[JoePAz]

Guys,
Looking for advice on a roof top carrier for my bike. I have a 2002 BMW E39 with intergrated mounts in the roof. I can go 3 systems

1) BMW Factory crossbars + Thule or Yakima fork mount (not sure which company fits the BMW bars)

2) Thule 753 system which mounts just like the BMW system with peleton fork mount

3) Yakima control tower with Landing pad and viper fork mount.


I also have a hitch rack for my wife's car and I am looking for roof system for my car so I don't need to always borrow her car when I go biking. I really don't want the rack on my car most of the time so kind of like something easy to remove when I am not carrying the bike.

Any opinons or experience?

 

[mtbscott]

Pretty sure the OEM rack was made by Thule, had one on my E46 M3. I would get whichever rack is cheaper, then the trays of your choice, I prefer front wheel removed ones.

 

[manpurse]

I had the Thule on my e46 with a couple of different Thule bike trays, it worked great. One of the easiest rack systems I've ever dealt with.

 

[JoePAz]

I am leaning torward the Thule 753 that fits right into the factory attachments? I think the thule bars will fit more trays than the BMW specific ones plus cost the same.

Bike tray Thule peloton at $160 or Rocky Mount Pitchfork at $100? Seems like thule is pretty solid, but I know nothing aobut rocky mount trays. Never heard of them till today. They are cheaper, but are they any good?

 

[mtbscott]

I am currently running RockyMounts on both of my cars OEM crossbars. I like them because they're light and lowslung, and color matching is kind of cool. Check out the pic over on the Sports car thread of my Audi, here's a pic of my MINI with OEM rack/RockyMounts.

 

[cohenfive]

when i had my e39 m5 i had the thule setup which worked beautifully. as i recall, the same thule cross bars fit the e39 and e46, and from there you have tons of options on what bike or other mounts to put on the bars. i also bought the thule wind fairing which imo didn't do a huge amount of good, but it did let me display a lot of stickers!

 

[ou2mame]

i'd go with thule.. always used their racks, never had a problem.

 

[llamma]

Go with the Thule 753 rack. Attached is a pic of one on my e46.

If this image from Amazon is really the Peloton then I definitely suggest you stay away from it

Thule used to have a different rack with a similar (if not the exact same) locking mechanism, and the gears inside that ratchet would strip out after a while, making the whole thing useless. My friend had 2 of them, both of which were replaced under warranty by Thule with the 518 Echelon. I have an Echelon that I love, although I did break the key off in the lock cylinder last night :sad:

 

[900Black]

Check with these guys at:
onsaleramps dot com
hitchanything dot com