[PaulBhoy]

I was on the verge of buying some thule Aero Bars on e bay for my G20 when i noticed that BMW dealers are now selling genuine BMW bars online for £135 . Thats £110 less than a new set of Thule bars and about the same cost as a set of second hand Thule bars.

I was pretty keen on the thule bars until i saw this offer but 3 things are holding me back from purchasing the genuine BMW bars

1 Thule Bars are great quality and always seem to resell well if they dont fit the new car..Are BMW Bars as good quality ?

2. And the main concern is bar height from the roof ... The BMW bars look a lot higher...Are they ? I like the low sleek look of the Thule bars.. See a couple of photos ive found online below showing what i mean.

Anyone have any experience or knowledge of the BMW bars as a far as Height and Quality are concerned ?

[bacampbe]

I'm curious about this, as well. I'm trying to figure a good way to carry a tadpole trike on a roof rack. Will Thule or other third-party mounting accessories fit on the BMW rails?

[unfoundnemo]

I have a set of BMW bars on my X7. I mainly got them because I was in a rush, got a good deal from a BMW dealer through their ebay account online (20% discount and free shipping), and Thule's aeroblades weren't an official fit for the X7. Otherwise, I would have preferred to get a set of aeroblades.

I the Thule bars on a different car in the past, and would say they were quieter than the BMW bars if driving with nothing on them. Mainly because the you could get some whistling on a crosswind with the BMW bars due to the rubber strip across the bar not being snug enough. They go on and off so easily that you almost never have to worry about that, though. Similarly, the BMW bars are higher and almost seem to sit a little too high, but also only as noticeable when there's nothing on them.

My BMW bars take my Thule box just fine, so no worries there. The construction of the BMW bars is just as good as Thule as well.

[PaulBhoy]

Im gonna go for the Thule rails . I like the lower profile look to them better than the BMW. I tend to leave them on the car way more than i should , especially in the summer months when im carrying bikes around.

If my research is correct i can buy a second hand set of thule bars for an F30 and either change the fitting kit or bolt size for the G20

[carltonb]

Originally Posted by PaulBhoy

Im gonna go for the Thule rails . I like the lower profile look to them better than the BMW. I tend to leave them on the car way more than i should , especially in the summer months when im carrying bikes around.

If my research is correct i can buy a second hand set of thule bars for an F30 and either change the fitting kit or bolt size for the G20

I've had a Thule setup for my F30 but came to install on my G20 and the bolts need to be bigger. I bought the new Thule Rapid System 753 (as per the pictures above) but the bolts are still too small. I ve messaged Thule but not heard back - Saw somewhere else that the M7 bolts are correct.

[Phippsy81]

I have Thule Wingbar Aero, just swapped out the footpack when I switched from my F32 to the G20

[DG20]

Here are some pics of the BMW ones, I picked them up last week. I took the silver bars off today and im getting them powder coated!

[Calamari]

Guys, how do you find the wind-noise levels at highway speeds with Thule and BMW OEM roof bars?

Thule should be really silent due to the aero profile. I'm curious how noisy the BMW bars are due to the fact that their profile is elliptic compared to wing-like profile of thule aero bars.

[DG20]

Originally Posted by Calamari

Guys, how do you find the wind-noise levels at highway speeds with Thule and BMW OEM roof bars?

Thule should be really silent due to the aero profile. I'm curious how noisy the BMW bars are due to the fact that their profile is elliptic than wing-like.

Over 70mph, it does get pretty noisy but not too intrusive.

[amavro]

I've ordered the OEMs from Ebay because in Greece the dealer price was 350 euro.
See when fitted with a white roofbox (Modula model : EVO - Italian company ). Now I have 400 liters of extra storage for our long trips.

[Phippsy81]

Originally Posted by Calamari

Guys, how do you find the wind-noise levels at highway speeds with Thule and BMW OEM roof bars?

Thule should be really silent due to the aero profile. I'm curious how noisy the BMW bars are due to the fact that their profile is elliptic than wing-like.

My Thule Wingbar Evo are not too bad at speed, but I rarely run them when not in use.

The newer design has a rubber flap to cover the T-Track slot when not in use.
This helps reduce noise and whistles compared to the old version, which you had to insert rubbers in/out of the slot and cut to size around fittings, a proper faff, especially when you fitted different items (bike racks, roof box etc having fixings in different places)

[PaulBhoy]

Originally Posted by Phippsy81

I have Thule Wingbar Aero, just swapped out the footpack when I switched from my F32 to the G20

Thats the bars for me i think. Thanks for the pic

[zamboni]

All BMW bars were OEM from Thule, can't go wrong with either version and the Thule aero bars is much quiet compare with BMW bars.

[Calamari]

Originally Posted by zamboni

All BMW bars were OEM from Thule, can't go wrong with either version and the Thule aero bars is much quiet compare with BMW bars.

Yap, Thule manufactures a lot of OEM roof bar sets.

I love the simplicity of the installation for the OEM roof bars:

But at the same time I favor the lower noise levels of Thule WingBar edge setup. Since I'm gonna be doing a lot of high-speed autobahn driving with them on the car, minimal noise is the main reason I'll go with Thule.

BTW, my previous OEM Ford Focus bars were also made by Thule. They had the same elliptical profile as these OEM bars on BMWs. I can only assume that Thule doesn't want to use wingbar profile on OEM bars because more people would buy the OEM ones if they were as silent as wingbars.

[Phippsy81]

Originally Posted by PaulBhoy

Thats the bars for me i think. Thanks for the pic

No worries 👍🏼. These are wingbar Evo (Black obvs )118cm

[Konstantinos.90]

Originally Posted by amavro

I've ordered the OEMs from Ebay because in Greece the dealer price was 350 euro.
See when fitted with a white roofbox (Modula model : EVO - Italian company ). Now I have 400 liters of extra storage for our long trips.

Hello, are you satisfied from this roof box? Would you suggest it? I have the same car in white metallic and i'm thinking of buying modula evo 400 or 470 liters in black glossy.
What speed do you cruise and does it make any noise? I'm between buying bmw oem or thule aeroblades in black.

[Calamari]

2 years ago I examined OEM BMW bars in detail and decided to go with Thule Aeroblade as they have much better aerodynamic properties and lower wind noise.

Thule bars sit lower and are closer to the roof line which also helps with reduced drag and noise, both when when driving with or without the roof box mounted on the bars.

If you need more clearance between the roof, then BMW bars are better. More clearance is needed for example if you use ski rack, to avoid your ski bindings hitting the roof.

However, if roof box is your primary use case, then I would highly recommend thule aeroblade with Thule Motion box which comes in many different sizes. From small to very large. I have the XL version which is very large with 500 litres of capacity. My recommendation on the box would be: Go Big! All box sizes will produce approximately the same noise levels. So as long as you are mounting it up there, at least make it spacious so you can comfortably carry everything you need for your vacation. If you want to carry skis, pay attention to the length. Thule Vector XL is around 200cm which is enough for normal alpine skis these days. L size is already a bit problematic in regard to length.

Noise levels with only bars (without the box) are very low. Driving on B roads you almost do not notice it at all. Most passengers do not notice it at all. On the highway, roof bars are only a bit noticable at 150kmh. But again, i have double glazed windows at front windows and G20 with roof bars is quieter at 150kmh than most compact cars without anything on the roof at that speed.
When you mount the box, it gets a bit louder. You start to hear the box only slightly at around 80kmh. At 100km/h it's still very low, at 120 it gets noticeable, but the overall noise levels are still in the level of a mid-range compact car. Only above 140kmh it starts to get significantly louder than G20 without anything on the roof. Despite that, I find myself driving 150km/h with the box for hours without any problems.

Thule makes an even more aerodynamic box model called Vector, but that one is more than double in price and I haven't found any evidence that it's significantly less noisy than the Thule Motion series.

A few images below:

[Konstantinos.90]

Thanks for the info, you have been really helpful!

I totally agree with you and I was thinking of the thule motion xt 450L. But after I thought a little better, i will use it only a few days per year, between 15-30 days only during summer vacation. That's why i thought maybe i should buy a cheaper one like bmw roof bars with 230 euro and the roof box modulo evo 470 liters with 400 euro. Otherwise I need the aeroblades in black for 400 euro and thule motion xt 450L with 900 euro. Is it worth the extra cost of 670 euro for the thule against the modulo?

Also what I like in thule roofbox is that I can use it on any future vehicle that I buy, and I can also get any other accessory I like, like ski rack or bike rack.

Calamari tell me your opinion.

[Calamari]

Originally Posted by Konstantinos.90

Thanks for the info, you have been really helpful!

I totally agree with you and I was thinking of the thule motion xt 450L. But after I thought a little better, i will use it only a few days per year, between 15-30 days only during summer vacation. That's why i thought maybe i should buy a cheaper one like bmw roof bars with 230 euro and the roof box modulo evo 470 liters with 400 euro. Otherwise I need the aeroblades in black for 400 euro and thule motion xt 450L with 900 euro. Is it worth the extra cost of 670 euro for the thule against the modulo?

Also what I like in thule roofbox is that I can use it on any future vehicle that I buy, and I can also get any other accessory I like, like ski rack or bike rack.

Calamari tell me your opinion.

Well, your thinking makes sense. It all depends on how much are you going to use the bars and the box. If it's only for a few drives a year, it makes sense to go with the cheaper option.
On the other side, as you also pointed out. Thule box has a great mounting system that allows it to be used on any bar that you get in future. So, it's definitely a buy now - use forever thing. With quick mount system of Thule boxes, it takes literarily 2 minutes to put the box on or off the car.

As far as the bars are concerned, good thing with Thule is that you can also fit Thule bars on other vehicles as long as they are of similar size. For example, these bars fit other 3 series, some 5 series, but will also fit most other cars in this class. The only thing you might need to change is the base of the mounting points in case you are re-using the bars on a Touring for example (as touring model has roof rails to which bars are attached, as opposed to machine screws that are screwed into the roof of the sedan).

And as you pointed out - Thule gives you numerous options in terms of bike racks, and many other mounting gear items.

In the end, there are reasons to go for the cheaper option, and there are reasons to go for Thule. It all depends on how much you plan to use it, and how long you want to keep the car. Thule box is something that you will buy once in decades. And the bars can also go a long way if you keep driving cars of similar size (in terms of roof width).

[Konstantinos.90]

Originally Posted by Calamari

Well, your thinking makes sense. It all depends on how much are you going to use the bars and the box. If it's only for a few drives a year, it makes sense to go with the cheaper option.
On the other side, as you also pointed out. Thule box has a great mounting system that allows it to be used on any bar that you get in future. So, it's definitely a buy now - use forever thing. With quick mount system of Thule boxes, it takes literarily 2 minutes to put the box on or off the car.

As far as the bars are concerned, good thing with Thule is that you can also fit Thule bars on other vehicles as long as they are of similar size. For example, these bars fit other 3 series, some 5 series, but will also fit most other cars in this class. The only thing you might need to change is the base of the mounting points in case you are re-using the bars on a Touring for example (as touring model has roof rails to which bars are attached, as opposed to machine screws that are screwed into the roof of the sedan).

And as you pointed out - Thule gives you numerous options in terms of bike racks, and many other mounting gear items.

In the end, there are reasons to go for the cheaper option, and there are reasons to go for Thule. It all depends on how much you plan to use it, and how long you want to keep the car. Thule box is something that you will buy once in decades. And the bars can also go a long way if you keep driving cars of similar size (in terms of roof width).

Thanks! I think I will go for the Thule set. You've been really helpful!

[Calamari]

Originally Posted by Konstantinos.90

Thanks! I think I will go for the Thule set. You've been really helpful!

Your are welcome. Glad to share my experience. After all, that's what these online communities are made for.

[Silvergt]

In the same state of indecision! Do the Thule connect/disconnect as quick and easy as the oem? Looking for something to toss on&off when needing to haul my road bike 1-2x a wk. love the look of the Thule and love some real world intel!

Thanks
Justin