Bike rack that mounts to license plate area.Excellent so far.
The receiver for the bike rack (like a mini-hitch) attaches by screws to the location of the rear license plate. The top two screws match perfectly with the existing license plate screws. The bottom two scres did not match up, so I had to drill two holes (the location of the holes does not interfere with anything. In order to secure the bolts to the screws, I had to remove the interior trim at the rear of the trunk. Luckily, Mazda put in convenient fasteners (you just pull on the middle of them and they release. Once the mounting bracket is bolted on it is very secure. Don't forget to bolt the license plate to the mounting bracket. The only drawback with the mounting bracke is that it is too thick (or the screws are to short) to also mount a license plate frame. (My USC alumni frame was fading anyway, so this wasn't a major inconvenience).
The bike rack post slides into the receiver and is fastened by a screw. Screwing in the screw is sometimes annoying, but I don't think there is an easier way to do it while still maintaing a secure connection. On the bike rack post are two L- shaped bike holders. The L fits nicely in the frame of my mountain bike (which has a relative small triangle. Therefore, it should fit most bikes. The bike holders have strong velcro fasteners to hold the bike in place. BDI also provides a velcro strap which fastens the front wheel to the bike frame, thereby preventing it from swinging around during transport. A plastic coated fastener attaches from the bike rack post to the front edge of the trunk providing extra stability.
I have taken two short trips with the bike rack and it has performed execellently. The bike actually looks good on the back of my Miata. An added plus is that the entire assembly (apart from the receiver which is more or less permanently attached to the car) fits in the trunk, thereby decreasing the chance of theft.
I've seen the BDI bike rack advertised in various catalogs and in one bike shop. The cheapest place that I found (and where I purchased it) was the Bike Nashbar catalog for $169 plus shipping.