THULE fairing mounting

[MosH]

Hello all,

For Xmas I received a new Thule rack system (450r feet with the aero bars) for my snowboards. I mounted everything on the truck and it looks great (little bit of whistling noise) but now I am trying to put he fairing on to help deflect some air. I have the 872XT 44" fairing and it looks as if it should mount in front of the factory rails where they slope down and end near the windshield however I do not think I can move the forward load bar far enough towards the front of the truck to do this. If I squeeze it between the factory rails it pops up in the middle. Does anyone have one of these on their X5? If so can you post pics?

Looking forward to my first trip into the northeast (probably Vermont) with the X5, this is my first winter with her.

Thanks!

[JCAPX5]

Hey MosH,

I don;t have a an answer to your post but do agree they rails whistle quite a bit. I have the "regular" thule bars on ours and it sings up there on the roof!

More importantly, enjoy your first winter in the X5!!! It's spectacular in the snow with the right rubber.

Here's a pic of our roof racks. Love the capabilities they add and the noise is not horrible...only a bit annoying. Fortunately they go on & off in 10 minutes!

Let us know how your deflector works out!

[DutchK]

MosH,

according to the THULE site fitting guide, it appears THULE recommends the medium size fairing see here (Thule - Thule Racks - Rack Accessories) 871XT 38" for the X5..given your description that the 872XT 44" if you squeeze it between the factory rails pops up in the middle, I think your solution might be to go to the shorter length fairing and see if that does not cure the fitment issue.

this sounds like a great set up (which others may have as well)..I would be interested to hear how the fairing does on reducing the whistling noise.

DutchK

[MosH]

Thank you JCAP!, Which bars are you using? I like the clean look of the bars ending where the feet are rather then hanging over.

Dutch, I agree, however the sales associate at ORS racks suggested I get the bigger fairing for the X, she may have made a mistake...

[JCAPX5]

Hi MosH.

It's funny that you comment on my bars and how they don't stick out....the long story short is I had another set of bars that were old and stuck out a bit too far, and my boss at work had these for an E46 3 series. I knew they would be "too short" for the X5 such that they would not stick out at all and this was the look I was going for. The caps just fit on the end and they look great! Well, to each his own I guess...

I'm not sure of the exact model of the bars, but I have the box for the Thule mounting pieces in the garage if you'd like, and could measure the bar length if is helpful to you. I suppose you could just measure the length between the mounting pieces and get bars of that dimension if you like the look like ours. It just happen to work and for us and thats that!

Good luck!

[AZX54.4]

I have been looking at roof rack systems for my x5 to carry my snowboards. Is there any difference between one of the Thule base systems vs. the OEM base system? Is it cheaper to go with the Thule? I think the OEM is around $150 or so. I was looking at Thule's 91726 snowboard carrier. The bars that you set your skis/snowboards on slide out for easier access putting them in the rack. Has anyone used this? Does having the roof rack with snowboards effect fuel efficiency?? Thanks

[jjcyeshua]

JCAPX5 : nice set up... just like MOSH i was wondering how you got the perfect fit bars.....I also have the same setup but my crossbars are sticking out....When you get a chance can you tell us what size exactly you have on... Thanks

AZX54.4: I went with thule because it is universal and you can easily take it off..I dont exactly remember how much i spent, but will end up buying 2 crossbars, 4 base 4 locks, and whatever snowboard carrier you want...Oh and i heard the slide out system is great... I have the regular snowboard thule carrier...

[AZX54.4]

Originally Posted by jjcyeshua

JCAPX5 : nice set up... just like MOSH i was wondering how you got the perfect fit bars.....I also have the same setup but my crossbars are sticking out....When you get a chance can you tell us what size exactly you have on... Thanks

AZX54.4: I went with thule because it is universal and you can easily take it off..I dont exactly remember how much i spent, but will end up buying 2 crossbars, 4 base 4 locks, and whatever snowboard carrier you want...Oh and i heard the slide out system is great... I have the regular snowboard thule carrier...

Thanks for the info. I wonder who is making the OEM base system for BMW. I bet it could easily be Thule or Yakima??

[j944]

Mine is a Yak but the fairing really helps in canceling the annoying whistle.

[AZX54.4]

[QUOTE=j944;696285]Mine is a Yak but the fairing really helps in canceling the annoying whistle.

How does the yakima fairing attach?? Is it attached to the roof rails?