Roof rails have no place to tie anything!

[5tony]

So just traded my e70 for an F15 M-sport with gloss black roof rails. They look nice, but when I went to get my Christmas tree, I realized that there was no place to tie anything down to the rails. Ended up having to tie the rope to the door latch plates and then shut the doors on the rope. This is either a poor design or another way BMW is trying to get more money out of us by making us buy the rack system.

[ramsal]

Originally Posted by 5tony

So just traded my e70 for an F15 M-sport with gloss black roof rails. They look nice, but when I went to get my Christmas tree, I realized that there was no place to tie anything down to the rails. Ended up having to tie the rope to the door latch plates and then shut the doors on the rope. This is either a poor design or another way BMW is trying to get more money out of us by making us buy the rack system.

What you have are flush rails which I believe are model specific and may even cost more.

[hyde]

Originally Posted by ramsal

What you have are flush rails which I believe are model specific and may even cost more.

I think every F15 comes with "solid" rails, (are they called flush? because they are more like solid rails like train tracks without the mounting areas), I thought there were loop tabs that you could just open and loop around, I guess I was wrong. You will need one of those clamp racks or cross bars.

How did you carry the tree without any cross bars, anyway? I wouldn't want to rest anything on my sunroof and tie it down across.

[Tommyvee]

I bought the BMW base system (crossbars). They're a nice design. Look for dealers offering parts discounts, that's what I did. I agree, I personally would not tie anything directly to the roof.

[5tony]

Originally Posted by hyde

I think every F15 comes with "solid" rails, (are they called flush? because they are more like solid rails like train tracks without the mounting areas), I thought there were loop tabs that you could just open and loop around, I guess I was wrong. You will need one of those clamp racks or cross bars.

How did you carry the tree without any cross bars, anyway? I wouldn't want to rest anything on my sunroof and tie it down across.

No worries. We always put two beach towels and a long vinyl tablecloth on the roof before placing the tree on it. Did the same for 6 years with the e70 and never a scratch.

[hyde]

Originally Posted by Tommyvee

I bought the BMW base system (crossbars). They're a nice design. Look for dealers offering parts discounts, that's what I did. I agree, I personally would not tie anything directly to the roof.

Do you have pictures? Can you measure how much height it adds to your roof (from your sunroof to top of crossbar)? I am tight on my garage door but I've been meaning to get crossbars, but it looks like they raise the height a lot when I look at the pictures.

It looks like 10 inches if not more.. that's crazy, why do they have to be so much high up!

[Tommyvee]

Originally Posted by hyde

Do you have pictures? Can you measure how much height it adds to your roof (from your sunroof to top of crossbar)? I am tight on my garage door but I've been meaning to get crossbars, but it looks like they raise the height a lot when I look at the pictures.

It looks like 10 inches if not more.. that's crazy, why do they have to be so much high up!

They are not that high. I'll have to measure them tonight, my guess is they are ~5" tall, they clamp over the rail so the bottom of attachment is close to the roof. Overall they might add 5-6" to the overall height. I believe I have a standard 7' high garage door and have no problem clearing it.

[Doanster]

BTW, the factory crossbars are actually much less $$ compared to all the components you'd have to buy from Thule. Yakima does NOT have a solution yet. Their Rail Grabbers look like they'd work, but turns out are prone to slipping due to the extreme low profile of the rails.
I got an awesome deal on the factory bars ($160 shipped!) by monitoring eBay. It was from a dealer so is 100% OEM. All one-piece and a cinch to install/remove (I don't keep them mounted permanently).

[Snow-Kidney]

Flush rails are the result of modern styling and the quest for better MPG.

[42pilot]

Originally Posted by Snow-Kidney

Flush rails are the result of modern styling and the quest for better MPG.

Yep - and the real joke is that BMW recommends removing them when not in use as not to use more fuel. These are aero bars to begin with. And, the front bar has three little plastic spoilers under the leading rail for improved aerodynamics. These might reduce consumption by a mile or two per tank.

In fairness to BMW, I would remove them anyway since I think they really take away the look of the car. They are super easy to install and seem to be secure. I'll be using mine to mount my mountain bike and head to FL for Christmas.

[Taran.J]

I wish mine didn't even have any and I just had a old school flush piece of plastic down each side and some pop caps to mount some bars in it. Wayyyy more sleeker

[hyde]

Originally Posted by Tommyvee

They are not that high. I'll have to measure them tonight, my guess is they are ~5" tall, they clamp over the rail so the bottom of attachment is close to the roof. Overall they might add 5-6" to the overall height. I believe I have a standard 7' high garage door and have no problem clearing it.

Thanks so much, exact measurement would be really great because my garage door is just a shy of 6'.. (House built in 1920's)

Originally Posted by 42pilot

Yep - and the real joke is that BMW recommends removing them when not in use as not to use more fuel. These are aero bars to begin with. And, the front bar has three little plastic spoilers under the leading rail for improved aerodynamics. These might reduce consumption by a mile or two per tank.

In fairness to BMW, I would remove them anyway since I think they really take away the look of the car. They are super easy to install and seem to be secure. I'll be using mine to mount my mountain bike and head to FL for Christmas.

I like them with x-line trim, they look pretty good, and I saw one at the dealer, having black kidney grill and cross bars, it looked really nice & rugged.

Originally Posted by Taran.J

I wish mine didn't even have any and I just had a old school flush piece of plastic down each side and some pop caps to mount some bars in it. Wayyyy more sleeker

I always thought lack of roof rails makes it look more like a minivan. I liked E70's real bars, not a huge fan of F15's fake bars.

[Snow-Kidney]

Originally Posted by hyde

I always thought lack of roof rails makes it look more like a minivan. I liked E70's real bars, not a huge fan of F15's fake bars.

Absolutely. No rails is very minivan-ish.

[hyde]

Originally Posted by Tommyvee

They are not that high. I'll have to measure them tonight, my guess is they are ~5" tall, they clamp over the rail so the bottom of attachment is close to the roof. Overall they might add 5-6" to the overall height. I believe I have a standard 7' high garage door and have no problem clearing it.

Looks like it adds a lot of height, but it looks really good with X-Line

[Doanster]

Just measured... the crossbars add a tad over 4" to the height of the rails. Hopefully that allows you to clear the garage door.

[hyde]

Originally Posted by Doanster

Just measured... the crossbars add a tad over 4" to the height of the rails. Hopefully that allows you to clear the garage door.

Thanks, time for me to measure now.

[MattBianco]

Originally Posted by Doanster

Just measured... the crossbars add a tad over 4" to the height of the rails. Hopefully that allows you to clear the garage door.

agreed...I'd say closer to 5" to be safe

Originally Posted by hyde

Thanks so much, exact measurement would be really great because my garage door is just a shy of 6'.. (House built in 1920's)
..........

12cm or a tad under 5" based on this crude measure:

[Doanster]

My measurement was from the top of the rails themselves, not the roof. Normally not something to nitpick over, but Hyde is/was literally down to his last few tenths in terms of clearance. Speaking of which... how did things work out, Hyde? What did you end up going with?

[MattBianco]

Originally Posted by Doanster

My measurement was from the top of the rails themselves, not the roof. Normally not something to nitpick over, but Hyde is/was literally down to his last few tenths in terms of clearance. Speaking of which... how did things work out, Hyde? What did you end up going with?

Your way of measuring would be more meaningful for @Hyde (has rails already). Thanks for pointing it out.

[vadriver]

they have to be high enough to clear ski bindings when used with those attachments. We have the Yakima Ski bars mounted on the cross bars on our Yukon and still have a couple skis that the bindings rub the roof. I had planned to buy the crossbars and the large roof bin from day 1, but the dealer gave me the runaround on getting the bin from their storage. I have bought neither so far. I am wondering if the crossbar attachments cause any blemishes to the high gloss paint when attached?

[MattBianco]

Originally Posted by vadriver

...Yukon....I am wondering if the crossbar attachments cause any blemishes to the high gloss paint when attached?

If it were bad weather, I'd go with the LX470 (or your Yukon ) ...

Rubber claps on the cross bars grip the roof rails. Nothing in the system touches the paint. Odd shaped cargo might, but with 4" of clearance, unless you have those older style Look bindings with the long end, you are safe. Even with those, leaving the binding open would reduce their height to about 2".

[hyde]

Originally Posted by MattBianco

agreed...I'd say closer to 5" to be safe



12cm or a tad under 5" based on this crude measure:

Originally Posted by Doanster

My measurement was from the top of the rails themselves, not the roof. Normally not something to nitpick over, but Hyde is/was literally down to his last few tenths in terms of clearance. Speaking of which... how did things work out, Hyde? What did you end up going with?

Thanks guys, I decided not to get it after checking that when the door is open it sags towards inside, so the clearance gradually reduces as I roll inside. If I park on left or right sides of my 2 car garage I should be fine, but if I forget and park right at the center I might have issues with about 5" to 6" on top of my roof.