[JimD]

At $550, the BMW bike rack is clearly more expensive than a hitch and bike rack if you install the hitch yourself (which may be an unfair comparison is the $550 includes installation). Even with a reasonable estimate of installation you should save money with the hitch option.

The Curtis hitch is about $130. There is a wide range in bike racks influenced by how many bikes you want to transport (2-5 designs available) and whether it folds (folds costs more). If you go with Thule racks - I think it's a good brand but I'm no expert - they range from about $135 for a 2 bike non-folding to about $216 for a folding 4 bike rack (Thule doesn't have a 5 bike design but I saw one on Amazon). If you compare 2 bikes, non-folding (close to the BMW capability) it would be about $265. I would think you could get the hitch installed for less than $300 if you wanted to go that way. And you also have a hitch which could be useful for other things. And no holes in the bumper (although if they are body color that would help a lot).

Jim