X5 E53 with Roof Cargo box

plyon · #1 07-29-2010, 07:53 PM

The box is a Thule Alantis 1600 purchased from ebay. The racks are BMW racks for an E70 - ordered E53 racks but this is what showed up -bonus! The racks cost $175 plus tax and the box was was $449 with free shipping. I ordered decals/X5 badge off ebay and added the rear roundel leftover from an E36 hood. The front roundel is from a wheel cap. The box performed great on an recent trip up north and on the way back made it through an almost tornado/thunder storm without any water coming inside. The rain came down so hard - all the bugs were scrubbed off front! I traveled around 85 and once up to 100 with no problems and little noise - though I suggest closing sunroof inner cover- cuts down on almost all noise. I found another car on this forum with box and thought I would help out with pics and choices.

wallyx5 · #2 07-29-2010, 09:15 PM

Looks great. Nice work.

DooD · #3 07-29-2010, 10:13 PM

Looks nice.

I am in the process of looking for a box/cross bar's for my X too.

I'm probably going to go with the BMW crossbars and a Thule box...just not sure which one.

A big box store here in Canada has a Thule Cascade 1700 on sale for $420 Cdn.

JCL · #4 07-29-2010, 11:26 PM

Looks good. I might have skipped half of the additional BMW logos, but it's your ride.

Why did you decide on that specific fore/aft position for it? You would do better with wind noise and lowered wind resistance by moving it rearward, but is there clearance for the rear hatch if you do?

I would think that the best (most efficient) position would be if you follow the profile line of the windshield up to the front of the box. Just wondering.

PersonaNonGrata · #5 07-29-2010, 11:24 PM

Great combo and nice BMW branding. I think the bars you got are what is being sold now for the E53. The previous version of Profile 2000 bars were ugly. You got a good price on both.

I have a Thule Atlantis 1800 that I use on an Audi A6 and plan on getting bars for the X5 to use it with that too. The 1600 is a good size; niot to biig, not too small. The 1800 will fit on an E53 if one needs more room. There are photos of that box on an E53 floating around.

Quickid · #6 07-29-2010, 11:28 PM

I have a Thule Ascent 1500 and it's a great travelling companion to my X5. We did a 3500+ km round trip from Ontario, Canada to Myrtle Beach/Virgina Beach recently and went through a nasty rainstorm most of the way there and the box held up quite well.

You might want to try placing the cargo box as far back as possible. I find it's the best for reduced wind drag and noise.

FSETH · #7 07-29-2010, 11:30 PM

Box and rack looks good. I agree with JCL on all the emblems/logos, though.

It is funny, I have absolutely no need for one of these, but I want one. It just screams road trip to me.

plyon · #8 07-30-2010, 09:23 AM

The use of the BMW logos front and back are based on the trailer BMW used to sell - I think for the Z3 - it was an actual small trailer - this was my homage - and the BMW M Power is my joke - the M stands for mobility in this case

The case is as far back as is allowed by the attachment points as they connect to the bars. The bars are mounted per the instructions - you could move the front forward a little bit - but the rack starts to curve down. As for the back - the lift gate comes up and almost hits back of box - you could go a little bit longer - but what you should do if you need more is go wider or taller. My wife really wanted the box - its her car - so I decided to have a little fun with the decals.

JCL · #9 07-31-2010, 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by plyon

The use of the BMW logos front and back are based on the trailer BMW used to sell - I think for the Z3 - it was an actual small trailer - this was my homage - and the BMW M Power is my joke - the M stands for mobility in this case

The case is as far back as is allowed by the attachment points as they connect to the bars. The bars are mounted per the instructions - you could move the front forward a little bit - but the rack starts to curve down. As for the back - the lift gate comes up and almost hits back of box - you could go a little bit longer - but what you should do if you need more is go wider or taller. My wife really wanted the box - its her car - so I decided to have a little fun with the decals.

I remember those trailers. I only ever saw one in real life. The hood was optional, and the promo literature showed a BMW RT100 or something similar, on the open deck. It wasn't behind a Z3, given the weight. It had parking brakes, built in jacks, ramps, and cost a small fortune.

To move it rearwards, I was suggesting putting the crossbars where Bunyan has his in his photo. The rack only holds 220 lbs anyway, less 50 for the carrier, so if you are within that guideline of 170 lbs carrying capacity the crossbars will be solid wherever you put them. If you are over that guideline, I wouldn't move them from where you have them. I put my bike racks as far rearwards as possible, to reduce wind noise and reduce fuel consumption. I often see racks mounted forwards, but I just found them much noisier there. If you can't clear the rear hatch when it swings up, due to the length of the box, then it is all a moot point.

I had thought you had mounted 10 logos. It looks like four of them came on the rack anyway, so my mistake. It is your vehicle, so you should set it up exactly how you like it.

Good luck with it, looks good.

tdgard · #10 08-01-2010, 08:24 AM

Here is an 1800 on an E53

Not sure about the other setups but the guidelines for the box state to place the crossbars as far away from each other as possible. That-coupled with the rear opening clearance-places the front bar about as far forward as it can be. I find mine is super quiet-the bars make more noise than the box.

As for roadtrips-this thing is the best. For a beach trip all the chairs, umbrellas, kids toys, strollers, pack and plays, towels, and anything else that is going to get grungy go up there and get hosed off when you get home. The inside of the car is reserved for important stuff--like wine.