[8262S]

The Thule Aeroblade appears to be discontinued.

We have ordered the Thule WingBar, which seems to be the new low profile tower and bar.

The breakdown is:

Thule WingBar
Model number 721420
$129.95 X 2 = $259.90

Thule Fixpoint Edge
Model number 720701
$269.95

Kit 187056
Model number 7056
$149.95

Thule has a sale so we got $135.96 off.

Total: $573.75

We have not got the Thule stuff yet.

Today we went out to a local shop to look at snowboard racks. We did not like the Thule snowboard/ski rack as it is pretty high profile. We chose the Yakima FatCat (6 skis, or 4 snowboards stacked). Both the Thule and Yakima snowboard/ski racks attach by a strap, so they are kinda univerasal. I plan on peeling the red Yakima stickers off and debadging it

Yakima FatCat 6
$275 (on sale)

Next spring I will be looking for mountain bike racks. So far I am leaning toward the Yakima, which I understand will fit in the channel of the Thule bars (possibly needing a different nut?).

If you are interested, stand by and I will be posting pics and my impressions later this week when we get the Thule rack.

[8262S]

As promised, here are pics of the car with the towers and crossbars installed.

The fit is very secure, and I have installed a lot of different roof racks over the years. I have full PPF so am not too concerned about the feet leaving rubber marring or smudges on the paint or roof.

BUT, starting at about 20 mph these things start whistling loudly and the noise increases to a max amount between 30-40 mph, where it starts to taper off to a dull wind noise.

We are going to be potentially swapping this rack back and forth between a C300 and the M3 (with a different fit kit and a single different length crossbar). But I am really not going to tolerate the whistling, so it’s likely not going to spend much if any time on the M3.

Which is okay because I am not a huge fan of the German police car look. You should see it with the Yakima snowboarding — it looks like an old school bulbous LED light bar.

Perhaps it will go on for a long road trip for mtn biking where average speeds will be over 50. And I suppose anything mounted to the crossbars could eliminate the whistling.

In general this is a very well designed and sturdy rack. I don’t think any rack will make an M3 look better, although it is pretty streamlined and probably as low profile as possible. It is one loudest bare roof racks I have ever experienced — the whistling is more annoying than an equal volume of wind noise.

[metalbmxer]

Oh wow this looks pretty good. I wonder If another version of their roof rack would have better aerodynamics. I have just started to dive into the world of these. I used to have the BMW rack with bike holder on my 2 series last decade

[8262S]

Originally Posted by metalbmxer

Oh wow this looks pretty good. I wonder If another version of their roof rack would have better aerodynamics. I have just started to dive into the world of these. I used to have the BMW rack with bike holder on my 2 series last decade

We have not really used it, and have since gotten an F150 for hauling stuff.

But there a simple adhesive aero treatments that should reduce or eliminate the whistling.

Some have even said wrapping a bungee cord around the crossbar will work.