BMW Rear Bike Rack Pics

[j11398]

Thule T2 is an excellent rack. It also tilts up when not loaded and tilts down from the loaded position to allow the rear hatch to open.

[Marwan1]

Originally Posted by JCL

The Thule also holds down the bottom of the rims, but the difference is that it holds the top of the rim with an arm, contacting only the tire, instead of having to be clamped to a painted surface on the bike. Thule went away from clamping tubes.

Nice rack indeed. Unfortunately, it's not an option if one does not have a hitch. I wish Thule or anyone of the other rack manufacturers would make one that would fit the X5 bumper towing eyes. Competition would drive the price of BMW's down. With no competing racks (that I know of), BMW can and does sell theirs for $499 + tax!!! Damn them!

[apw2607]

It's a bloody disgrace that BMW doesn't allow you to switch off the rear PDC permanently.

[nom3rcy]

Originally Posted by apw2607

It's a bloody disgrace that BMW doesn't allow you to switch off the rear PDC permanently.

All you have to do is hook up a trailer harness and it is disabled.

I'm going to mount a set of LED taillights in my Thule T2 and that should take care of the PDC and safety issues.

[apw2607]

Yup I know rear pdc is disabled if it sees a load on the hitch electrical outlet however LEDs didn't work for me and I had to rigg up something that mimics loads that are equivilent to lamps. Btw it requires loads on brake, blinkers and plate lamp.

Unfortunately even after all of that the tow hitch electrical system still throws out errors that are logged by the car.

Why the hell you have to go to this much trouble to simply disable rear pdc is a joke. BMW are aware of the issue as I've spoken to one of their NA reps about it but they don't have a easy fix as it requires "extensive" re-engineering of multiple systems and it's not cost effective to fix.

[JCL]

Sorry to hear about the PDC problems. I remember the threads where you posted a solution involving adding resistors into a plug, creating a dummy load for the trailer controller. Guess that didn't work out.

All of this makes me very glad my bikes are on the roof and not on a hitch-mounted carrier. PDC works great. Bikes stay clean. However, I have moved and now have underground parking. I now need to take the bikes off outside and ride them in to my bike locker, a little more complicated than the loading/unloading process at the house was.

[Shinchan]

that is one ugly bike rack

I have Thule 954 Ridgeline. Its a much better looking and sturdy bike rack.. Can hold up to 4 bikes.

[TitanM5]

Anyone know what the BMW bumper-mounted rack can hold as far as weight is concerne?. I saw the post about not being capable of holding heavy DH bikes. Just wondering if someone that has the rack can tell us if there are any weight or tire width limitations. From the picture, it looks like just about any moutain bike wold work on this rack. Thx.

[JCL]

Originally Posted by Shinchan

that is one ugly bike rack

I have Thule 954 Ridgeline. Its a much better looking and sturdy bike rack.. Can hold up to 4 bikes.

With the Ridgeline the bikes hang from the clamps and can contact each other. That may not be an issue for mountain bikes that get banged up in daily use, but I wouldn't want to put nice carbon road bikes there.

[Marwan1]

Originally Posted by Shinchan

that is one ugly bike rack

I have Thule 954 Ridgeline. Its a much better looking and sturdy bike rack.. Can hold up to 4 bikes.

But it's absolutely useless if one does not have a hitch, which is the point of getting the BMW rack, ugly or not.