Its new Company Car time and the offer is a BMW 5 series, however after a quick search on the net it appears the back seat doesn’t split or fold, does anyone know if that is that the case and if so will I be able to fit my bike in the boot? Cheers

Get an estate?

You can add them as an option for a rather silly £340.

Same with the 3 series saloon.

I’d spec that option – loads more versatile.

As Mat says, additional extra for folding seats!

I had a 318d M Sport saloon (all show no go!) loan car a while back – went to put my surfboard in it and was shocked at the lack of folding seats – surely pretty much every saloon has folding seats?! Never had a saloon so none the wiser.

How flipping stingey charging over £300 for it!!

Pimpmaster – estate not an option due to some bizarre contract we have with the lease company.

Matt/timc – cheers, will try and spec it

Is it only me that finds the BMW website a pain in the rrrrr’s to use?

Surf-Mat: Nah – as it’s a beamer it’s probably an optional extra. 🙂

I was amazed several years back when a colleague wanted to get a Z3. The basic car was reasonably affordable, but by the time she’d added things like a stereo, basic alloys and floor mats the price had increased quite substantially.

De_void: That’s awkward – what are they like with adding in things like roof racks? Probably a better option.

My mate has a 3′ with folding seats. His fits in fine, with seats down obviously.

Folding seats are a must IMO. I had a 320d Sport (which I specced without the split seats extra because it was £silly) and had to squeeze my bike behind the front seats. Did manage to do a Wales trip though with a mates bike also squeezed in on the back seats. Can’t see how the boot space in a 5 is going to be THAT much bigger than a 3.

New 5 does have a bigger boot – it’s quite sizey.

BMW have always taken the wee wee on options. Dad bought a new 323i in the early 80s – an E20 shape. He added a fair few options and it DOUBLE the list price!! It also broke down terminally a year after he got it – DOH!

Ours came with retracting rear sunblinds – an absolute boon but… £150!!! Glad someone else specced them!

Pimpmaster – roofracks fill me with fear after once mangling a bike (and my car) on a heavy old Saracen which flew off the roofrack of the car in front and mercilessly assaulted my less than substancial Renault 5…but that was about 15yrs ago so I suppose roofracks are a safer bet now

Depends on how big your bike is I would wager 😉

even without the folding seats, wheels off it should go in fine. I can get 5 bikes in the boot of my mondeo estate with wheels off (but wheels still in the boot) with the seats up. I’d imagine that the footprint of a 5’er saloon is going to be pretty similar, just lower.

Or just take the bike along to a bimmer showroom and ask them to try!

eta : if the estate is out of the question can you get the ‘gt’? its a hatch and more practicle than the saloon (no comments on how it looks)

http://www.autocar.co.uk/CarReviews/FirstDrives/BMW-5-Series-Gran-Turismo-530d-SE/242932/

Into – I only trust roofracks on cars with roof rails (i.e. estates only) and they “grip” them rather than scratch the car to bits. The Thule ones on my Golf put deep gouges in the roof yet were meant to be the correct ones for the car.

No such issues with estate cars with roof rails.

Hmm. A mate has got a 335D saloon and runs roof bars – I’ll ask what his experience of it is.

Pimp – they have probably improved since my (2003) Golf days.

I have a 320d M-Sport, All show & moderate go according to Mat 🙄

No folding seats, so I went for a westfalia removable tow bar & Thule Euroclassic tow bar mounted rack, Lovely bit of kit but not an option on a company car i guess!

With the roof rack option if the saloon comes with specific mounting points for the rack mounts it’d be fine. My Corolla had to use the Thule gutterless fittings which were a PITA. I could imagine a less patient and fussy person than me could easily damage the paintwork or have an unstable rack if they had the same fixings as mine. A friend had an Audi A4 which had specific rack mounting points in a channel on to too and they were great.
Surely a tow bar mounted one would be better with the BMW? Available as an option to get a towbat maybe? I couldn’t afford a towbar with my new Astra Estate company car, but I had to pay got it once I had the car so I think I could have used a local towbar company rather than the expensive dealer prices.

Timc – it can depend on the lease company and what his work let’s him order. I, for instance, couldn’t order any sporty items such as bodykits, bigger alloys or styling options. I had to have a “Eco” diesel option too. However, I don’t have to pay anything other than the tax payment, so that’s pretty sweet!

I could get my bike into the boot my E39 5 series saloon, just.

As well as talking the wheels off I had to take off the handlebars and seat post.

I can’t comment on the E60 5 series or the new F10, but they are bigger, so I imagine it would not be as tight a squeeze.

My mate works for BMW – folding seats are an extra on almost all of them (think it’s called assited access), you won’t get them as standard

Plenty of room – just wrap it in some old carpet & add a few concrete blocks. 😉 Maybe room for two or three….

“Ours came with retracting rear sunblinds – an absolute boon but… £150!!! Glad someone else specced them! “

Our none BMW car came with thoughs for free!! Ha Ha

…cant say that I have them to be an absolute boon yet though

I got shafted for £90 for mats when I got my 330 years ago, it’s all part of the BMW ‘experience’ :p I’d say go with the folding seat option though as it’s much more flexible, even if they do shaft you for the privilege.

Dunc – have you got kids then? I find them far better than tacky stick on ones but they are still silly money.

I have a one series with the same type of mounts used in the new 3 and 5s The roof rack is bolted to the roof using a M6 bolt with a torque wrench that is supplied with the bars. The bolt holes on the roof are made visible by lifting the little flaps on the roof and the bit of the roof bar that makes contact with the car goes inside the newly opened orafice. The BMW feet do not even touch the coach work. Took two bikes to France this year with no probs at all except for the 10mpg I lost in fuel economy 🙁

Fit a tow bar. One of the best car add-ons ever.

I’ve an E39 version too, the boot is not the best shape, full stop – but a friend had the newer one and the boot was definately bigger and better shaped.

tbh I mostly use a towbar rack, but on the odd time I just need to shift my bike, I pop out the front wheel and stick it in the back.

Netdonkey – Member
I have a one series with the same type of mounts used in the new 3 and 5s The roof rack is bolted to the roof using a M6 bolt with a torque wrench that is supplied with the bars. The bolt holes on the roof are made visible by lifting the little flaps on the roof and the bit of the roof bar that makes contact with the car goes inside the newly opened orafice. The BMW feet do not even touch the coach work. Took two bikes to France this year with no probs at all except for the 10mpg I lost in fuel economy

My 51 plate E39 has the same flaps up on the roof as well for fitting roof bars. Never used them though.

sdead – Member
Fit a tow bar. One of the best car add-ons ever.

Oh God no!

It would spoil the lines of the car 🙂

Zed – I would never ever buy a car that had a towbar fitted…

Very nice cars the new 5 series – the OP is lucky to have one on his “list!”

Zed – I would never ever buy a car that had a towbar fitted…

Why?

Apart from their obvious ability to enable you to tow and/or use a towbar bike rack they make a brill early-warning reversing sensor 😉

Because cars that have towed are usually cars that are more worn out.

Clearly not with a bike rack but tow a caravan, boat or trailer and you are speeding up the demise of your car.

We had one fitted to our 4×4 as we need it but would still not buy one with a bar already fitted. And yes – ideal for reversing… 😉

That’s why you get a proper tow bar such as the westfalia, so when removed (30 second job) no lines are spoilt as you can’t see it!… the perfect compromise!

Ours is removable – quite handy sometimes.

Yep I have a Westfalia detcahable which swings the electronics out of view as well. Ace peice of kit. They are OEM with most german car manufacturers. Although this as an option, or even worse fitted aftermarket by BMW, can cost as much a decent second hand car!

Hmmm, a detachable tow bar would be the best of both worlds, but then I would have to buy a bicycle carrier as well and have the tow bar fitted all of which cost money which I don’t have at the moment.

Oh well, back to the drawing board.

Both wheels off + bike bag?

The reason OEM towbars are so expensive is that they come with a fancy box of electronics to adapt the car’s electronic stability to include a trailer anti-snake function.

But yes, the Westfalia towbars on their own are terribly expensive.

Suzuki fitted towbar made by Witter – £450
Witter towbar fitted by an independent – £250.

Guess which we went for…?!