I have never heard of it being illigal to tow with any vehichle.
My favorite so far is this one:
http://www.hollywoodracks.com/hitch-racks/sportrider-hitch-rack.htm
Absolutely no movement, bikes are stationary and clamped. Very secure.
My $.02. You find these on sale $150'sh fairly often, or at least we did.
Yes, I got a bike rack - the Mazda roof rack and a pair of Thule Pelotons. Of course, that solution adds up to about $450, so it's not the cheapest. But in the US we're not allowed to tow with the 5, and putting on a hitch might raise issues with the dealer for warranty work on the powertrain. Remember that the liftgate is plastic so you don't want to do a strap-on bike rack. So really the roof rack is probably the best choice. And it works *really* well.
Keep in mind that a hitch will cost you $150-200 plus installation if you don't do it yourself. The rack will cost you another $150-200 so you're at $300-400 plus installation anyway, and you'll be raising the potential warranty-fight issue to save very little money. Of course, the hitch racks don't brutalize fuel mileage the way roof racks do, but then they're also much less stable.
I went through this when i researched my options to carry two bikes....i was all set for the hitch mount, then the roof rack. I went back and forth with it and finally contacted Mazda by email about the towing voiding the warranty. The reply stated, "towing with your Mazda5 is not recommended". I even described how i was only going to tow a hitch bike rack. I decided to go with the OEM Mazda roof rack and two Thule Echelon 518 carriers...a bit of money. Probably doesn't matter to some people, but man, the rack looks really nice on the car. I have only had it on the car three days now. I filler her up last night and will see how bad the mileage drops. One other thing the bike carriers are very aerodynamic and i don't think the noise level is all that bad...
not the greatest pic, but here you go....i have a fairing to install yet and tomorrow it gets the windows tinted...
Hey pal! I'm in Durham ( near Southpoint mall ) and work near Duke U.(hi)Hey dan4behr,
I live in Willow Spring down the road from you and work in Clayton. Off subject,but are there any Mazda5 groups around the area. I bought my 5 back in Sept. Have never seen a purple 5..........