Transporting bike complete Inside car

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We got 2 ebikes and 2 people with rucksacks inside a Nissan Micra. Wheels and pedals off, seat posts out and a duvet between the frames.

We used padded wheel bags also to avoid damage. All relatively easy.

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Voluptua said:
What about electric cars? These often seem to have less height in the back.
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My Merida e140 easily fits in my Tesla Model 3 with the front wheel removed, and plenty of spare space. I use a wheel bag for the front wheel to avoid any damage. Most EVs also have flat (or close to) rear footwells, so lots of usable space for the other random kit you take with you.
 
Tubby G said:
Already looking into it. It’s a company car so can only fit one if it can be removed after three years with no damage to the body panels or bumpers. The BMW factory fitted tow bar was a £2k optional extra ?
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Tow bar (that can be removed prior to lease on car expires) is being fitted in a coupe of weeks time. Ordered the Buzz Rack E Scorpion carrier. More unexpected expense !
 
BMW factory fit are usually £995, I've just specified one myself as I have an aftermarket currently and am sick of crawling underneath to take it off (which is very useful!) so new one is coming with the retractable OEM one...
 
Tonybro said:
BMW factory fit are usually £995, I've just specified one myself as I have an aftermarket currently and am sick of crawling underneath to take it off (which is very useful!) so new one is coming with the retractable OEM one...
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I'm sure you're right. When I was looking at options I was also looking at a sunroof which was an additional £1k so that's where I got the £2k figure from, but it was over 9 months ago so I easily forget!

I remember now that you can also get a BMW rear 2 bike carrier for around £600 and a simple towbar for £180 which only takes the bike rack and not a trailer or caravan, so that was a cheaper option. When I tried to order it though it wasn't available for the hybrid X1 so I had to knock that idea on the head
 
Tubby G said:
I'm sure you're right. When I was looking at options I was also looking at a sunroof which was an additional £1k so that's where I got the £2k figure from, but it was over 9 months ago so I easily forget!

I remember now that you can also get a BMW rear 2 bike carrier for around £600 and a simple towbar for £180 which only takes the bike rack and not a trailer or caravan, so that was a cheaper option. When I tried to order it though it wasn't available for the hybrid X1 so I had to knock that idea on the head
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£500 actually not 600, but you need the towbar preparation kit which adds another £180

 
And funnily enough I’ve just been faffing for an hour trying to get the bike in. As you can see, the only answer was both wheels off

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I can get the Merida (L) without the front wheel on inside my 5 saloon as the rear seats fold. We used to be able to get two normal MTBs in there with no front wheels on.

I got sick of taking the wheels off, lifting 24Kg of bike in and out and once the wife was after a Merida, that was it - towbar and bike rack!
 
I regularly fit my large frame Levo with both wheels on in our Prius. Have to lower the seat and it's easier to load and unload with one pedal removed. When it's even a little muddy I think harder about adding a hitch and getting a 1up rack though.
 
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Tonybro said:
I can get the Merida (L) without the front wheel on inside my 5 saloon as the rear seats fold. We used to be able to get two normal MTBs in there with no front wheels on.

I got sick of taking the wheels off, lifting 24Kg of bike in and out and once the wife was after a Merida, that was it - towbar and bike rack!
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Yes that Beemer is only four days old and I just scratched the paintwork loading the bike with wheels and pedals off into the boot. I then seized a pad in my calliper as I didn't put a spacer in as I was only experimenting with fitting the bike in the boot. Grrr. Well annoyed. Tow bar & bike rack
 
The Hodge said:
Hell ..thats a bit of a bugger !
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It is. I had a C class Merc saloon before which was also a hybrid so had the smallest boot in the world because of the batteries, but managed to slide the bike in fine with seats down, wheel & pedals off. I thought getting a small SUV would open my world up to transporting a whole fleet of emtb's in the boot :) How wrong I was, grrrr
 
Tubby G said:
I'm sure you're right. When I was looking at options I was also looking at a sunroof which was an additional £1k so that's where I got the £2k figure from, but it was over 9 months ago so I easily forget!

I remember now that you can also get a BMW rear 2 bike carrier for around £600 and a simple towbar for £180 which only takes the bike rack and not a trailer or caravan, so that was a cheaper option. When I tried to order it though it wasn't available for the hybrid X1 so I had to knock that idea on the head
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Do you have details of the simple tow bar? All I’d need one for on my BMW is a bike rack, so if I don’t need a full blown tow bar, that would be handy.
 
EebStrider said:
Do you have details of the simple tow bar? All I’d need one for on my BMW is a bike rack, so if I don’t need a full blown tow bar, that would be handy.
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It’s a factory fitted option when you’re ordering a new car. I can’t send a link as it’s one of the options on BMW’s configurator page. Not sure if it can be retro fitted after. When I was looking at it I called a couple of local BMW garages and they didn’t know anything about it and just said it’s a factory option only
 
Tubby G said:
It’s a factory fitted option when you’re ordering a new car. I can’t send a link as it’s one of the options on BMW’s configurator page. Not sure if it can be retro fitted after. When I was looking at it I called a couple of local BMW garages and they didn’t know anything about it and just said it’s a factory option only
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OK, I'll take another look. I've been on the configurator a lot lately, as I'm ordering a car fairly soon, but all I've seen is the tow bar for about £800

Edit - is this it BMW tow ball for rear bicycle rack favorable buying at our shop
 
EebStrider said:
OK, I'll take another look. I've been on the configurator a lot lately, as I'm ordering a car fairly soon, but all I've seen is the tow bar for about £800

Edit - is this it BMW tow ball for rear bicycle rack favorable buying at our shop
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Yes that looks like it, but it does mention you then need the rear carrier preparation, I wonder how much that is and how you then add that too!

I only saw it on the X1 configurator, so can’t comment on other models. Which car are you ordering ? Our lease company didn’t know anything about the bike carrier tow bar when I spoke to them, and neither did a BMW showroom sales guy, so I couldn’t gather much info other than what I spotted on configurator. I then noticed it wasn’t available for the hybrid version I was ordering so binned the idea. It was also something I was trying to add to my order months after I had already placed the order for the car, but the manufacturing slot of the car became delayed & unknown during Brexit / Covid and basically no one really wanted to help and just told me my order couldn’t be changed!
 
Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a perfect vehicle for this, I've had to compromise by getting a van to do both work and play.

My Custom is fitted out to get all my work gear in (I'm an electrician) and also get two fully assembled bikes in without removing much kit.
 
stiv674 said:
Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a perfect vehicle for this, I've had to compromise by getting a van to do both work and play.

My Custom is fitted out to get all my work gear in (I'm an electrician) and also get two fully assembled bikes in without removing much kit.
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Now that I'm having to have an aftermarket tow bar fitted, and purchase a rear bike rack, and then the cost of removing the tow bar in the future, I did start weighing up the idea of a cheap van which I could turn into a dream bike beast machine, which could also be an overnight camper for weekend warrior adventures away. But, insurance, servicing, fuel, blah blah blah, tow bar & bike rack won on costs
 
Tubby G said:
Yes that looks like it, but it does mention you then need the rear carrier preparation, I wonder how much that is and how you then add that too!

I only saw it on the X1 configurator, so can’t comment on other models. Which car are you ordering ? Our lease company didn’t know anything about the bike carrier tow bar when I spoke to them, and neither did a BMW showroom sales guy, so I couldn’t gather much info other than what I spotted on configurator. I then noticed it wasn’t available for the hybrid version I was ordering so binned the idea. It was also something I was trying to add to my order months after I had already placed the order for the car, but the manufacturing slot of the car became delayed & unknown during Brexit / Covid and basically no one really wanted to help and just told me my order couldn’t be changed!
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I’m pretty sure that part in the link I sent is just for the ball, and that replaces the one that comes on the factory tow bar.

I was thinking about an X3M, but the timings are wrong, as my car goes in October and the X3 is being facelifted, so the M is halting production until next year. So it’ll probably be an M340i touring, as I can’t get a tow bar on the new M3, which is the car I really want.
 
EebStrider said:
I’m pretty sure that part in the link I sent is just for the ball, and that replaces the one that comes on the factory tow bar.

I was thinking about an X3M, but the timings are wrong, as my car goes in October and the X3 is being facelifted, so the M is halting production until next year. So it’ll probably be an M340i touring, as I can’t get a tow bar on the new M3, which is the car I really want.
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Nice. I was considering the 330e touring but the Beemer seating position is so low to the ground I can hardly get back out again after a long journey, hence the X1. I have motorbikes & emtb's for speedy fun, the car is just a leisurely paced mileage cruncher these days
 
Tubby G said:
Nice. I was considering the 330e touring but the Beemer seating position is so low to the ground I can hardly get back out again after a long journey, hence the X1. I have motorbikes & emtb's for speedy fun, the car is just a leisurely paced mileage cruncher these days
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I’m addicted to speed! Also have motorbikes, so having a slow car would drive me crackers!
 
Tubby G said:
Now that I'm having to have an aftermarket tow bar fitted, and purchase a rear bike rack, and then the cost of removing the tow bar in the future, I did start weighing up the idea of a cheap van which I could turn into a dream bike beast machine, which could also be an overnight camper for weekend warrior adventures away. But, insurance, servicing, fuel, blah blah blah, tow bar & bike rack won on costs
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I did have a car and a van, had a VW Caddy for work and Mitsubishi Outlander, which wasn't great for putting a bike in, the way the rear seats folded was weird...

Anyway, got bored of taking front wheel off and getting car dirty, and the cost of running two vehicles was too much, hence the Transit, very rarely do I miss having a car and the van is so much more practical.

Even if I didn't need a van for work I still think I'd have one, just fit it out differently as a camper, although I can actually sleep in mine now.
 
stiv674 said:
I did have a car and a van, had a VW Caddy for work and Mitsubishi Outlander, which wasn't great for putting a bike in, the way the rear seats folded was weird...

Anyway, got bored of taking front wheel off and getting car dirty, and the cost of running two vehicles was too much, hence the Transit, very rarely do I miss having a car and the van is so much more practical.

Even if I didn't need a van for work I still think I'd have one, just fit it out differently as a camper, although I can actually sleep in mine now.
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Yes the car isn’t mine, owned by the lease company, paid for by the company. If I had my own four wheeled vehicle I’d definitely get myself a van right now
 
Ford Galaxy works well for me. I can roll a bike in on an angle, then point the front wheel to the roof and roll another in on top (y)
 
Norange said:
Ford Galaxy works well for me. I can roll a bike in on an angle, then point the front wheel to the roof and roll another in on top (y)
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do you have a picture of this? i keep looking at the mk2 galaxy as an option to replace the wife's 208 and still have something that feels more like a car than a van (also because good vans are way more expensive)
 
MK2 Galaxy will take 2 complete bikes laid on top of each other and kit no bother. with one rear seat still useable.
folk with caddy's and more than one bike seem to all remove the bike's front wheels defeating the point of having a van entirely
 
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