cmarshack

I recently bought a new to me CPO 2010 GL450 and had a few things that needed to be done right away. One of which was to get a set of roof bars. I surf, ski and travel with a roof box, so bars are essential.

I looked at all of the options and most people complained about noise from both of the OEM systems. I really like the integrated look of the "premium" Mercedes bars, but they are a little bulky looking so I wanted to find something different.

I did as much research as I could but could not find a really good review of the Yakima Whisbar cross bars, at least not for the GL. I did find reviews for several other similar SUV's so I found a good price on Amazon and in two days they showed up at my door.



The Packaging was nice and everything was in it's place. I looked at the instructions and quickly felt a little jipped because parts list showed a 5mm allen key and mine was not in the box. No big deal I have no shortage of them in my tool box, so off I went with the installation.



The Bars are well made and have a good feel to them. One thing I noticed right away is that the rubber strip at the top which allows you to mount racks and accessories does not have to be removed when sliding the accessory in place. It simply pushes down inside and springs back when it is removed. Very nice!





You have to turn the key provided to remove the plastic cover which then allows you access to the bolts for mounting. After removing all of the covers, low and behold the allen key is actually stored inside the rack! This allows you to remove the rack at any time without needing additional tools (now I don't feel jipped any more).



I mounted the front one about 5 inches behind the sun roof and the rear is mounted directly behind the middle roof rail support, just over the front of the rear moon roof.

These bars are truly quiet! You cannot hear them at all even at highway speeds. The sound from the wind hitting the windshield and the road noise from the tires completely hides any noise coming from these roof bars. I am very satisfied!

Sorry for the poor pictures, it was getting late and all I had was my Droid.







I also threw some new wheels on it!

EWT

Very nice. The factory bars have instructions to mount the rear one right at the support, and the front bar goes between two pin holes on the inside of the side rails, which puts it a little behind the sunroof. FWIW, the factory crossbars on mine don't make any significant noise (before adding racks), although those are a cheaper solution that the factory chrome bars.

cmarshack

I will check and see if the Whispbar can be mounted at the rear support, and I will also see how far off I am from the pin holes. It would probably make sense to mount these where MB recommends.

Thanks for the help!

kingcity

How much are the Whispbar?

cmarshack

I paid about $300 on Amazon.

ssp997

Hello. Can the front whispbar be placed between the two pin holes, and the rear one in between the rear support as the owner's manual suggest? It seems to be the correct distance to fit my thule box. thanks

cmarshack

front yes, rear must sit just behind or in front of the post as the bracket does not fit in between the support like the factory one.