles travelling with the bikes so fuel economy shouldn't sway my decision.
Thanks in advance for any advice....
your choice on an e45 tourer is roof or towbar mounted as the hatch won't carry a strap on carrier
thule bars and carriers are hard to beat bars and foot pack should be about £130 and the carriers are about £50 to £90 each, the only other thing I would recommend is a set of matching locks at £20 so you have one key for all
I have one. I had a set of aero bars and pro ride 591s on there. It was easy to mount and didn't affect the MPG too much when it was unloaded. Stick two bikes on there and get ready for a shock, the MPG drops from the high 40's to mid 30's at best but if that's acceptable then that's your best option since you'll still be able to get into the boot that way.
In the end a combination of parking underground and I didn't have to carry 3 bikes and 3 people any more so now I just chuck em inside.
EDIT:
I don't do mega miles travelling with the bikes so fuel economy shouldn't sway my decision.
Just read that... get the roof mounted one, my mate has a towbar mounted rack and not being able to use the tailgate is a real pain in the arse.
When my missus got her 1 series - the branded roof bars were cheaper from the main dealer than the thule ones. We already had thule 591 carries (which are great).
Only snag was that the slots in the bars are slightly different to the thule ones. Fortunatley thule sell the wider / longer bolt thingy for a few pounds to fit the bmw bars.
BTW The roof has proper bolt fixing points - much better than then in door clamp style.
Or you could get a towbar - and a tilting thule carrier - easier all round imo but dearer.
Thanks everyone, that's really helpful.
The car does already have a removable towbar and I quite liked the sound of the titling Thule one, but I think I will go with the roof mounted with matching locks, either Thule or BMW.
Thanks again...
GoodGuGu