[M3-FAST]

A strange question I know, but I am off to France at the weekend and am driving the M3 over. To fit all the family gear in I have bought some roof bars and a roof box.

The roof box will cover the shark fin on the roof.....will this hinder the sat nav ability to locate satellites or should it work OK? There will be about 10cm gap between the fin and the roof box but the roof box will defo shadow the fin completely.

I am not sure how these fins work? Do they need direct line of sight vertically?

(yes, I know, an M3 with a roofbox is sacrilige, etc....)

[m1bjr]

I thought the fin was purely a phone antenna?
You can have nav without a fin, but not phone without a fin

Regardless, a plastic box wont attenuate a microwave signal - would depend on whats inside it

[msport]

Hi mate,

Had to go the roof bars and box route on mine for trip to france, no problems with sat nav on journey down, as soon as at destination box and bars were straight off though totally ruins the look enjoy your trip and them awesome toll roads...

simon

[doughboy]

Paul,

No problems with mine. Our roof box completey covers the fin, and it's usually full of metal stuff like dismantled pushchairs and folding camp chairs / gazebo etc.

All NAV / DAB / FM / BT / BMW online / Phone etc worked perfect.

They look great IMO - I kept it on for two weeks after the last trip.

[TMP]

Originally Posted by M3-FAST

(yes, I know, an M3 with a roofbox is sacrilige, etc....)

Hmm, not sure if is or

Reckon you may get some 'looks'

Originally Posted by m1bjr

I thought the fin was purely a phone antenna?
You can have nav without a fin, but not phone without a fin

Dont think you can have Nav without fin....as the fin is for Nav and/or phone.

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by m1bjr

I thought the fin was purely a phone antenna?

There's over 21 different shark fin models depending what functions your car has.

NAV / DAB / GSM / BT

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts...83&hg=65&fg=30

[M3-FAST]

Originally Posted by msport

Hi mate,

Had to go the roof bars and box route on mine for trip to france, no problems with sat nav on journey down, as soon as at destination box and bars were straight off though totally ruins the look enjoy your trip and them awesome toll roads...

simon

We are renting a house, so if there is suitable storage I will prob take it off when I get there! It is gloss black though, so kinda fits in with the theme of the car.

Originally Posted by doughboy

Paul,

No problems with mine. Our roof box completey covers the fin, and it's usually full of metal stuff like dismantled pushchairs and folding camp chairs / gazebo etc.

All NAV / DAB / FM / BT / BMW online / Phone etc worked perfect.

They look great IMO - I kept it on for two weeks after the last trip.

Cheers for that, I thought it 'should' work Ok and mine will be full of similar stuff!!

Originally Posted by TMP

Hmm, not sure if is or

Reckon you may get some 'looks'


Dont think you can have Nav without fin....as the fin is for Nav and/or phone.

I reckon I may get some 'looks' lol - what speeds have you guys safely travelled at on toll roads with roof box fitted?

[KadeSdad]

Mate, with that extra drag you better mark off all the 97/99ron stations on route!

Have a great jolly!

[doughboy]

I found 90 is the max i felt safe at.

We've got a top of the range, super aero, award winning Kamei Corvara duo lift box and its plenty rigid, but the nose of it (which you can see out of the top of your windscreen) gets buffeted by the wind and starts bobbing up and down above 80 or so, and it bobs more and more the faster you go, it might stop above a certain speed though, just not tried it yet.....

We don't have any music on (missus doesn't like it) so although there's no whistle, there is an audible 'roar' to the windnoise of the box, its really loud with a window open, but windows closed (or music on) its not a problem.

You can feel the extra drag when you come off the gas at about 90 the car slows down so much quicker than normal it feels like you're going up hill.

[doughboy]

Originally Posted by M3-FAST

(yes, I know, an M3 with a roofbox is sacrilige, etc....)

Just seen this....

I think an E90 M3 with a roof box is really flippin cool.

In fact way more cool than a tourer with a roof box for sure.

[M3-FAST]

Originally Posted by KadeSdad

Mate, with that extra drag you better mark off all the 97/99ron stations on route!

Have a great jolly!

Not sure how much difference it will make to the M3 mpg? It's not like the engine is gonna be working much harder in the grand scheme of things. Can imagine a smaller engined car struggling, but I doubt I will barely tell it is on the roof. Time will tell and I will post up an mpg update as soon as I can

Originally Posted by doughboy

I found 90 is the max i felt safe at.

We've got a top of the range, super aero, award winning Kamei Corvara duo lift box and its plenty rigid, but the nose of it (which you can see out of the top of your windscreen) gets buffeted by the wind and starts bobbing up and down above 80 or so, and it bobs more and more the faster you go, it might stop above a certain speed though, just not tried it yet.....

We don't have any music on (missus doesn't like it) so although there's no whistle, there is an audible 'roar' to the windnoise of the box, its really loud with a window open, but windows closed (or music on) its not a problem.

You can feel the extra drag when you come off the gas at about 90 the car slows down so much quicker than normal it feels like you're going up hill.

90 was my thoughts also, bang the cruise control on and eat some miles. The box will actually force me to keep my speed down - so easy in the M3 to cruise at faster speeds without even realising!

Originally Posted by doughboy

Just seen this....

I think an E90 M3 with a roof box is really flippin cool.

In fact way more cool than a tourer with a roof box for sure.

I will try and post a pic later, it is all fitted now and does look good in a geeky kinda way!

EDIT - only an iphone pic I am afraid.....

EDIT EDIT - a little bit better picture!!

[doughboy]

Looks like a torpedo launcher!

[M3-FAST]

[KadeSdad]

Looks like your car is wearing a cycle helmet! Do you have sunglasses...

[M3-FAST]

Balaclava matey

It does look particularly bad in that pic, it doesn't look quite as bad as that from eye level, but still not great lol!

On the plus side, just trial fitted a large suitcase in it, that will be full of nappies, and other baby paraphenalia - along with the pushchair - and there is still tons of room left for other stuff like football, pool inflatables, etc..

needs must!

[Hotcoupe]

I know nothing about top boxes Paul, but that seems to be sitting a long way towards the back of the bars and the car,most of the weight seems unsupported at the back end.

Could be the angle of the pic mind?

I'd say it looked cool, but I'd be lying

[M3-FAST]

Most of it is due to the angle of the pic - it is hanging over slightly more towards the rear, but not as much as it looks in that photo. The roof/box will hold 75kg - 50% of the load is supposed to be spread between the roof bars with the remaining 2 x 25%'s in front and behind the bars (in the overhangs)

There will be about 20-30kg max up there so am not too worried - the main case sits between the 2 roof bars

My main aim is to try and reduce front overhang and try and retain 'some' aerodynamics ha ha - it is more difficult on a saloon, on a tourer the box can be pushed much farther towards the rear of the vehicle.

[shortie]

Old thread i know, but what model roof box was it? Trying to judge what size to go with for my E90

[doughboy]

Our 300L box hangs right over the shark fin, over the back of the car in fact.

(the tail gate misses it by 1/2 inch when open)

It has metal rails inside, we fill it with disassembled kids bike parts / camping tables / folding chairs etc and the 4in wide rear aero roof bar also sits over the fin.

Never had an issue with NAV/GPS/DAB/Phone/etc/etc

[AlwynMike]

Originally Posted by shortie

Old thread i know, but what model roof box was it? Trying to judge what size to go with for my E90

Shortie,

I use an (old now) Monte Carlo - it's been on E46 Touring, E60 and E91. Overall length on 71", width 26". No issues with the box, whatever the speed. Used it on a solo run down to the Dordogne and it made little difference to the fuel consumption on the 330d E46. It's not downpour proof, but it copes with a little rain OK.

Mike