Roof Rack Installation Questions

[Slater126]

I just found a set of nice set of OEM roof rails for my E36 M3 sedan. They're in great shape and I got bicycle attachments with it as well.

Only problem is they didn't come with instructions. I think I have them dry mounted on there correctly but I have a few questions.

1. Do you tighten the 8 bolts in the body that the feet of the rails slide into? They appear to have torx inserts. I would imagine that you would but that seems like a very tough angle to try to get a torx head in there.

2. What's that skinny little screw that screws down diagnally? That appears to have a weird head on it and I'm guessing that it is a security thing. And how do you get the tool that tightens it?

Thanks everyone.

[m735is]

When I got cross bars for my 97 528, they came with the security bolts. I just removed them and used water pump bolts I had on an old engine. You can still get replacements, I can't remember how much the key and bolts were.

[Slater126]

So what were the security bolts? Are they the really small ones that angle downwards in between the two "feet" on the rails? Those are the only bolts I have that would secure it.

[Nanniepoo]

I have no idea where I read this, but my understanding was the feet install via 2 bolts to the door frame. Or what BMW calls claw. There should be holes that you may need to move the door seal trim to find.

Looking at realoem, the security bolt angles up through the feet into the bars.

[Moron95M3]

DONT touch the torx head bolts. I tried removing one and it broke loose and just spun (did not come out).

Those are there just to grab onto.

You should hook the rack onto those bolts, then use the 'security bolts' to snug down the rack. If you don't have a key for those (BMW special key thing) you'll need to remove them for some other bolts of the same thread. I think I had allen head bolts on mine.

Hope that helps!

[Slater126]

@Nanniepoo - When you lift back the weather stripping over each door you will see two body-colored tabs sticking out of the body. They have a smaller stem and larger head with what looks to be a cutout for a torx bit on it.

If you position them right (i.e. orientate them to the stickers on the inside of the feet) the feet of the OEM roof rack will slot neatly in between the stem and head.

Once you tighten the top of the feet to the rail, it feels pretty snug but not enough for me to trust it going 75 miles an hour down the expressway with a bicycle on top, haha :-) If you tap hard on the rack, you can still move it a little bit. So that's why I was thinking those tabs tightened somehow.

@Moron - Thanks man. I won't try to tighten them. Quite frankly, I don't even see how you could get a torx bit in there because the head is against and below the weather stripping. You would have to remove the weather stripping to get a clear shot at it. My gut tells me that's not what BMW intended!

So it looks like those little diagonal guys secure the whole deal. So, I have to either find the special tool to tighten them or back them out with a needle nose vice grip and get a identical bolt with a small head on it.

I think I can picture what you're saying but if you have any photographs that would be great help to me and other people who may read this in the future. These OEM E36 racks really seem to have disappeared Into the mists of time. E46 and subsequent 3 Series racks are mounted much differently. They have special doors on the roof, under which are bolt holes that you just screw the feet into.

[Slater126]

Nevermind. Found it...

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/en/showpa...24#82719404347

Very disappointing that most of these parts appear to be discontinued, including the tools you need to safely mount it on the car.

[Slater126]

It also should be pointed out that the M7x25 security screw is not easily obtainable with an allen head. You won't find it in a regular hardware store so you'll have to buy 5 of them online for around $50. The eBay sellers are apparently a lot smarter than the purchasers of these roof racks.

[Slater126]

Update - I was pretty unhappy that we cannot get the tool to tighten security bolts (PN 82719402949). I ordered one from Maximilien Imports and they took the order but they emailed me the next day saying they no longer had it.

So I got ready to remove the bolts and suck it up for a new set of M7x25s. I first tried a pair of needle-nose vice grips but I couldn't get a good enough grip on it to turn it. I then pulled out my inner hex spanner set hoping to get one wide enough to at least grip the inside so I could back it out slowly.

Well, that sure worked! Basically, one of the old Sears spanner hex wrenches I had fit right in. So I just tightened all the bolts with it, LOL! And, of course, I put that wrench in the box with my bike rack tools for future use.

That is definitely the way to do it. That little diagonal M7 bolt slides right up against the rearmost body bolt and pushes everything tight. I tested it on the expressway and it didn't budge, rattle, or make any weird sounds at all. It feels like it's on there rock solid.

Again, thanks for everybody's help. Hopefully this thread can be of some use to someone in the future.