Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick lawson
I have 50 inch bars on my x5. I can fit 2 mtn bikes and 2 surf skis or a thule dynamic 800 and two mtn bikes. The surf skis and bikes add plenty of drag but I have never had a issue with the racks.
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This would be the reason to go with Thule bars, if you need longer than the BMW bars (which I believe, as Matt Bianco said, are actually made by Thule). If you get "through-bars" instead of "flush bars" like the factory set, they are also easily re-used on any other car with the same type of roof rails, possibly with the purchase of new foot pads instead of all new bars. Naturally, that only matters if you want to use them on more than one vehicle, or are leasing and don't want to buy new bars every 2 to 3 years.. Both of these reasons (more space on longer bars and re-usability) are why I bought the Thule's.
You can see them here and the foot packs easily slide in and out to adjust between cars (ex. if you have 2 that accept the same foot pack but are different sizes).
http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1016704