Fitting genuine roof bars - protecting paint

K

Kennedy

A2OC Donor
I'm planning a Cornwall road trip later this year and I might fit the genuine roof bars I have stashed in the attic so I can load more stuff on the roof.

I was wondering what products are a good fit for the A2 for protecting the paint from rubbing and scratches around the anchoring points - a quick search in the usual online places gives me a few different transparent vinyl protectors of differing sizes or larger sections for cutting to suit...

Can anyone recommend a good semi-permanent product that's barely noticeable when fitted and fairly easy to remove?

Kennedy
 
Hi Kennedy,
I can say after years of using the genuine bars on the A2 that they caused no effects or left no marks on the paint when correctly fitted and torqued with the key supplied then there shouldn't be a problem - providing car and feet of roof bars perfectly clean to begin with. The one problem that the bars do cause is distortion of the outer door seal but over the longer term this does settle out. I know that doesn't answer your question - in terms of films 3M protective bike tape would be a thin / pliable produc that would be easiliy applied and removed and may offer what you want.
 
...Ahh yes, correctly torqued with the key supplied... I don't actually have one!

I did put a post on the forum sometime ago to see if anyone had a spare Audi tool for either the A2 bars or any that share the same fitting but no luck so far. I also spoke to Audi but it's not a listed seperate part. Probably need to check eBay again or pay a bit more for a low range torque wrench - although they tend to be more than a couple of quid!

Nice one for the info on the bike tape though muggles...

Kennedy.
 
Hi Kennedy,
Maybe even consider speaking to a wrapping company who may be able to offer a clear wrap protection along the whole length of the strip above the doors, this way it’s barely noticeable and easily removed if you gave up the bars or sold the car!
Cheers Jeff
 
Kennedy said:
...Ahh yes, correctly torqued with the key supplied... I don't actually have one!

I did put a post on the forum sometime ago to see if anyone had a spare Audi tool for either the A2 bars or any that share the same fitting but no luck so far. I also spoke to Audi but it's not a listed seperate part. Probably need to check eBay again or pay a bit more for a low range torque wrench - although they tend to be more than a couple of quid!

Nice one for the info on the bike tape though muggles...

Kennedy.
Click to expand...

I might well have a torque key for you ... I'll have a dig through my parts bin :)

I'd advise against film or tape as Project Lundgren had had similar fitted, and because the tape/film had been left there over several years the tape was pretty much impossible to remove, and when we did finally get some of it shifted the paint had faded significantly differently underneath so it left a mark anyway ...
 
Kennedy said:
I'm planning a Cornwall road trip later this year and I might fit the genuine roof bars I have stashed in the attic so I can load more stuff on the roof.

I was wondering what products are a good fit for the A2 for protecting the paint from rubbing and scratches around the anchoring points - a quick search in the usual online places gives me a few different transparent vinyl protectors of differing sizes or larger sections for cutting to suit...

Can anyone recommend a good semi-permanent product that's barely noticeable when fitted and fairly easy to remove?

Kennedy
Click to expand...

Hi,

new, the roof bars are supplied with 4 self adhesive clear pads to put on the roof where the bars rest. These pads are designed to be permanently fixed, indeed reports are that they are very permanently fixed!

When I fit my roof bars I apply 4 pieces of 3M paint protection film. This can then be easily removed when the roof bars are no-longer required to be on the car. I bought a strip from eBay and cut to size. I have washed and re-used the same pieces a few times so haven't needed to cut any new ones.

regards

Andrew
 
ajsellors said:
Hi,
new, the roof bars are supplied with 4 self adhesive clear pads to put on the roof where the bars rest. These pads are designed to be permanently fixed, indeed reports are that they are very permanently fixed!
Click to expand...

Ah, that's probably what happened to Lundgren then ...
 
If your paint is clean and your genuine bar feet are clean, you can safely use nothing in between the two and the paint will be fine. The clear film supplied with new bars will do more harm than good in my view - it's softer than paint and will mark up, become cloudy with UV degradation and generally look tatty in a year or so.
 
Cheers for responses, the car will get a thorough clean before fitting anyway, and I'll make sure an extra layer of wax goes on around the roof for an extra little bit of protection!

I think I will give the 3M film a try anyway as suggested if it's easily removable, I'm not too concerned about paint fade as I'll probably remove them after our summer road-tripping is finished anyway...if there's a noticeable difference in paint colour after just 2 weeks then it means the car has been baked and I've had a fantastic holiday in Cornwall with tropical temperatures so it'll be worth it!! .... likely :rolleyes:

Cheers for offering up the spare tool you may have scirocorrado, I'll let you know.

Kennedy.
 
I use Mercedes-Benz Original roof bars for C-Class W203 (sedan) together with Mercedes-Benz XL roofbox 450 l.
These roof bars fits like they was made for the A2!! I was earlier working as product manager for accessories at Mercedes-Benz. 20171221_111959 crop.jpg
20171221_111959 crop.jpg
 
Prototypen said:
I use Mercedes-Benz Original roof bars for C-Class W203 (sedan) together with Mercedes-Benz XL roofbox 450 l.
These roof bars fits like they was made for the A2!! I was earlier working as product manager for accessories at Mercedes-Benz.
Click to expand...

Mercedes roof bars on an A2??! I love it when people find stuff off other cars that just happens to fit (might be a good thread idea if there isn't one already).

And, that is an enormous roof box for an A2! ...looks like you'd struggle getting the boot to fully open it's so big!

Kennedy.
 
Kennedy said:
Mercedes roof bars on an A2??! I love it when people find stuff off other cars that just happens to fit (might be a good thread idea if there isn't one already).

And, that is an enormous roof box for an A2! ...looks like you'd struggle getting the boot to fully open it's so big!

Kennedy.
Click to expand...
Yes as the box is very long I was needed to fit box so I could open the boot lid to 70%.
 
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