An update: if I lower the lower gate and try to lower the upper gate using the button the car detects that the lower gate is open and beeps a complaint, then won't lower the upper gate. Too bad.

Also there don't appear to be any strap points on the upper gate to tie it down.

This leaves two options:
1- Manually force the upper gate slowly down with my hand and how it stays
2- leave the upper gate up but in the lowest adjusted position and drive slowly from home depot to my house

Or the third option of always renting a truck. But that sucks to carry a few 12' pieces of trim.

I'm leaning toward option 2.

 

Does anyone know if the rear tailgate glass with the wiper attached can be opened? I just bought a 2013 x5 and thought it***8217;s fixed but wanted to double check.

 

I wouldnt want the mass of the door flopping around on the two hinge points- id want the door held down against the rubber bumpstops.

I just tried it. Push it down. Look at the latch on the door....see the opening where it closed down onto the lower section and it rotates closed? Now take a bungee cord and push the hook/metal part into the latch, it will 'snap' closed around the hook- then go inside and pull the hook toward the front of the car- around a rear seat or whatever.

To release this latch just press any 'open' button (dash, on the door or remote) and it should snap open, then the door will raise

A

 

Why don't you just buy the cross pieces for the racks? I bought the Thule aero edge's and they work great. Just came home with 3 ten foot sticks of 1/2 inch black pipe. I'm running a natural gas line for my grill.
The only draw back is the noise. All the cross piece brands are going to make some noise. Buy some racheting tie downs too.

 

Solution

Thanks ard and gator. Both are good ideas. I should shop for the rack pieces. In the meantime, I made a variant of ard's idea work.

You can see in the photos that I have the bottom hatch open and the top hatch closed. I have a stack of 12' trim extending out the back a few feet. The top hatch is held down all the way closed by a rachet strap (circled in blue). One end of the strap is attached to one of the standard steel loops on the floor (circled in orange). The other end of the strap is attached to a steel ring snapped into the top hatch clasp (circled in green).

I found the steel ring at Home Depot and it fits really nicely, although I may watch for one that has swivel eye. But this one works nicely.

Another interesting note is that initially I couldn't figure out how to remove the ring once it was snapped into the top hatch clasp. Opening the hatch using the buttons didn't cause the clasp to open. Then I notice the panel (circled in red) and snapped it off, revealing a cable that when pulled releases the hatch clasp. Excellent.

One last observation is that the X5 is smart enough to notice that the hatch is open and warn the driver whenever driving off, but fortunately does not continuously beep or otherwise annoy.

Mission successful!

Some length guidelines:
6' - fits diagonally across the back without lowering the seats (barely) or easily with the rear seat down
8' - fits with the rear seat down and hatch closed, passing between the front seats but not touching the dash
10' - fits with the rear seat down and hatch closed, passing between the front seats and resting on the dash almost touching the front window (sketchy)
12' - fits with the rear seat down and hatch open, passing between the front seats but not touching the dash, extends past rear lower hatch by a few feet
14' - might fit by resting on the front dash and extending the full length and out the rear hatch a few feet. I've not tried this.
16' - probably not possible inside the X5 but I've not tried it.

 

16' - probably not possible inside the X5 but I've not tried it.

With the factory receiver, you could add one of these, and get 16' or longer in:

http://www.harborfreight.com/truck-bed-extender-69650.html

 

mountainman, thanks for the detailed instructions! I've bookmarked this for my future projects.

 

I have one that I used to use with my Tundra to bring 16" boards home. It wasn't used often, but was invaluable when it was needed. I haven't used it with the X5 yet though, since I don't yet have the square receiver adapter for my Invisihitch.

 

Technically it CAN be 'opened'. Once.

 

TRY THIS!

 

Yes, I put the "U" in SUV, even my BMW.

Mine, a diesel, is a Sports Activity Vehicle - SAV.

 

I made a small, square cornered 8 out of some med gauge wire, about twice as thick as a coat hanger. You can slide it into the lower lock mechanism of the hatch and it will lock in place. Then tie down to the upper latch and lock your sores before driving to make sure the lower mechanism does not disengage. I did this an hour ago and it works great.