x5 roof rack in car wash?
 

hey, i just installed a bmw OEM roof rack. it says i cant take it into a car wash with them on. is this true? should i be worried?

People order roofracks?! I deleted mine cause I wanted one less thing to wash around. Why wouldn't you be able to wash the X w/ a roofrack on it? It's more securely bolted than your plastic mirrors, you'll be fine.

M5James: The poster is referring to a roof rack, I believe you are referring to the factory roof rails that are mounted to the roof.

To the OP: Depends entirely on what type of roof rack and what type of car wash. If it is a car wash with rotating brushes, stay out with a roof rack. If it is a touchless automatic wash, it is fine to go through with a roof rack as long as the attachments for bikes, skis, etc, are reasonable secure. That includes swing-up braces for bikes that may get hit by the cyclone drying fan and lift up unexpectedly. When my bike rack gets covered in bugs during the summer from an extended road trip, I go through an automatic touchless wash. Then I lube the various threads and moving pieces on the rack so that it continues to work well.

My misunderstanding...I always seem to merge both terms into the same thing since I never expected to have to purchase the actual rails seperately anyways.

How hard is it to remove one i dont like mine???

I've gone through non-brushless car wash before with OEM roof rack installed, nothing attached to it though. If you must, just make sure it well-secured.

:search:Honestly, it's almost hard to describe without pics so you can see the plugs you need to purchase. I painted and cleared mine white w/ rattle can paint, then put a nice white silicone bead before I popped them in.

From what I've read about the e53, it is very easy to have it removed. But def. do a quick search to find out the exact process.

It's way easy, costs about $3 in materials and looks way cleaner.

Look here:

Roof Rail Delete Thread