Recommended bike roof rack for a 3 door?

chris.vincent3

Own a BMW now, HOWEVER I still own VCDS!
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Hi, looking at getting a roof rack now after accumulating some pretty bad scratches from a boot rack.

I am aware I need roof rails and then the bike rack attaches to the rails, but, is there any ones to avoid? Any points to note?

Thanks.
 
You will need roof bars unless you have already got roof rails on the car ht go from front to back. The bars will go across the roof and a bike attachment system will go onto them.

I always used Thule kit as it looks better and fits better IMHO and better quality. Plus you usually just change the feet if you change cars so you can take them with you.

Watch out for low bridges! :)
 
You say that bo, but Audi recently sent me a photo of what looks like a normal 3 door with a roof rack on - see the attached photo.

This is apparently a Thule bar and I've really not got a clue how it attaches on. Here's the gents reply when I asked;

These are made by Thule but have been through extensive testing with Audi for them to be approved so you should not need to worry about the rear one falling off, if you get your credit card and gently put it in the top seal where the rear bar fits (as in the picture) you will see under the seal there is a guide for the roof bar to fit, if you have any concerns please contact me. If you are interested in purchasing these items I have no problem ordering them in so you can see how they fit,


Looking at the picture I can only presume he means at the top of the window seal?
 

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Yeah get those Thule bars and get the Thule bike rack things that clip onto the bars.

I read somewhere that the Thule bike racks aren't comptatible with genuine Audi ones? But after what thebluefox said, they are Thule? :S

There is an arrow in the rear window point into the seal, to which I can only assume is what your talking about thebluefox?
 
I have had Thule bike racks and they would have fitted almost any car as the clamp positioning was fully adjustable.

Got a funny story about the thule racks that hook under the door frame, as my mum managed to rip a full bike rack off a BMW a while back by driving under a carpark barrier forgetting the bikes were on the roof. Only did about £4k damage and the garage said it would have been over double that if the bike rack was the type which screws into the runner along the roof.