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Just bought a 2013 BMW 3 series touring. want some roof bars for it (it has rails so don't need feet). Anyone get any recommendations / experience?
Used Thule on mine. No problems at all with them and the rails make it a breeze to take them off and on.
[url= http://www.roofbox.co.uk/ctc ]This is the usual 'go to' place for such things[/url]
Have 5% off on me 😉
Where are you in the country? I have an old set of Thule square bars with feet for roof rails, only 2 locks for the bars (I used to mount them on opposite sides of the car) yours for £25 collected . Not sure what they would cost to post , I'm in Leeds. They should fit a 3 series OK I used them on a Rover 75 tourer which is mainly BMW parts anyway.
it has rails so don't need feet
Having owned a 3 series touring, and having fitted a roof rack (thule) to it, you do need a foot pack.
I have my old ones here if/when you find you need them!
We've got the whispbar ones from site above. Better than the Thule wing bars imo.
Have a set of Thule aero with the correct foot pack that'll be going in the sale section .
Where are you?
If you want to leave them on all the time I can't recommend Whispbars enough. They really are the nuts. Watch the video on YouTube with the wind noise test.
Get the right foot pack - a 2013 tourer doesn't have rails as such, more a sort of raised lip (although they call it a rail).
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+ Thule Fitting Kit 4023
+ Wing Bars 961
Are you going to be keeping the bars on permenantly with nothing else attached most of the time? If not then I'd say don't bother with wing bars. I had Thule wing bars on for about 5 years. Totally silent when 'naked' but as soon as I put bike racks on you can hear wind noise. So if you are keeping them on the car with bike racks permenantly then I'd say save your money and just get rectangular section bars. They won't be any louder and the fuel efficiency benefits of wing bars vs. Rectangular ones is negligible. I barely noticed the impact on fuel consumption with bars and racks on. A couple of quid more per fill up at the most. Having said that the wing bars look great so the better aesthetics are worth the extra I think.
Thule are tried and tested and will last forever. Just took mine off the car after 5 years of being on there permenantly and apart from a bit of muck and grime they are as good as new.
Agree that it's the bike carriers that make the noise. I have 3 permanently attached, with wingbars. I recently updated to the new 598 racks which are even better in use than the trusty 591's.
The alloy wingbars got a bit grime pitted with time. New ones are available in black now, which is what I have gone for on new car.
thanks for the advice. hammyuk, are the ones you are selling for a 2012 onwards 3 series touring? how much are you after? I am Bristol based but travel a lot around the southern half of UK.
Have two sets of the aero bars - diff widths and the universal footpack for rails which swaps between them in seconds.
Depends which rails you have - actual rails or a flush one.
I used BMW ones on my 2011 tourer. Possibly made by Thule.
Note that the 2013 model is wider so don't think they will fit between models as it will be a pricey mistake.
I tend to have two bike carriers on and take the whole rails/bike carriers off as one piece when not in use. Take less than 10mins and then hang the whole assembly on brackets in the garage.