BMW E39/E46 OEM roof rack

[The Stiglet]

Just bought one of these from ebay for a bargain £51 (new, something like £165) but I want to bring it back up to 'as new' spec. So, things like the rubber strips and a couple of caps seem to be missing from the bars and I've just ordered the strips from BMW direct on ebay, including new nuts and washers etc...

But I'm a bit confused about the gutter protectors. Do I need these? How many do I need?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Genuine-Roof-Rack-Ba...

Cheers

edit, how many caps do these bars need? I can't quite tell from the photos - is it four or two?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-Genuine-Roof-Rack-Ra...

Edited by The Stiglet on Monday 13th February 22:44

[The Stiglet]

Don't let me down boys...anyone?

[mike325112]

The gutter protectors are little pieces of plastic with self adhesive on which stick on the metal of the gutter where the 'feet' of the bars sit. For £1.70 I'd get some as I'd imagine they could vibrate otherwise. Although anything that would stop the feet rubbing would do.

As for how many ther are in a pack I havent a clue but I would say form the picture you would need 4 of the items pictured. Might be worth a look at the part number on real oem?

Edited by mike325112 on Tuesday 14th February 09:27

[blondini]

You might find there are already gutter protectors present on the car.

Those end caps look like a completely different shape to the ones on my set, do you have a link to the ebay item?

[mike325112]

blondini said:

You might find there are already gutter protectors present on the car.

Those end caps look like a completely different shape to the ones on my set, do you have a link to the ebay item?

Good point on the gutter protectors!

[The Stiglet]

blondini said:

Those end caps look like a completely different shape to the ones on my set, do you have a link to the ebay item?

This is it: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/280821078011?ssPageName=...

[The Stiglet]

mike325112 said:

Good point on the gutter protectors!

Will have a look. Can you open the gutters without the special key? i.e. a screwdriver instead?

[blondini]

The Stiglet said:

mike325112 said:

Good point on the gutter protectors!

Will have a look. Can you open the gutters without the special key? i.e. a screwdriver instead?

Yes they are easy to pop open with a straight screwdriver or even a thumbnail.

The end caps do look right for those bars BTW, looks like two are missing. I'm sure my BMW bars are a different profile, more oval in cross section.

Oh and do you know you will need to adjust them to fit the car. There's an allen bolt at one end of each bar accessed from underneath. Slacken them off to adjust the feet and fix the the bars in the gutters before retightening.You might need spring washers on those fasteners too, cant' see any in the pic.

[mike325112]

They look like the correct end caps to me.

Oh and the 'special key' is a piece of plastic! You can open them with your finger nails or a screw driver if your careful!

[louiebaby]

Might this be useful?

http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E39/Sedan/Europe...

[blondini]

louiebaby said:

Might this be useful?

http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E39/Sedan/Europe...

That's for vehicles with roof rails.

Type the OP has - http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E39/Sedan/Europe...

Type I has lol - http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E39/Sedan/Europe...

e39 & e46 have same roof bars.

[The Stiglet]

blondini said:

louiebaby said:

Might this be useful?

http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E39/Sedan/Europe...

That's for vehicles with roof rails.

Type the OP has - http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E39/Sedan/Europe...

Type I has lol - http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E39/Sedan/Europe...

e39 & e46 have same roof bars.

Thanks guys and thank you blondini for pointing out that there are two different racks!

So have I got an older one without the aero style bars? I see that I don't need the gutter protectors for this rack, just the protection foil, which they have in stock.

• edit

I've definitely bought the taller, bulkier, out of date rack that I specifically didn't want! I wanted to buy aero, low profile and quiet and thought the BMW system was pretty good.

I'm about to order the BMW racing bike rack but before I do, I better check with you guys that it will fit http://www.amazon.co.uk/BMW-Genuine-Racing-Carrier... Please tell me it will?

Thanks again

Edited by The Stiglet on Tuesday 14th February 21:14

[blondini]

The feet on the two different types of bar are the same in my links, as are the gutter protectors. The first gutter protector on ebay link is different but I don't think it really matters which type is used.

I've kept the same set of roof bars through ownership of four e46's. Dead handy.