Roof rack question - height and noise!

[Johnhanson]

Hey folks
So I'm running the OEM roof rack with a Yakima Lopro. The box is great and looks good (esp w the summer 20's on) but I do have a couple concerns with the OEM rack. I'm debating switching to the Whispbar and need some opinions/facts.

The setup juuuust clears my garage door - and with ice and snow in winter I can't chance it so have to take it off. The OEM rack measures 4 inches from the roof rail to the top of the bar (see pic). Can someone with a Whispbar provide me the same measurement?

Second. If you have a Whispbar are you happy with the noise? The OEM really whistles over 100kph. I'm happy with opinions on their own or if you happened to have experienced both in person.

Just wondering if it's worth the cash to upgrade. Thanks!

[Johnhanson]

....since everyone always wants pics

[Johnhanson]

One more

[Nonopr01]

Originally Posted by Johnhanson

One more

Will post info tomorrow car is out a d is raining

[EIGHTLUG]

I've experimented with the rail positioning on our X5. We have the OEM crossbars and a THULE Force. It looks to be a little taller and wider than the Yakima box you have. Our cross bars are moved back, about 8" from where you have yours. That really helped in getting them into cleaner air and we experience zero whistling. When we first added the box, we would open the pano roof, just to make sure it was still there. It's that quiet![IMG][/IMG]

[roadkillrob]

Wow your driveway looks like a curbing waiting to happen!

[Johnhanson]

Originally Posted by roadkillrob

Wow your driveway looks like a curbing waiting to happen!

Big time. House is 90 years old and driveway was originally part of an easeway for horses. We have a garage in the back and usually only guests park in front. It has eaten many wheels.

[Johnhanson]

Originally Posted by EIGHTLUG

I've experimented with the rail positioning on our X5. We have the OEM crossbars and a THULE Force. It looks to be a little taller and wider than the Yakima box you have. Our cross bars are moved back, about 8" from where you have yours. That really helped in getting them into cleaner air and we experience zero whistling. When we first added the box, we would open the pano roof, just to make sure it was still there. It's that quiet![IMG][/IMG]

Appreciate the advice. Will definitely try that!

[alphaod]

I used a Yakima Skybox 16 Carbonite mounted in Thule Aeroblade Edge crossbars. Didn't really hear any more noise than expected from having a huge box on the roof. Any speed below 70 mph, it was pretty quite. If I popped the sunroof/moonroof, I could hear a whistle, but if I left it closed, it was pretty quiet. I've gone 100+ mph with it, no real extra noise.

In terms of height, for the Skybox there really wasn't much clearance difference between factory bars and my Aeroblade crossbars. I couldn't enter a lot of garages.

[Johnhanson]

Originally Posted by alphaod

I used a Yakima Skybox 16 Carbonite mounted in Thule Aeroblade Edge crossbars. Didn't really hear any more noise than expected from having a huge box on the roof. Any speed below 70 mph, it was pretty quite. If I popped the sunroof/moonroof, I could hear a whistle, but if I left it closed, it was pretty quiet. I've gone 100+ mph with it, no real extra noise.

In terms of height, for the Skybox there really wasn't much clearance difference between factory bars and my Aeroblade crossbars. I couldn't enter a lot of garages.

Yeah the Lopro makes minimal noise for a decent sized box - I'm a bit disappointed with the noise when it's off and just the bars are on. Will try the repositioning and if that doesn't improve I may switch to the Aeroblades or Whispbar.

[Nonopr01]

Originally Posted by Johnhanson

Hey folks
So I'm running the OEM roof rack with a Yakima Lopro. The box is great and looks good (esp w the summer 20's on) but I do have a couple concerns with the OEM rack. I'm debating switching to the Whispbar and need some opinions/facts.

The setup juuuust clears my garage door - and with ice and snow in winter I can't chance it so have to take it off. The OEM rack measures 4 inches from the roof rail to the top of the bar (see pic). Can someone with a Whispbar provide me the same measurement?

Second. If you have a Whispbar are you happy with the noise? The OEM really whistles over 100kph. I'm happy with opinions on their own or if you happened to have experienced both in person.

Just wondering if it's worth the cash to upgrade. Thanks!

I measured the Thule Aero bars in my X5 and from the top of the rail is a bit less than 3.5 inches tall. My bars are located from the front of the car back, using the rail as the guide to start, Front bar is at 28 inches from the front of the rail then the back bar is 27 inches from the back of the front bar to the front of the other bar.
No whistle at any speed that I can hear.
My set up is:
Thule Aero blades bars 53 inch.
Thule Rail base 460R.
Thule fit kit 4023.
Here is a Picture:

[Johnhanson]

Originally Posted by Nonopr01

I measured the Thule Aero bars in my X5 and from the top of the rail is a bit less than 3.5 inches tall. My bars are located from the front of the car back, using the rail as the guide to start, Front bar is at 28 inches from the front of the rail then the back bar is 27 inches from the back of the front bar to the front of the other bar.
No whistle at any speed that I can hear.
My set up is:
Thule Aero blades bars 53 inch.
Thule Rail base 460R.
Thule fit kit 4023.
Here is a Picture:

Thanks so much for checking. I certainly will consider these if adjusting the position on the OEMs doesn't improve things.

[MattBianco]

No whistling at 85 mph, positioned as shown in the thread. Louder with the box of course, but completely silent without it when the pano shade is drawn. http://f15.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho....php?t=1073744

[Johnhanson]

I literally just found that post. Thanks for the feedback - I'm pretty optimistic I can improve the noise. When you see the side profile on my current setup you can see just the slightest forward tilt which could be responsible for the noise. The position in the thread looks much better.

[kip1]

I have the 470 BMW box and OEM roof rack, no sound at all. Was surprised by that.

[MattBianco]

Originally Posted by Johnhanson

I literally just found that post. Thanks for the feedback - I'm pretty optimistic I can improve the noise. When you see the side profile on my current setup you can see just the slightest forward tilt which could be responsible for the noise. The position in the thread looks much better.

I had moved it back about 1-2 cm from the recommended spot because I feared the front of the box might interfere with KAFAS. Like kip1 , no noise or whistle.

[Johnhanson]

I probably owe you guys a beer for saving me $700 by not switching to Whispbars. I moved the front bar back so it is basically centred on the B pillar and there is now almost zero noise. Almost. Just the slightest whistle at higher speeds with the screen open and roof closed. Zero noise with screen closed. Zero noise (above expected) with sunroof open. Amazing difference. Great with box on and off. Looks better as well - seems to flow better with the lines of the car.

Thank you.

Here's the after position....if anybody still cares.

[r20]

Originally Posted by EIGHTLUG

I've experimented with the rail positioning on our X5. We have the OEM crossbars and a THULE Force. It looks to be a little taller and wider than the Yakima box you have. Our cross bars are moved back, about 8" from where you have yours. That really helped in getting them into cleaner air and we experience zero whistling.

How do you like the force?
Do you think it's worth paying the extra $100 for the Thule Sonic? (It's slightly larger)


Thank you.

[tnikolov]

Originally Posted by Johnhanson

I probably owe you guys a beer for saving me $700 by not switching to Whispbars. I moved the front bar back so it is basically centred on the B pillar and there is now almost zero noise. Almost. Just the slightest whistle at higher speeds with the screen open and roof closed. Zero noise with screen closed. Zero noise (above expected) with sunroof open. Amazing difference. Great with box on and off. Looks better as well - seems to flow better with the lines of the car.

Thank you.

Here's the after position....if anybody still cares.

Can you still open your trunk? I have the same bars with a huge Thule Excellence on top and if I move it this way back I think I won't be able to open my trunk door...

[Johnhanson]

Originally Posted by tnikolov

Can you still open your trunk? I have the same bars with a huge Thule Excellence on top and if I move it this way back I think I won't be able to open my trunk door...

In the end I did switch to the whispbars. While the position change improved things, there was still a noticeable noise and it was terrible with the box. Super happy with the whispbars.

You should always be able to open your trunk - if you can't your box is set too far back and you should be able to adjust it forward.

[Tyler_Durden]

On the subject of boxes, it looks like 56 Nord finally release some prices. 960 GBP for the plastic and 3170 GBP for the carbon fiber ones! They plan to start shipping in Q3 this year.

I also like the new Thule Motion XT, but I don't they are available in the US yet.