Roof Bars

[hmy7k]

I have received the roof bars for my forthcoming M3 delivery.

Has anyone else used them, the fitting to the roof seems straightforward enough.

The bars are very slick and aerodynamic and they have t slots or fitting cycles carriers etc.
The T slots are, however, filled with a rubber strip which seems to compress.

My bike carrier(Thule) has t bolts but the rubber is too deep/tight to allow the T but to slide along the slot, I can hardly budge it or compress the rubber strip.

Has anyone else used the Tesla roof bars that can advise.

Thanks

 

[ProfessorK]

I have received the roof bars for my forthcoming M3 delivery.

Has anyone else used them, the fitting to the roof seems straightforward enough.

The bars are very slick and aerodynamic and they have t slots or fitting cycles carriers etc.
The T slots are, however, filled with a rubber strip which seems to compress.

My bike carrier(Thule) has t bolts but the rubber is too deep/tight to allow the T but to slide along the slot, I can hardly budge it or compress the rubber strip.

Has anyone else used the Tesla roof bars that can advise.

Thanks

Is this the official Tesla one? Lots of YouTube vids out there. Some folks have cracked their roof pane, so be wary of that!

 

[MrBadger]

I would take them along to the car collection and get them to fit them - they don't add much, if anything to drag so sounds like easy to live with if permanently lift in situ.

Stories of roof bars breaking the roof glass either due to over tightening, or glass misalignment problems. Of course, both will be blamed on you and will be at least expensive to fix, if not inconvenient too. There are some threads in main Model 3 area.

 

[Jason71]

I considered them but was scared off by the cracked roof stories. You really need a torque wrench and even then its hit and miss.
I agree. Get Tesla to fit them

 

[hmy7k]

I don't want the bars on permanently.

They don't attach to the glass, there are metal clips that clip into a slot below the rubber and glass.
Over tightening the nuts is something to be wary of though soI will use a torque wrench for that, handbook suggests 5-6Nm, which isn't a lot.

My issue is more with the T slot in the actual bars where you normally slide in the T nuts on the carrier.
There is very little space to slide the T nut and the rubber gives too much friction to move them.

Maybe I need a different bike carrier.

View media item 120698

 

[Cogarch]

This is the same as my Whispbar rack I had on my eGolf. On that one I just slid the rubber strip out and cut it where the bike carrier needed to be, cut a bit off the remainder to allow for the width of the bracket then slid everything back into place.

 

[hmy7k]

This is the same as my Whispbar rack I had on my eGolf. On that one I just slid the rubber strip out and cut it where the bike carrier needed to be, cut a bit off the remainder to allow for the width of the bracket then slid everything back into place.

The strip doesn't seem to want to move. Maybe need to be a bit more brutal with it.

 

[Cogarch]

They did take a bit of coaxing..! As it does involve cutting the strip you might hold off until my approach is endorsed by someone else.. However you clearly can't slide the rack brackets in on top of the rubber.

 

[MrBadger]

They don't attach to the glass, there are metal clips that clip into a slot below the rubber and glass.

If your glass is positioned within tolerance.

 

[hmy7k]

It appears the bars are made by Yakima and they used a strap system to attach bike carriers or you can use a T nut but on their system the T nut is pushed in from above and turned 90 degrees rather than sliding in from the end on Thule bars.

I am going to see if my Thule carriers can be adapted.

 

[hmy7k]

If your glass is positioned within tolerance.

There was an issue with the early ones in the US having weak fixing clips but it appears to be fixed now.
There is nothing online to suggest that using the bars is a major risk to the roof so long as you are careful.

At least with the glass roof you know if the rack or the bikes have fallen off.

 

[MrBadger]

You can see from these two shots of the roof how much acceptable tolerance there is in the roof glass. One side big gap, other side probably too narrow to get any fixing between glass and bodywork.

Top one drivers side, second one passenger. Both front section of glass.

Thankfully that’s the piece of glass they need to replace for us because of air leak. Hopefully GB staff can do a better job.

 

[JoostG]

It appears the bars are made by Yakima and they used a strap system to attach bike carriers or you can use a T nut but on their system the T nut is pushed in from above and turned 90 degrees rather than sliding in from the end on Thule bars.

I am going to see if my Thule carriers can be adapted.

Exactly! I use the Tesla roof bars in combination with a Whisper WB200 carrier. You don't have to slide that carrier into the bar, but push it on top of the slide and turn the T nut. By the way, the combination of the Tesla roofbar and this carrier looks great.

 

[westrow3]

Anyone got any experience or thoughts on these vs OEM? https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B081QJ7ZWS/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_i_qhxhEb236G34X

 

[Jason71]

Anyone got any experience or thoughts on these vs OEM? https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B081QJ7ZWS/ref=cm_sw_r_em_apa_i_qhxhEb236G34X

judging by the fit it does not look like a custom M3 rack at all. looks like a rack for another car that happens to fit and is being sold as an M3 rack for probably double what it sold for before. I say this based on the pads overlapping the glass not fully on the metal (why would you do it that way?) and the clamps looking like they would damage the chrome.

 

[Adopado]

Exactly! I use the Tesla roof bars in combination with a Whisper WB200 carrier. You don't have to slide that carrier into the bar, but push it on top of the slide and turn the T nut. By the way, the combination of the Tesla roofbar and this carrier looks great.

I imagine that winter temperatures make the rubber a bit more resilient than normal so probably needs quite a bit of force ... could be scary!

 

[Avendit]

judging by the fit it does not look like a custom M3 rack at all. looks like a rack for another car that happens to fit and is being sold as an M3 rack for probably double what it sold for before. I say this based on the pads overlapping the glass not fully on the metal (why would you do it that way?) and the clamps looking like they would damage the chrome.

Oh god, no. Yakima/whisper bar stuff fitted waaay better than that of you have the right application. I don't have pics, but on the old car the for pack followed the contour of the gutter to sub mm prescission. That will go horribly wrong.

I have whisper bars, just waiting for the foot kit to become available, either online or from Tesla parts.

On the original topic... For my t bolts, to assist I have to push them down, then they slide reasonably easily. Much older bars tho, possibly different.

 

[DanThor]

Hello everyone, I’m looking to get a set of Tesla roof bar for my Model 3 as I can't see any other manufactures out there. To be honest I’m pi***d off at having to pay the ridiculous price (assuming £400 going by the US proice) for the Tesla bars however it is what it is I guess.

Anyway, does anyone know where I can buy these from in the UK? Also, seeing above that Thule carriers may not fit?

 

[Jason71]

Hello everyone, I’m looking to get a set of Tesla roof bar for my Model 3 as I can't see any other manufactures out there. To be honest I’m pi***d off at having to pay the ridiculous price (assuming £400 going by the US proice) for the Tesla bars however it is what it is I guess.

Anyway, does anyone know where I can buy these from in the UK? Also, seeing above that Thule carriers may not fit?

£430 actually!

Here :Tesla | Vehicle Accessories Model 3

Try not to crack your roof!

 

[Avendit]

Depends how much of a rush you are in? I'm still waiting, but these people do Yakima's for the S, I imagine it's only a matter of time to get them for the 3:
Tesla Model S (14 on) with fixing points & WITH panoramic sun roof:Yakima roof bars package - S17B bars with K930 kit.