[krhodes1]

I'm thinking about getting the factory cross bars for my '11 wagon, getting back into bicycling after 30 years of couch-potatoness. Looking through the sundry posts here about them, looks like may be made by Thule, and use the fairly generic "slot mount" accessories? I'm hoping that anything I buy for the BMW rack will also work on the Rola rack I have for my GTI, which also uses the slot system. And vice-versa. But the BMW comes first, as I need to get my bike down to my place in FL, where the GTI lives. Doing one round trip in the wagon to get some stuff down there, then I will be flying back and forth.

Any opinions on the BMW bike carrier versus any alternatives? I've found them for $104, which seems fairly cheap for this sort of thing.

And a related question - anyone know where to buy generic bolts that will properly fit those rack slots? I want to make a custom lumber carrier for the Golf, and it would be nice if I could bolt it down correctly to the rails. Makes me wish for the good old days of square or round tubes when a plain old U bolt would hold anything to a rack.

[slupie]

Originally Posted by krhodes1

I'm thinking about getting the factory cross bars for my '11 wagon, getting back into bicycling after 30 years of couch-potatoness. Looking through the sundry posts here about them, looks like may be made by Thule, and use the fairly generic "slot mount" accessories? I'm hoping that anything I buy for the BMW rack will also work on the Rola rack I have for my GTI, which also uses the slot system. And vice-versa. But the BMW comes first, as I need to get my bike down to my place in FL, where the GTI lives. Doing one round trip in the wagon to get some stuff down there, then I will be flying back and forth.

Any opinions on the BMW bike carrier versus any alternatives? I've found them for $104, which seems fairly cheap for this sort of thing.

And a related question - anyone know where to buy generic bolts that will properly fit those rack slots? I want to make a custom lumber carrier for the Golf, and it would be nice if I could bolt it down correctly to the rails. Makes me wish for the good old days of square or round tubes when a plain old U bolt would hold anything to a rack.

I have the old RockyMounts Lariat SLX, since it is so old Rocky Mounts doesn't make any mounts or adapters for it anymore. I had to make my own mount plates to work with the new BMW roof rack. The new ones have adapters to work with euro style roof racks. https://rockymounts.com/collections/.../Rooftop-Racks

U-bolt will still work it just needs to be bigger, top and bottom of the standard cross bars is still flat but the sides are curved, the aero bars are profiles like a wing.

[VWaddict]

Welcome back to cycling!

When I did get back into it after about 30+ years of non-riding, I was astonished at how much the technology had changed... Not just the carbon revolution, but the advances in drivetrain technology is astonishing!

I just got an E91 wagon and made sure that the factory bars were on it before I picked it up! I moved from an Audi A3 sportwagon which I'd also bought factory bars, though I swapped to Thule aero bars in short order, because the factory bars were noisy and less accommodating. The wife's daily is a Benz with factory bars, and they're better than the Audi mounting system also.

The BMW factory bars are indeed slot system. -I was able to move my Mont Blanc Barracudas over, and the wife has Barracudas on her Benz also. The BMW will also take the Thule/Mont Blanc slot accessories, but I've switched to fork mount racks now, and they are interchangeable with the Benz and the Audi slot mounts.

I've also got a BMW/Audi/VW upright mount which is also interchangeable with all the cars, but I'm moving away from upright "wheel-on" racks... I bought some brand new Campagnolo wheel bags really cheap for keeping the car inside clean while I'm transporting the wheels inside.

My son competes in youth triathlon, and we travel some fairly long distances with bikes on the roof to get to race weekends. (Like Orlando FL to Des Moines IA a couple of years ago!) and his latest bike cost $4000, plus a $2500 wheel set, so good bike racks are important to me. And him!

I'm assuming you're thinking of the rack for the 2011 328Xi wagon? -If so I have the exact same setup. If you need any photos of any particular aspects or whatever, just ask away.

I understand that the pre-LCI wagons had different roof-rails, so -assuming you've got the roof rails- be mindful that you may have to be careful to get a version that fits the 2011 model year.

Keith

[VWaddict]

Oh, forgot to add...

You can order the long slot bolts as spare parts from Thule or Mont Blanc. I've done that before to replace lost T-bolts... DO NOT be tempted to use 'regular' hexagonal-head bolts, as there's not enough load-spreading to prevent the (somewhat soft) slot extrusion sides from bending when you tighten things down afterwards.

Also forgot to add, I also had a factory rack for my MkIV Golf/GTI, and yes, the slot system is absolutely interchangeable.

Not sure where in FL your place is, but if it's anywhere near Orlando, I can show you how it all interchanges etc.

Keith

[krhodes1]

Originally Posted by VWaddict

Oh, forgot to add...

You can order the long slot bolts as spare parts from Thule or Mont Blanc. I've done that before to replace lost T-bolts... DO NOT be tempted to use 'regular' hexagonal-head bolts, as there's not enough load-spreading to prevent the (somewhat soft) slot extrusion sides from bending when you tighten things down afterwards.

Also forgot to add, I also had a factory rack for my MkIV Golf/GTI, and yes, the slot system is absolutely interchangeable.

Not sure where in FL your place is, but if it's anywhere near Orlando, I can show you how it all interchanges etc.

Keith

Thanks for the info - very helpful. I am not THAT far from Orlando, I'm in Port Charlotte. 2.5hrs or so. I am bound to visit the Mouse at some point...

I actually still have the bike I raced in high school, a 1985 vintage Chas Roberts Road. Was a $1500+ bike back then, and still in pretty much mint condition. Just needs a servicing and new tires. Good enough for knocking around on here - I won't be racing anytime soon. I am ridiculously out of shape, so very happy FL is all but dead flat! I also have a 1994 vintage Bianchi mountain bike that I will probably leave in Maine. I figure for 1/4 the cost of an *OK* new bike I can just get the rack bits to bring my vintage warrior down here.

My car is an LCI and has the low-profile rails, so I made sure to order the right crossbars. Got them on Amazon from BMW of Minnetonka MN of all places for $160, which was by far the cheapest I found.

There is a ski shop near my place in Maine that is a Thule dealer, so I am sure I will be able to order those bolts. I need to be able to get lumber home for projects, and putting it INSIDE the car is a pain. Though 8' lengths do fit in a Golf GTI! At least if you are driving solo... I'm loving the winter weather here in FL, but I sure do miss having my Land Rover and utility trailer handy for when I have to cart big things home!

[trjn]

I am sure the OEM bars are similar on E91 and E90/92 (except the mounting system with rails). The OEM bars are slotted, so any bike mount system that has adapters for slot mounts will work. But you will need some extra parts.

Thule xadapt adapters (made for the rapid aero and aeroblades) wont work because the slots are wider in the OEM bars. However, they can be modified with the wider T bolts that will fit in the OEM bar slots. The rear is mounted with a plate and longer T bolts. If you look at the xadapt adapter package from thule, you will understand what I am talking about.

If you have any roof rack shops nearby(rackattack is my local goto shop), they can sell/give you mounting T bolts with wider base that will fit perfectly in the slots.

I have used Thule peletons and thule ski racks on my E46, Audi A4 and E92.
First on my e46, I used xadapt 9 adapters with larger square/rectangle nut for to slide into the slots. I got the larger square nuts separately from the rack shop. They do stock those. The nuts that came with xadapt 9 were a bit too narrow for the factory bar slots.

After getting the roof racks on E92, I went to the shop to buy new xadapt 9 kit for my thule ski racks, amazingly they had the T bolts that fit for wider channel. Didnt even need to buy the thule kit. Just the wider T bolts and a wing nuts, done.

So, yes depending on which bike racks you want to mount and how you want to mount, it can be done with OEM bars. I like thule peletons because it has two bolts holding the rack head to the bars instead of one like in the earlier thule bike racks. Much more secure. I prefer fork mounts to frame mounts for bicycles. I feel its way more secured. Although our bikes are not very expensive (cannondale cad9 and specialized allez), we would not want them to come undone and hit someone behind us on the highway.

Other option is rockymounts europitchforks. They come with slot mount systems appropriate for european cars, and they are slim and available in different colors too.

The factory roof racks are plenty strong. I once transported a 50" TV on top of my E46 coupe because it wouldnt fit in the trunk. But e92 swallowed a 60" TV like nothing into its trunk.

[VWaddict]

I concur about fork mount racks being far more secure than 'wheel-on' stand-up racks. There's far less "wobble" at speed, and bike racks like the Barracuda (VW's re-badged Mont Blanc bike carrier) and the later ratchet-wheel tightened stand-up rack badged by BMW, VW, Audi and a few other manufacturers, usually specify a speed limit, I believe it's 60mph for the Barracudas. There's NO such restriction on the fork mount racks which I'm aware of.

Oh, and I'm not proud to admit that I once DROPPED my son's carbon bike off the top of the roof on the interstate... at 60MPH. -I'd forgotten to fit the wheel straps, and it slid out of the Barracuda downtube grip.

Wheels were turned into tacos, brakes were buggered, but -incredibly- the frame was fine. -I took it to framedoctor911.com who are carbon frame repair specialists local to me, and they could find nothing wrong with it. -He rode the bike for a year or two afterwards, (once it had new wheels, saddle and other bits & pieces) and even rode it in the nationals.

Him, riding the same bike, a year or so later:


I could comfortably fit five carriers on the A3 once I put the (somewhat wider and definitely more aero) Thule bars on, replacing the factory roof bars...



Wife's car and mine, both accept the Barracudas, as do the E91 factory bars:



Here's the E91 with a pair of Yakima fork mounts and my and my son's daily rides mounted. They're definitely more sturdy in a fork mount... though you do have to store the front wheels inside. Mind you, there's also less chance of me repeating the bonehead move of having one fall off at highway speed!!!



Yep, florida is -by and large- as flat as a pool table. The steepest hills in the state are not far from here though, including 'Sugarloaf Mountain', which is a Category 5 climb, and enough to knock the wind out of me!