oknish

Hello All,

Been a while since I made it over here and hope all are doing well.

Wanted to get some feedback on what y'all think of MB Cross Bars vs. non OEM cross bars such as Thule, etc.? I am looking to put a box on the roof mainly. Cross bars might get some light usage with bike racks also.

THANKS in advance for any and all feedback.

MomsBenz

I can only speak for the MB ones. They are super easy to put on, but have a lot of wind noise so I only use them when I have my Thule cargo box on. As far as price goes, I believe the Thule ones are cheaper, not sure. My cross bars came on my '08 that I lemon lawed, I "accidentally" forget to return them when I turned in in

MB Tex

Depends on which MB cross bars you mean - there are the MB "Basic Carrier" bars that sit up from the rails (these are aluminum color) and there are the chunkier lower profile cross bars (usually chrome or black to match the roof rails). These ones don't sit up as high.

The lower profile chrome ones are pretty much silent in terms of wind noise. But it is a problem fitting the claw type grips on the roof boxes due to their chunkiness.

The basic carrier bars are noisy as hell.

LEOSOPHIE

The instructions with my oem bars specified the mounting positions. The rear bar over the middle roof rail support and the front centered between two alignment marks on the inside of the roof rails. I have the chrome bars and don't notice any wind noise even with the sun roof open.

BJ021

This is an excellent point. If the racks are really noisy, many times it is because they are not in the right place. I've been using racks for years - and really notice when they are not in the right place. Many manuals will show you the correct positioning for optimum mileage as well - if placed in the wrong positions they can really drag and make a lot of noise.

MomsBenz

Mine are the flat chunky ones. I will double check the positioning next time I install them. I noticed the wind noise when I drove it home from the dealership the day I bought my '08 (which MB had installed) I have not had them on my car unless the Thule box is installed as well. Definitely going to check it out! Thanks!!

oknish

THANK YOU ALL for the feedback. I still haven't pulled the trigger yet but this discussion has helped a lot.

Hope all you are driving in good health.

tfinan

there is a thule kit to adapt your box with longer bolts(etc) for the thicker bars.

The chunky cross bars also have a track which accepts a special bolt which allows you to attach rack options without visible clamps.

KWStan

I have Yakima bars on mine... But I haul 14' kayaks and surfboards on mine. I also have a Thule Evolution cargo box and a Yakima hitch-mount bike rack. If you are just using the bars for a cargo box, or anything that is "light duty" then the factory bars are fine, and much quieter if you plan on leaving them on the vehicle - they are thinner and flatter. If you want to put large items on top, get something a bit stronger, like Yakina/Thule.

blittle

Hey Oknish.... good to hear from you again.....Me, you, Nevada Jack, and others were all part of the 1st adopters club back when the GL first hit the market! I see you still have your 07....... I pulled the trigger on an 2011 GL450 and am currently waiting for it to arrive ( just like back in 07!) Had 70k on the 07 and never a problem beyond some minor stuff.

ddruker

I've also got the flat / wide chrome factory crossbars on my 2011 GL 350. They are relatively heavy and well constructed. Only think I don't love is the end caps that lock down to cover the ends of the crossbars are chrome covered plastic instead of metal. The crossbars are designed (along with the rest of the roof rail system) to carry loads of up to 180 pounds.

Interesting factoid - my dealer did not mount the crossbars at delivery - they just stuck the box containing them in the back of the truck. This is good because it forced me to figure out how they work. I can imagine that if your dealer mounted your crossbars for you they could easily put them in the wrong place resulting in wind noise, and it also would not be obvious to an owner that did not install these them self that the rubber strip on the top of the crossbars is designed to be lifted up to expose a built-in accessory mounting system. I've seen lots of posts here about clamps from Thule / Yakima not fitting these wide rails - but for most applications you don't need clamps at all, instead you use the built in T Rails. See below.

First, it was not entirely obvious precisely where to mount the crossbars to the roof rails. The owners manual makes it clear where the rear crossbar goes but not so much the front.

I found there is a very tiny registration mark on the inside edge of each of the roof rails near the back of the sunroof. It looks like a small dot made by a hole punch or awl. This is where the center of the front crossbar should be located. I had to widen the crossbar a bit to get it to fit snugly - you do this by lifting up the edges of the rubber strip on the top of the crossbar, which exposes two screws - if you loosen them you can adjust the length of the crossbar. The users manual talks about white paint marks to locate the front crossbar - these marks don't exist at least on my truck.

The back crossbar is more obvious to locate - it goes in the pocket created in between the two arms that attach the rear section of the roof rails to the truck.

As the previous poster said - if you pull out the rubber strip from the top of the crossbar you will find a T shaped track underneath where you can insert a bolt with a wide head. You don't need to have any kind of bracket or clamp go around the cross bars - you just slide a bolt into the t-track and use that bolt to mount whatever you want to the cross bar. Much cleaner than using some clamp mechanism.

Here is a picture that give you an idea of how it works (obviously not from these crossbars but you get the idea) - the crossbars have a t-track like you see below built in, you just slide an upside down bolt into the slot and this is how you attach accessories.



Note the rubber strip is a replaceable item. The idea is to cut a hole in it, or cut it into sections, from which your mounting bolts will protrude.

I've got no wind noise at all with the crossbars mounted in the factory specified positions.

SixPak

Hi ddruker, I think everyone who owns the wide chrome OEM crossbars knows about the T-channel that accepts other accessories like bike or ski racks etc. As someone mentioned, the only problem with these wide bars is that they are too wide for Thule roof box that uses claws to clamp around the bars.

oknish

Hey blittle.....great to hear from an original member of the "Early Adopters" I still catch up with Nevada Jack every so often. I think he is on to his 4th or 5th MB now since the GL.

Congrats on your 550. Enjoy in good health as Jack would say.

I am still waiting for Distronic on 550 to pull the trigger. 07 is working out fine and seems to be getting better as it is aging just like a fine wine

oknish

When you say "put large items on top", what could be heavier than a cargo box? FWIW, I am looking to haul surfboards too.

SixPak

Actually, the factory chrome crossbars from MB are very, very strong with a max load capacity of 90kg or almost 200lbs compared to just 165lbs for either the square Thule or round Yakima bars.

YYZ-E55

Sadly, the 550 will not get DISTRONIC until the next generation GL arrives (X166).

oknish

And so I must wait. Should be another couple of years.

sjilani

For the chunkier low profile bars I agree with the posts that say
1- No wind noise if correctly mounted
2- For Thule Cargo box I have a 18 cf one and have gone on a few trips, I showed it after mounting the first time to the Local REI folks and they were fine with how the cargo box clamps go around the chunky cross bar, and my own experience have been without any problems. This is with the Cargo box fully loaded in mountain driving.

Marcmccluskey

Do the low profile cross bars from 2010 fit on a 2016 GL? We are looking to trade in our 2010 and have great luck with the cross bars.

mmastera

Anyone happen to know a part number for the length adjustment screws on the low profile MB bars (part number 1648901093)? There are two per side under the black rubber strip...

I bought a pair of used bars on ebay and had to loosen to adjust the length slightly in the indicated positions on my GL...must not have had the exact right size bit when re-tightening, partially stripped two of them...would prefer to get a couple news ones to avoid problems in the future since I'm not sure I plan to keep the bars on full time...


Thanks!