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| This came from Z3Solutions.com, but their webpage was removed. | |||
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Testimonial 5 January 2001 (links added) |
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"I recently bought a new 20001 Z3 3.0 and wanted to put a trunk rack on
it to transport three items: 2x golf clubs, 2x snow boards or 2x
bicycles. There seems to be four options for luggage racks and for
those interested, I'd like to share my experience."
1. "The older style BMW rack which has two back-to-front struts and two side-to-side struts, sits about 5" off the trunk. You need to drill four holes in your Z3 and I believe the carrier only holds 30lb so it doesn't make my criteria for carrying capability. In my opinion it also looks hideous so I decided not to follow-up on this." jump to link for the BMW site 2. "The new style BMW rack called a "low-profile" as it only sits about 2" off the trunk. It has six back-to-front struts and two side-to-side struts (see the latest BMW accessories catalog for a picture). The rack looks great so I ordered one but the quality is simply awful. I ordered a replacement and it too had peeling chrome plating, brown welding marks, visible tube welding half-way along the back-to-front struts. Again, only 30lb carrying capacity and the need to drill four holes in my Z3 made me reluctantly return it. For $495 it's a complete waste of money, but more than this, I simply didn't want to put such a poor quality product permanently onto my Z3." 3. "HMS Motorsport sell an interesting looking rack which I think may be manufactured by Fapa, or maybe it just looks the same. It's called the Unispider Removable Luggage Rack ($229). It's the full width of the Z3 trunk and can be purchased with accessories (ski rack, straps). They claim 100lb of carrying capacity. It's looks put me off but maybe it's functional." jump to link for this product 4. "The forth and final option I've found in from Classic Carriers. The company is based in the Netherlands but has a USA office. I called them and their customer support person was very helpful. I ordered the basic rack for $397 and it came four days later to California with free shipping and luggage straps. I installed it last night and it took about an hour (I was very, very cautious about marking my new baby). What a joy. The rack is very solid, extremely well made, has no chrome blemishes, good welding and can hold up to 35Kg (about 70lb) so it can easily carry two set of golf clubs or two snow boards. The installation instructions are not great but the diagram tells you all you need to know. I cut 4.5cm off the length off each rubber strap and everything fit perfectly. No holes to drill and the rack is removable. Only two minor issues: the inventory lists two black rubber washers but four are indicated in the diagram. These help to isolate the chrome brackets from one another so I inserted two of my own to replace the missing ones. The other issue is that the four chrome mounting lugs between the chrome straps and the rack are turned outwards in the diagram but this does not allow the straps to clear the Z3 trunk opener, particularly if you have the chrome trunk opener handle accessory as I do. Turn the lugs inwards pushes the straps outwards and has two benefits: you clear the trunk opener and you hide the front/back left/right markings on the lugs towards the underside of the lugs. It looks great and I highly recommend it." jump to link for this product I hope this helps, Regards, Stephen Item 1 -- See: http://www.bmwusa.com/start.cfm and click on Browse, then Z3, then Racks and Carriers, then Z3 Trunk Lid Rack - sorry about the directions but the web site doesn't seem to allow book marking individual pages. top Item 3 -- See: http://www.hmsmotorsport.com/bin/webcart/store_entry.cgi and click on Z3 on the side menu bar, then Styling and Convenience, then Style Products, then go to the bottom of the page and click on Get Next Product Page, then scroll down and click on Get Next Product Page again, then scroll to the bottom - sorry about the directions but the web site doesn't seem to allow book marking individual pages. This page may not be available. top Item 4 -- See: http://www.classic-carriers.nl Click on the BMW Z3 link. top |