Roofbox advice

sg0102

Hi all,

I have a BMW 2 Series Gran Tourer (with roof rails) and am looking to get a roof box ahead of a trip to France this summer.

Just been to a local independent store, and was looking at the Thule boxes and roof bars. The quote I had was £420 total, with the bars costing about £180!?

They were the higher end bars (less rattly apparently), but still more than I was anticipating to spend. Would love some advice from anyone who has brought a roof box (&bars) recently, on what I should be looking out for in deciding what to go for?

Thanks
Steve

jbainbridge

If you are just going to use it occasionally I would be worrying about higher end stuff. Thule is top end and will cost!

Try here - http://www.roofbox.co.uk/roof-boxes/roof-boxes-package-deals.php - a 325L box and bars for your car will be £205.

Hope that helps.

MuddyFunster

As above Thule stuff is very well made, and very good - My bars cost £150 SH and I used a pair of their cycle carriers at £100 a pop - but my bike cost thousands and I use them every week.

Have you looked at rental options - I once saw a place renting roofboxes for £100 a week or so, fitted.

Iceweasel

Get the BMW roof cross-bars - they are silent and fit perfectly.

If it's only for the odd trip the make of box is not so important.

What speeds are you going to cruise at?

Motorways only - or bumpy roads?

I have the BMW 450 litre box (now out of production and replaced with an even better one) which I occasionally overload by around 25% at 100Kg and go as far as Greece.

Secure and quiet up to around 120mph on autobahns and doesn't shake, rattle, or roll on bumpy Alpine hairpins either.

The ABS plastic of cheapy ones is prone to fatigue and crack around the mounting holes - my mate has had to add reinforcing big washers on both the outside and inside of his 4 year ols Halfords box, to 'sandwich' the original hole.

You pays yer money and takes yer choice.

pgoncalv

I would consider buying the bars.

Then would do a search on ebay for box rental options. Actually not all bars work with all boxes without adaptor so you may want to do this first. Ok, it requires a bit a synchronisation to get the box over and back but it avoids having to keep it stored for very little usage.

RichardD1970

jbainbridge wrote: »

If you are just going to use it occasionally I would be worrying about higher end stuff. Thule is top end and will cost!

Try here - http://www.roofbox.co.uk/roof-boxes/roof-boxes-package-deals.php - a 325L box and bars for your car will be £205.

Hope that helps.

I would recommend rooofbox.co.uk as well.

Yes, Thule is probably more expensive but will last longer.

I have the Thule Atlantis 200 (I think), bought because it opens both sides and has a quick and easy mounting system, no messing with U-bolts etc.

Similar to this one,

http://www.thule.com/en/gb/products/carriers-and-racks/boxes-and-baskets/roof-boxes/thule-motion-xl-_-620801

(we also have the set of bags shown as well, a bit unnecessary I know, but they are very good quality.)

securityguy

I got a Thule box (from roofbox.co.uk) about fifteen years ago. I use it two or three times a year, but heavily loaded each time, and it's been perfect: a variety of cars with and without roof rails (and hence several sets of mounting hardware) and it's as new. Opens both sides, easy to mount and unmount, no extra noise, tolerable effect on fuel consumption (it's one of the long thing "aero" ones), carries all the stuff I want, waterproof, appears bombproof. And light enough that you really can mount and demount it on your own. I use u-bolts even on aero bars as I can't be bothered with the cutting and fitting of the rubber strip, and one of the cars I use it on I've only got square bars for anyway so the easiest thing to do is always mount it the same with u-bolts.

So it's been expensive, but it's probably so far done around 40 weeks mounted on the car, so renting at 100 quid a week would have been a bit pricy...

wba31

Check out gumtree for bars, i got a Thule set for my Civic for about £50. Although the 2 Series is MUCH newer than my civic you may need to buy new?

I dont see the point in an expensive box. I got a 420l Halfords box for about £150 which is great. it locks and its light enough for me to lift on and off on my own...

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/roof-bars-roof-boxes/roof-boxes/halfords-420l-roof-box

londonTiger

so many people swear by thule. Maybe I got a bad early version but the thule bars are a bit naff on my car. My golf has 2 prongs on each side for the bar to clamp onto. OEM bar uses both rongs, but the thule bar only attaches to one prong. But at least it's a full eyelet and it's unlikely to unattach as long as its fastened well.

This is the halfords rack, God help you if you forget to properly fasten the rack up due to being in a hurry or something.

A sudden hard break with a loaded roof rack could knock this attachment loose. What moron of an enginner passed this off as acceptable.


upload a gif

fred246

We had got 2 ferry trips to France booked when we thought about getting our roofbox. My wife phoned the ferry company up and asked if they charge extra for roofboxes. Yes it's £50 per journey extra if it's above 1.83m they replied. We then managed to get a wide long shallow box which meant we didn't have to pay any extra and saved £200. I think it was 1.82m with the box! Something to think about if you're going to France.

Iceweasel

If you are going to cross The Channel even twice within a 12 month period you should consider a Season Ticket.

Three return journeys for £270 - so it could be cheaper even if you don't use the third ticket depending on what dates you're travelling.

No restrictions on height - so roof-boxes are 'free' - and you just turn up and go on the next available sailing.