Best bike rack for car without towbar?

I’ve got company car which changes every 2-3years so can’t/don’t want to pay to get a towbar fitted. I can’t get the bike in the car with the wife, baby and dog anymore so will need to have it on the outside of the car. As I don’t have a towbar, what’s the next best way to transport it (least likely to fall off, cause too much drag, etc)? Thanks.

Fit the towbar yourself? Only took me a couple of hours on my Focus, and most of that was the electrics and drinking Tea. That’s unless the lease company (presuming it’s leased) prohibits it.

For minimum faff and maximum security and not scuffing the paintwork to buggery then roof racks would be my 2nd option not a tie on rack. Especialy if someone else is paying for the petrol, even just having the surfboard on the focus roof drops the MPG by about 4mpg!

I’ve just been looking at the BMW accessories (for ideas etc) and saw that they do a Click-on retrofit set ‘For vehicles without trailer tow hitch’. Does anyone know how they attach and if they are any good? Thanks.

It’ll almost certainly be a Thule one badged with the BMW logos – I don’t know of any manufacturer ones that aren’t Thule.

£800 for a bike rack!

Would sir like the petroleum jelly or the water based lube with that one?

It’ll almost certainly be a Thule one badged with the BMW logos

Having looked at the Thule website they just have roof rack, tow bar or the back door strap-on racks, I take it that the BMW rack would just be a strap-on rack (with a picture not showing the straps)?

£800 for a bike rack!

Where’s the £800 rack? I was only looking at the £400(ish) ones (which still seem a silly price)! I don’t intend to buy anything from BMW, but wanted to see what they offer/suggest and find it cheaper elsewhere.

EDIT: I’ve found it now, but I think that’s just for a Convertible/Coupé which is fine as I’ve got an estate!

Nope – your link is for the fitting kit – it’s another £400+ for the rack….

Nope – your link is for the fitting kit – it’s another £400+ for the rack….

Chuffin’ hell, your right (sorry!) 😯 For £800 i’d expect some cuddling afterwards too!!

Looks like it’ll be roof mounted then!

Saris Bones RS is very good. Very quick to put on / take off and very good customer service from the importer when I recently needed a couple of replacement parts – they come with a lifetime warranty. The only downside is that you will probably need one of those false cross-bars for most full sus MTB frames.

http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories/car-racks/product/review-saris-cycling-group-bones-rs-bike-rack-17507

And you need to make sure your plate and lights are still visible. Four that reason I would go roof mount on a fleet car. This is what I did before I opted out. I wouldn’t get cheap bike carriers either. My Halfords ones are awful. Even when proper clamped up they rattle like nobody’s business.

I have a Saris Bones 3 which performs admirably on the hatchback but felt a little uncomfortable with 3 bikes on the saloon. No problem with 2 bikes though, solid as a rock. Pretty colours too.

Saris Bones 3

Solid, secure, reasonably priced. Not tried 3 bikes yet but defo good with 2

If you have a Touring then it will most likely have roof rails.

I went for Whispbars for my 5 series.

Lower profile and noise than most and not too noticeable when not boxed or cycle carried up

Click to Roofbox page

Saris here too.

5 series estate here – thule wingbars and proride 591 bike carrier, was definitely worth the investment.

Roof bars have been used for all sorts, from roof box and ladders through to furniture and an entire shed!

On my last car (3 series) I bought the BMW roof bars (cheaper than the Thule option) and fitted the Thule bike carriers that I already had. The bars were dead easy to fit with just one torx bolt per corner and removing the bars with carriers attached was less than a 5 minute job for me alone. I had a place to stash the bundle but they did stay on a lot of the time and I lived with the in reads in fuel consumption which wasn’t massive on the daily commute with no bikes attached.

If your car has an easy to use roof bar set up then I’d say go with that. I’ve had boot mounted carriers in the last and was never happy with how they attached to the car and held the bikes. Plus unless you get a high-mount option you should still have electrics fitted to enable a lighting board to be fitted.