Roof racks, anybody seen these?

[Jay 535i]

Scott, I was hunting to find something that would attach to the factory rails on my wagon, but it looks like those Oris racks are just about impossible to find and the factory racks are too $$$ so it looks like Thule is the way to go. Send me an e-mail and I'll buy your towers. E-mail me at: james@jjcarr.com

James

I don't know about BMW specifically, but factory rails are usually rated for very little weight. You may not want to use them, even if you have them.

[calmloki]

I have an older set of Yakima racks for my '93 Touring - nice because the base unit fits the factory grooves and I can remove the racks and towers easily for when I don't want to drive around with ugly 3/4" pipe supports making the top of the station wagon homlier than it needs to be. Functional. No idea what the model number is or if they are still made.

[Jjcarr]

Scott hooked me up with contact info for Marty at:

www.martyscycle.com

And they have a modification to the Thule rack that mounts directly to my touring roof mounts. The main reason I was interested in that eBay rack is because it looked like it would mount that way, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

But, Marty hooked me up, mounts are on the way. We need to get some info about these mounts on e34.net or something....

J

[Jay 535i]

Scott hooked me up with contact info for Marty at:

www.martyscycle.com

And they have a modification to the Thule rack that mounts directly to my touring roof mounts. The main reason I was interested in that eBay rack is because it looked like it would mount that way, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

But, Marty hooked me up, mounts are on the way. We need to get some info about these mounts on e34.net or something....

J

Be sure to check your owner's manual for the maximum weight rating of those roof mounts. It will be less than the Thule parts are rated for, and you don't want to find out the hard way that you've overstressed the mounts.

[Jjcarr]

Be sure to check your owner's manual for the maximum weight rating of those roof mounts. It will be less than the Thule parts are rated for, and you don't want to find out the hard way that you've overstressed the mounts.

I don't plan to put anything more than 3 bikes and skis up there so it shouldn't be a problem. Being a wagon I can always throw the heavy stuff in the back...

[Elekta]

I can't get in the .info gallery for my pics, but there are tons in the archives. Ican't remember my old user name that I had from the old board to get my password,

Marty is the man who helped with this mod a few years ago, and it is clearly the best system. I converted all my racks to Thule footpacks.

You can just see the nubbins I drive around with when there are no loadbars.

[Jay 535i]

I don't plan to put anything more than 3 bikes and skis up there so it shouldn't be a problem. Being a wagon I can always throw the heavy stuff in the back...

Hmm, depends which three bikes you're gonna put up there.

Many of those factory racks are rated for only ~80lbs. So three 25lb bikes would be fine, but three 30lb bikes would be pushing it.

I don't want to be a naysayer or anything. I'm just saying to check the specs before you start putting stuff up there. I've seen what happens when people wing it. Not pretty.