BSW

Since there doesn't seem to be a trailer hitch option (for a bike rack) and i am opposed to roof racks (noise, hassle, potential damage), what other options? Can i fit a largish bike in the trunk?

B6bydesign

Personally, I don't know much about fitting a bike inside the S4. However, this thread over on Audizine may help you: http://www.audizine.com/forum/showth...-bike-in-trunk

BSW

excellent, thanks!

mitche2010s4

before I bought my roof rack I put my mountain bike in the trunk. with the back seats down all i did was take the front tire off and it fit. the bike is a large full suspension bike so most bikes should fit. I like my roof rack setup. I have the attachments (thule) that allow you to keep the front tire on so nothing needs to go in the trunk. The attachments are silver and match the rack and I have a system to remember that the bike is on the roof before I drive into my garage. lol. that would suck!!

kyee

I want to get the Thule rack setup for my S4 too. Which part/model #'s did you get?

kyee

Also, how many bikes can you fit on the roof rack?

mitche2010s4

I have an oem audi rack. if you turned a center attachment around so it faces backwards you could put 3 bikes on roof.
Now of course the car looks better without a rack but think this looks better than the standard black rack where the cross bars stick out past the feet.

kyee

Looks good! I just bought a full suspension Trek mountain bike today, and will be picking it up tomorrow. I'm hoping it'll fit in the car with the back seats down and the front wheel off, just so I can get the bike home.

I will be buying a roof rack system, probably the Thule one. Is it better to get a system where you can keep the front wheel on, like pictured above, or that you have to take the wheel off? Other than the obvious (wheel on/off), what are the other pros/cons of the 2 systems?

mitche2010s4

well the type that you keep the front wheel on cost a bit more but are more versitile. you can run into a couple problems with the fork down attachments. 1) some disc brake calipers that are mounted on the fork make it so you need an adapter because they hit the tray before the fork bottoms out. 2) some types of forks have thicker than standard axels so they too need adaptors and each kind of apaptor can be $60.00 so there goes the savings.
3) it's nice to not have to flip the bike over. take the tire off. put them in the trunk.
I had the fork down kind before and sold them because of those problems. My current specialized fit in the old trays by about a mm but who knows about my next bike or all my friends current and future bikes.
hope that helps and yes your trek will fit with the back seats down and front tire off. put the rear of the bike in first.

equ

In the same boat with '10 a4 sedan. The rack is what I miss most about my 330i, where the factory rack screws in nicely (no window/rubber/door stuff).

I used a hacked converter from the bmw aero bars to the Thule echelon. For our road bikes, I could not recommend the fork mount echelon enough. A much more secure attachment and a snap to put the bike on it, if you don't mind removing front wheel. I also briefly tried the bmw oem bike attachment (with wheels on and an arm comes up to hold the frame), this did not feel so secure for my road bikes, perhaps better for mtn bikes. I could see that the echelon won't work with disc brakes, I would recommend for any other application.

My issue is which base rack to go with. Thule or Audi? The door rubber going around the rack bugs me a bit and I am also slightly concerned about putting the rack on and off (don't really want to keep it on all the time). Anyone do research on thi?