Looking for recommendations for racks 2011 x5d

[johnpvaughn]

Good day,

Just picked up a new x5 and need to put racks and a frame mounted hitch. Any thoughts or suggestions are appreciated.

JV

2011 x5d silver
Premium
Tech
Cold
Multi contour
Rear climate / heat
SAT


Purchased from Wide World BMW

[tjank123]

I picked up the Yakima RailGrab for my X5d and it works great with bike racks, kayak racks, luggage box. Plus I can move it to my other vehicle with minimal modifications. I previously had a BMW factory rack for a 3 series, but after I traded that car in the rack and the BMW bike racks would not work with other cars or other rack systems so after storing it for a couple of years I finally donated it to goodwill. The only downside to the RailGrab system is that when you add or remove it from the rails you need to use the supplied allen wrench to install and remove the rack.
I have no experience with a hitch but I believe BMW wanted $1,200 to install the factory hitch.