Car bike carrier

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Sun 5 Jul 2020 10:25
Car bike carrier - NAthan smith
Took the plunge bought a rear mounted 3 bike cycle rack. Don’t want to scratch the car! However with all 3 bikes loaded the lights and partially covered. Read some things about a board with number plate and brake/indicator lights? How the hell do you go about getting a connection from the car to that?
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Sun 5 Jul 2020 10:30
Car bike carrier - elekie&a/c doctor
You will need to get the car wired for a tow bar . The light board will then plug into the 7 (or13 ) pin socket.
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Sun 5 Jul 2020 10:35
Car bike carrier - NAthan smith
Blimey how much am I looking at that for that?
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Sun 5 Jul 2020 10:44
Car bike carrier - elekie&a/c doctor
Depends on the car . Modern cars usually need an electronic by pass relay to power tow bar wiring , as the existing wiring and circuits are unable to take the extra load .
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Sun 5 Jul 2020 10:49
Car bike carrier - RT
Depends on the car . Modern cars usually need an electronic by pass relay to power tow bar wiring , as the existing wiring and circuits are unable to take the extra load .

Bypass relays are going out of fashion for towing connections - modern smart alternators are too clever for the "smart" electronics in the bypass relay which rely on Voltage Sensitive Relay (VSR) to work - in addition the bulb failure circuitry of the car needs to see the extra trailer load to work properly.

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Sun 5 Jul 2020 11:05
Car bike carrier - NAthan smith
65 plate BMW 520d tourer
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Sun 5 Jul 2020 11:20
Car bike carrier - elekie&a/c doctor
Complicated wiring systems on these . I suggest you take the car to a tow bar specialist. They will have all the necessary kit to make the lights operate correctly. Legally , you need an additional warning light for the indicators (probably already installed in the dash ) or a buzzer . Forget the smart charge system , this is only when fitting an additional leisure battery .
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Mon 6 Jul 2020 10:19
Car bike carrier - Brit_in_Germany

Here is an example of fitting instructions. Not sure it is something I would want to try myself.

https://www.kupplung.de/out/media/142647-08541-1-samples-v2.pdf

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Sun 5 Jul 2020 10:45
Car bike carrier - RT
Blimey how much am I looking at that for that?

It'll depend on the car - these days most cars have a trailer connection already wired into the loom but hidden behind the trim.

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Sun 5 Jul 2020 11:45
Car bike carrier - Bromptonaut

If I was going there I wouldn't start from here!!!

Am I right in thinking that Tourer is BMW speak for an estate car?

Have you considered putting the bikes on the roof.?

Saves the hassle with lighting and you retain access to the boot.

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Sun 5 Jul 2020 14:23
Car bike carrier - Engineer Andy

If I was going there I wouldn't start from here!!!

Am I right in thinking that Tourer is BMW speak for an estate car?

Have you considered putting the bikes on the roof.?

Saves the hassle with lighting and you retain access to the boot.

Indeed - given BMW, like all German makes, love optional extras, they must do one, at a price. But then some indie makes must also produce something that fits.

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Sun 5 Jul 2020 16:49
Car bike carrier - dan86

Indeed - given BMW, like all German makes, love optional extras, they must do one, at a price. But then some indie makes must also produce something that fits.

The BMW option is probably manufactured by one of the main tow bar manufacturers on their behalf just like roof bars and boxes ect.

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Sun 5 Jul 2020 19:08
Car bike carrier - wrangler_rover
Chance would be a fine thing.
I drive a company car chosen by my employer, Hyundai Ioniq plug in hybrid, and I love it, however.
I have a "Hollywood" bot mounted bike carrier which I cannot use because the Ioniq has a spoiler which is not advisable to hold a bike rack and the top anchor points for the bike rack would be the top of the rear windscreen, I would not consider hanging a bike ache off the top edge of the rear windscreen.
The car is a plug in hybrid so I don't know if a tow bar and electrics can be fitted to the car so a towball mounted bike carrier may not be possible.
It is not possible to fit roof bars to the car, Hyundai do not list them as accessories for the car and Thule do not list roof bars for the car either so a roof mounted bike rack in not an option.
This leaves me with one option for transporting a bike, put it inside the car, the safest place as there is no danger of it falling off the car.
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Mon 6 Jul 2020 13:19
Car bike carrier - Bromptonaut

Indeed - given BMW, like all German makes, love optional extras, they must do one, at a price. But then some indie makes must also produce something that fits.

I'd imagine Halfords have roof fixings for the 5 series touring in their range. For most applications I've sought in the past, for Citroens BX, Xantia and Berlingo Multispace, they've done an own brand version and, with higher quality/cost, stuff by Thule.

For the BX and Xantia we used transverse bars for either bikes (up to four) or a roof box for camping. The Berlingo was too high to lift bikes onto but we still used the roofbox.

The bikes themselves were on fairly basic carriers like this:

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/bike-racks/roof-mounted-bike-racks/halfords-roof-mount-bike-rack-635780.html

Took a bit of practice to develop the best way of loading (bikes facing opposite directions) and an order where saddles and handlebars didn't conflict. The lift onto the roof was also a 'knack' but quickly acquired.

All in all we could have the bikes on or off the roof quicker than friends using tail-hatch or towbar mounted racks.

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Sun 5 Jul 2020 22:28
Car bike carrier - Ian_SW

If it's one of the bike carriers that hangs off the boot lid in some manner, it might be possible to adjust it to get the bikes high enough so they don't obstruct the main rear lights (the high level rear brake light doesn't count).

If that's the case, I think it's allowable to just fit a numberplate to the outside of the bikes as the overhang isn't long enough to require its own marking/lighting.

Otherwise, yes it's effectively towbar lighting you need to fit, though you can probably avoid the expense of the actual towbar itself.

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Sun 5 Jul 2020 22:50
Car bike carrier - bathtub tom
If that's the case, I think it's allowable to just fit a numberplate to the outside of the bikes as the overhang isn't long enough to require its own marking/lighting.

If the number plate's obscured, then wouldn't you need number plate illumination on the additional number plate?

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