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i would have stuck with Thule but their offering is poor allegedly? Do they make a noticeable difference in wind noise? And recommended products would be appreciated!
Interested!
I've square bars and when we go far (like the Highlands) there's a top box on too. Anything to reduce noise and fuel burn will be of great interest!
Remove top box and you'll save fuel...
Not helpful but is true.
I have Thule Square bars with a Yakima Wind Deflector. Makes a big difference. About 60 quid if I remember rightly from Roofbox.co.uk. Comes in various widths so you should get one that fits decently enough.
I recently got a pair of Atera aero bars, they were a bit whistly at first but I moved them back a bit and yeah, their claims are pretty valid. Still a slight whistle (especially with a box) but nothing major, I don't even notice it now.
Strongly recommend the thin bars…. We have the Yakima ones on both our cars. Drove to France the other week with a roofbox on, still getting 45mpg and usually around 49. When the bikes are on you just don’t hear them too
Cheers, I'm already using Thule aero bars.
Unfortunately I couldn't find a recommendation from the Yakima site for a 3 series?
If you've already got aeros then I'd be taping up any holes you see on them when they're fitted. Pay particular attention to areas where they adjust for width underneath around the clamping mechanism. Gaffer tape is good, as is silver superfoil insulation joining tape. I would have thought a big wind deflector is just going to cause turbulence behind it and potentially more noise.
I find that moving our roof box or surf boards as far back as possible improves things.
If your bike racks can use them, ditching the u-clamps (or even thule's claw devices) for t-track bolts can make a big difference to the amount of noise.