REAR MOUNTED BIKE CARRIER ?

[gobiman]

I want to get a rear-mounted bike carrier for a couple of child bikes and am struggling to find one for an X5.
I am fully aware that they are rare + difficulties with split tailgate etc.
I have a roof box + bikes on top already and don't particularly want to invest in a tow hitch or put them inside.
Seem to remember one being mentioned on this forum but couldn't find it by searching.
Any advice gratefully received.

[LincsX5]

If you still want to be able to use the split hatch with the rack fitted then there is only the BMW one that I am aware of.  I picked one up for silly money on eBay and they do come up now and again. Mounts fit to the the rear of the roof rails and the rack pivots on those. There are also some plastic fittings that go on the top part of the tailgate and the bumper. Officially you are only supposed to open the tailgate without any bikes on, but having dogs I have done it with bikes on. It takes bit of lifting like that but with kids bikes on it won't be too bad.

[gobiman]

LincsX5,
Thanks for that. Do you have any part numbers/description or pictures? I spent an hour or so looking online last night with no luck. The E70 has one that mounts on the dual towing eyes but couldn't see anything for E53.
I don't need to use the tailgate at all when mounted - it would simply be used for transit and taken off on arrival.
Did find the following supplied by "Mick's Garage" of Dublin -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/360611906825? ... 1423.l2649

Probably does the job (albeit with scratch risk) but worth a punt at £70.

[LincsX5]

I have this http://bmwfans.info/parts/catalog/E53/SAV/Europe/X5_3.0d-M57N/RHD/N/2004/july/browse/universal_accessories/rear_carrier-2/


But as you don't need boot access then something along the lines of your link would be the simpler and cheaper option.  I'm sure there has been discussions on this before. Would be worth doing a search.

[gobiman]

Thanks again. Really helpful.
I've found the BMW one  (same as yours) in Germany for around Euro 300 (new) which I will try to get.
I think it is worth the extra over the cheap generic one.
Still much cheaper than towbar + rack solution.
I'll report how I get on.

[gobiman]

Just to close this off, I've just bought one off ebay.de for just over Euro 300.
The seller's English wasn't great (although much better than my German!).
A few tips for anyone in a similar position looking for a rare piece of BMW kit -
1. Look up the German translation via Google Translate (in this case "Heckträger")- easy to search then alongside "BMW X5 E53".
2. Don't search having logged into your UK ebay homepage (just go into www.ebay.de). The reason for this is that many German sellers simply don't bother offering international postage and they won't then come up as an international seller on a search from a UK buyer.
3. Once you've found something, you can then log-in (on ebay.de) and contact the seller.
4. Simply google translate to German and then cut & paste into the ebay message.
5. I've done this 3 times now and each time the seller has been so pleased that I bothered to send him a German message that he agreed to post to London.