[johnbaker15]

My 2005 Lt didn't come with the BMW Luggage rack but for really short money I have been able to pick up one off Ebay. ($50.00)
My problem is making a template with the proper registration to drill the holes. I have the trunk the rack came off and have traced a hole pattern from that one (2002). I made it out of paper and tape and was able to have it conform to the top of the lid. It looks close enough but I am a little reluctant to drill holes and have them come out in the wrong place. I really don't want to go to a dealer to have it mounted, so have not yet asked if they have a factory template.
Ok so the questions are, does a dealer template exist, does anyone have one, should I just use the one I made? Any advise/suggestions?

 

[RonKMiller]

I don't believe a template exists, but you may want to try this as an alternative:

Mount it and secure with masking tape or a couple of bungees so that it can't move. Trace around each leg with a sharpened white wax pencil ("China marking pencil") that you can buy at a hardware store. You may need to cut it down in length to fit.

Locate the center of each tracing for your holes, hit it with a spring loaded punch and use a drill at slow speed with a sharp bit.

Wipe of the wax markings, badabing!

 

[deputy5211]

I did about the same thing that Ron recommended.

I laid masking tape around the outside of each leg because I could get it closer to the edge of the legs than I could get with a china pencil. I used a digital caliper to locate where in the base to put the hole. May have been the intersection of line segments connecting opposite corners, I do not recall.

 

[jzeiler]

A guy bought one at CCR in Rapid City and I told him to smear lipstick on the feet and then place it on the top case. Drill where the holes are left by the lipstck. He had no issues. Perfect match.

 

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Kewl idea ... My luck I'd get the rack not centered on the lid ... But if your carefully it's a great idea

 

[zippy_gg]

A guy bought one at CCR in Rapid City and I told him to smear lipstick on the feet and then place it on the top case. Drill where the holes are left by the lipstck. He had no issues. Perfect match.

And that, my friends, is why John carries lipstick everywhere he goes! :histerica
Seriously, I used the same technique and it worked!

 

[billsmith]

Marriage!!!
Let me take it one step further by marrying two very good ideas. I have used blue masking tape to execute a cut of fine furniture without splintering so I would suggest two lengths of such tape; one across the top of the trunk lid in the general area of the two front legs and another same idea toward the back. Now smack (pun intended) on the lipstick and put them together. There is one more piece of magic if you are nervous. Cut another strip of tape and pre draw a line down the center and place as best you can from up against the center of pass back rest and run back to trunk latch the line should line up with the key hole in latch. Now you have a reference to position perfectly. Eyeball it from left, right, up and down and finally make your cut. All other tool applications apply. You can do it and be proud.
ride safe. :bmw:

Oh one more thing take a couple pictures of it just sitting there (in place) before you drill. Appraise them on the computer.

 

[tconnell]

I probably did an overkill when I mounted mine last year. I took 4 bolts that fit in the threads of the mounting feet and cut the heads off. Then I ground one end down to a center point on each bolt and screwed them into the feet of the rack..There was about ½ inch of threads sticking out of the mounting feet. I then taped up the 4 places the feet would be and lined up the luggage rack so it was square and then pressed down on the rack, making 4 indention's in the tape.

Then it was just a matter of noting the angle of the feet and drilling the marked place and installing the rack. The making of the centering bolts was about a 15 minute job in my shop and I taped them together for use again if needed. Definitely use the tape to keep from splintering the surface of the top box. You'll love the rack.

 

[jzeiler]

And that, my friends, is why John carries lipstick everywhere he goes! :histerica
Seriously, I used the same technique and it worked!

Hot pink as always...

 

[johnbaker15]

Thanks for all the ideas, lipstick, bluetape, sharpened screws, china marker. The screw holes don't seem to be centered on the feet, (at least not the one I have) so tracing was a worry for me. I also was not very concerned with the center line of the trunk but more about the front to back position of the feet and the hole for the light wiring.

I thought of most of these ideas when I was thinking, didn't pick one to go with so I though I would ask. But not the lipstick. :rotf:

 

[tips727]

I probably did an overkill when I mounted mine last year. I took 4 bolts that fit in the threads of the mounting feet and cut the heads off. Then I ground one end down to a center point on each bolt and screwed them into the feet of the rack..There was about ½ inch of threads sticking out of the mounting feet. I then taped up the 4 places the feet would be and lined up the luggage rack so it was square and then pressed down on the rack, making 4 indention's in the tape.

Then it was just a matter of noting the angle of the feet and drilling the marked place and installing the rack. The making of the centering bolts was about a 15 minute job in my shop and I taped them together for use again if needed. Definitely use the tape to keep from splintering the surface of the top box. You'll love the rack.

I installed an OEM rack on my '00 model a few years ago and used a method similar to this one. I was fortunate in that I had a good model to measure for location - my friend's LT. He owns a machine shop and was able to provide me a set of screws that were pointed on the ends llike those described above and I used them for markers on blue painters tape. I was pretty anal about trying to perfect the project but if I had to do it again I think John's lipstick method would be worth a try.

 

[hallzee]

Who cares how you mount it.... FIFTY BUCKS for the rack?? You stole it!

 

[johnbaker15]

Who cares how you mount it.... FIFTY BUCKS for the rack?? You stole it!

Hallzee
I actually stole two, both for fifty bucks. One came with the complete trunk and had the LED light and one was just the rack. The one from the trunk and LED light had a little bit of the chrome peeling so I grabbed the second one without the light (pretty near perfect) and swapped the light to it.

So anyone need a trunk or a rack? Fifty bucks.

 

[zippy_gg]

So anyone need a trunk or a rack? Fifty bucks.

It's still a steal!

 

[billsmith]

Any pictures of the finished job?
Do we have a tutorial coming or perhaps a 'how to video' :histerica
How long did it take. Inquiring minds want to know.
ride safe :bmw:

 

[johnbaker15]

Guess I should have know to post completed project. So here are a couple photo's of the install.

I formed a pattern on the old trunk the rack came from, ( two photos) then installed the pattern on my trunk, drilled the holes, mounted the Rack. Success! :wave
Oh yeah the light works also.

 

[hschisler]

Nice work, John. My '05 LT came without the top case rack; I always wanted one, but was too cheap to buy a new one and too... busy (read "lazy") to find one at a great price like you did.

I think you'll find that high rear brake light on the rack really gets noticed. I see people stopping farther back from me than they used to. I like having it on my '09 LT; now I'm thinking of adding Larry Schumer's brake modulator to it - a nice, fairly-priced, and effective farkle on the LT.

<edit> I don't see the brake modulator on the RiderWest site. I have contacted him to see if he still sells it.

 

[billsmith]

Yes, great job.
You even went beyond the suggestions given. I too have the '09 and to compare them your only difference is color I mean exactly located. You must have a keen eye and steady hands.
ride safe :bmw:

 

[johnbaker15]

Nice work, John. My '05 LT came without the top case rack; I always wanted one, but was too cheap to buy a new one and too... busy (read "lazy") to find one at a great price like you did.

I think you'll find that high rear brake light on the rack really gets noticed. I see people stopping farther back from me than they used to. I like having it on my '09 LT; now I'm thinking of adding Larry Schumer's brake modulator to it - a nice, fairly-priced, and effective farkle on the LT.

<edit> I don't see the brake modulator on the RiderWest site. I have contacted him to see if he still sells it.

Thanks Howard, little scary drill holes in a perfectly good trunk. I'll be testing out the light this afternoon.

If you don't find those lights you are looking for you might want to take a look at these.
http://www.hyperlites.com/stdsf.html. I think that will be my next addition. A friend of mine has the 8 led setup, but I don't think it is bright enough so I was going to go with the 16 led version. That would be per side, called U32 kit.

 

[hschisler]

I had the HyperLites on another LT; they are a great addition. If you have a top case rack I think the advantage of the RiderWest top case rack brake light modulator is that it is higher; this makes them more visible if you are towing a trailer, for example.

Larry at RiderWest does still have the brake light modulators. You can also get them from A&S BMW.