I actually like the rails and think they look good... specially with the platinum paint. Nice contrast and they will probably come in handy too.

No thanks! Would never buy a vehicle with roof racks. Horrible things---ruin the aesthetics, add to your gas bill and are, with something attached, an accident awaiting the right time and venue (e.g. a garage, overhanging roof, careless tie down, loose connection, ad nauseam)...

Moreover, now days one can probably count on some YouTube aficionado standing by with a video camera awaiting that perfect "viral video". All too horrible to contemplate...

Yep, someone is stalking you with a Camera, waiting for you to screw up.

Its impossible to find a 2011 without roof rails, at least here in MA. I was on the verge of buying a 2008 instead just so I that I could get one without rails. I don't know why the rails aren't removable like most every other SUV/Crossover out there? Every vehicle I've owned so far has rail attachment points. That way folks who want can have them and those of us who like the clean lines can leave them out.

My opinion, but the EX35 does look better without the roof rails. The roof rails are pretty much useless on this type of vehicle anyway because of the curve.

I like the roof rails think it fits well with the design, think without em it would feel like a bulky car, the roof rails give it a hint of something else..a crossover

Exactly!

gio14 wrote:I like the roof rails think it fits well with the design, think without em it would feel like a bulky car, the roof rails give it a hint of something else..a crossover

I like the roof rails. Without them the EX looks naked.

The roof rails look great.....
I would never have bought mine without them
Although as they say horses for courses!

I don't like them myself. I like my EX to be more on the car side of crossover than the SUV side.

They don't look bad, though.

I think they look good, but on different color EXs. They look nice on Black cars (contrast) and white ones as well. I am not sure about the other colors (the jury is still out). I am "neutral" about the roof rack and would not have worried having them or not. They will get used perhaps a few times only over the course of owning the car, me think.

What I am adamant about is that window tints is a must on EXs: it makes it look sharper than without any tint. But this is my personal opinion.

I don't think the roof rails look lousy at all. With the way they were designed, they seem to blend in well with the vehicle's overall shape. Though I probably won't ever use the rails, I do appreciate the potential for added utility if I ever needed it.

However, speaking strictly from a visual design standpoint, I think the EX looks a tad nicer and a little more sleek without them.

Once you throw on the crossbars, it's a different story. I was driving behind an EX yesterday that had rails and the OEM crossbars; the way that the crossbars curved and rose up above the roof rails just looked downright awkward. I bet if Infiniti had crossbars that were straight and didn't curve up over the roof rails, or if someone installed an aftermarket brand that spanned straight across the roof, it would look much better.

I like the roof rails .. and will use them (I guess if the rails werent there I would buy a thule rack anyway) . I think the rails follow the lines nicely and when I saw photos of an EX35 without them , I thought someone skimped on the options (no offence really) . Havent seen a rail-less ex in Toranna

anyway what I like about the EX35 is that its kind of a sleeper .. and the roof rails add to that "utilitarian" sleeper apperance .

you know the feeling when a BMW 320 driver that sees a "SUV slug" in his mirror and doesnt move over ..... then you hit the 297 horsepower ... zing around him and startle the starbucks out of his coffee holder ...

I like that feeling too.

pwlorraine wrote:We have the rails on my wife's EX35 - we also have the cross-bars and ski-rack which we use a lot in the winter. I like the appearance but wind noise increases with the cross-bars (and somewhat more with the ski-rack and skis in place). Still makes it possible to take 4 people skiing. Its usually just the two of us in the car but the roof rack system adds flexibility when we need it. My wife puts the skis in the back though when its just her going.

I've debated whether to get the bike rack - right now we take off wheels and drop the seats. I'm not sure how easy it is to get a bike up on the roof but I may try.

Peter

Did you find your mileage changed by adding the crossbars or did you get the car with them on? I had mine added after about 2 tankfuls and it seemed my highway mileage went down, but the car was new and so it it was hard to tell for sure.

I guess I'm bored today:

This CUV looks nice without roof rails:


Our EX looks nice with roof rails and naked/stripped-down without.
Guess its the sloping roofline???:


Borrowed from AWGD8 for comparison:

Venza looks good without rails:

And good with rails:

It' personal preferences as to how it looks depending on combinations of color, wheels, tinted windows,etc. I like the silver rails on my black EX.

Interesting looks on the Mazda cx5. It would be ugly with black rails on it.

Resurrecting an old thread. Somebody on another forum asked if I was going to take off my cross bars and it got me thinking. So tonight those came off and it does look much sleeker/ cleaner without them. Now I'm wondering if my black EX might look better with color matched roof rails or maybe no rails at all?

I see very few EX or FX models without rails in my area but on my first EX test drive, I happened to pull up next to a white second gen FX that had no rails and it looked amazing! My main concern on an EX is that it might look too much like a station wagon. The pics in this thread from the back look great without rails (makes it look much wider I think) but possibly too wagonesque from the side view?

Anybody else lose their rails or crossbars lately?

Rear def. looks tougher rail-less...


And found a few pics of EX's looking pretty good sans rails...

Yeah. I took off my crossbars for the winter, figuring I wouldn't need them since my Thule ski box is waaay too long for the 19 inch gap Infiniti allows. I also wondered if I might get a slight bump in mileage and reduction in wind noise. It was probably the change to winter gas, but my mileage went down not up, and there isn't an appreciable difference in wind noise. I also don't like the look without the bars as much. While I dislike that they are not adjustable, Infiniti did a really nice job sculpting the bars. I'm putting them back on in the spring and leaving them there.

OhThatGuy wrote:Resurrecting an old thread. Somebody on another forum asked if I was going to take off my cross bars and it got me thinking. So tonight those came off and it does look much sleeker/ cleaner without them. Now I'm wondering if my black EX might look better with color matched roof rails or maybe no rails at all?

I see very few EX or FX models without rails in my area but on my first EX test drive, I happened to pull up next to a white second gen FX that had no rails and it looked amazing! My main concern on an EX is that it might look too much like a station wagon. The pics in this thread from the back look great without rails (makes it look much wider I think) but possibly too wagonesque from the side view?

Anybody else lose their rails or crossbars lately?

Rear def. looks tougher rail-less...


And found a few pics of EX's looking pretty good sans rails...

After a while, you don't even notice the Rails or Crossbars or lack of them.

If anyone does remove their rails, I would like to buy them to have them installed on my EX.

@TEKNCAL, i got one that im selling PM me.

Teknical wrote:If anyone does remove their rails, I would like to buy them to have them installed on my EX.

If your EX35 did not come with the roof rail, you cannot just add the rail to the rail-less roof.. There is no place to attach it. I think the attachment points are part of the roof itself.....

adding-roofrails-t521059.html

If your EX comes with the rails, it’s going to cost you a lot of money to remove them.
I took my rails off when I installing the roof overlay and there are 8 holes about 1" diameter on the roof...
You will have to weld them and repaint the roof. My guess it would be about 300~400USD for this type of job.

I just bought a used EX without rails and was looking into adding the factory rails to my EX. I'd like to mount a bike rack and haul a kayak around with it. Sounds like that's not possible. I'm not cutting holes in the roof!

I don't think they look lousy but I'd love the option to remove them when not in use.

I use them for my bikes and snowboard.

If it's just me and a bike that I'm transporting I leave the roof rack off and have a large piece of vinyl that I line the back end with and put my bike and gear in the back.

I'm having my aero body kit painted and installed in the next couple weeks.

When that is done I'm going to see if a hitch can be installed with the aero rear valance in place.

If so, I'll find out what the cost of removing the roof side rails, welding and painting will be.

Might be a pretty specific reason to like them, but we love that we can get our stand up paddle boards on the car without an issue. The height of my wife's LR2 and my old GL450 made it near impossible to do. And I didn't have to lay out $700 to Yakima or Thule to do it.

The paint quality on the crossbars is total crap though- caught an edge of my plastic board and took a strip of paint to off right to the primer. Planning to plasti-dip them.

Given what this car truly is IMHO, which is a slightly taller G35/37 hatch back (or shooting brake for those into British cars) the rails make some sense to me.

I'd be glad to take anyone's crossbars if they do not want them, mine only came with the roof rails and not the cross bars.

Sorry, but I did not read all the posts for this thread. What is necessary to remove the roof rails? Will it leave holes that need to be repaired? I also think they are ugly.

They look better with the rails AND cross bars and if you think they are ugly, go have another hit from your crack pipe. :O

Any afternarket cross bars or only form the dealer ?