edvpt

The roof rack I received Friday was for the W203 c-class sedans. The correct part number for the new C230 Coupe, Basic Rack is MB Part B6 6 85 0257. Not MB Part B6 6 85 0255 (C-Class Sedan).

It is listed wrong in their catalogue and parts computer, however a call from the parts department to somewhere in MB land confirmed that the coupe has a different Basic Rack. The Coupe roof is a few inches narrower.

Should have it to me by Wednesday. I will post pictures as soon as I have the Rack installed.

edvpt

Well I finally got the correct MB Roof Rack for my C230 and as promised here are the photos. The quality is good, I especially like the fact that only rubber touches the paint, and it looks good with the aluminum and MB stars printed on the towers.

Noise at highway speeds is above normal as expected but quieter then any rack I have had on previous cars. The car is probably better insolated then any car I have owned.

If you can get past the price I recommend these MB racks for any c-class.

As my wife puts it, I have now turned my beautiful new car into a $26K bike carrier for my beat to hell always muddy worthless Mountain Bikes. See also reminded me that my excuse for buying the Excursion was to haul the bikes around easier also.

edvpt

Another Pic. upclose.

edvpt

Yet another pic with 2 Bike Carriers attached.

edvpt

OK last Picture. I promise. Sorry to those on dial up connections.

But White with the C7 just looks so good.

jack230

Does anyone have any idea if the bike rack will work with with a 230 Coupe with the panorama roof?

edvpt

Yes, According to my Dealer. Same Rack with or without glass roof. Note: The c-class coupe rack is different then the sedan rack.

jack230

Thanks, and your white w/C7 looks great! I was a little apprehensive ordering white sight unseen, but thanks to all the great pictures here, I think I made the right choice. (Mine comes next month.)

VoyagerDude

Thanks a lot for the pictures, edvpt !!!!

It seems the roof-rack fits nicely to the factory sockets. Are the pads that sit on the roof all rubber?

This rack looks pretty good. I would prefer the fork-down version for the bike carrier part, though.

edvpt

It does not look like it from the pictures but the metal Towers do not actually touch the car on the outside as a rubber rib attached to the tower bottoms sits 1/4" down from the towers. The bottom of the Tower clamps via coated brackets that attache to the door opening ledge or the cut outs in the rear window moldings. So from a paint protection stand point these units are nice.

Agree the attachment choices are limited from MB, but the Bike carrier seems to hold my MTB pretty steady.

Flashman

Mighty nice car you got there...

VoyagerDude

Just wanted to share some knowledge:

I went to a local car rack place today and found out that the new Thule roof-racks look suprisingly similar to the silver Mercedes racks shown on edpvt's white C230. The MB rack fits a little nicer.

But the tech at the rack place was sure that the MB rack was made by Thule and that Thule accessories (like fork-down bike carrier and ski-carrier) will slide into the MB rack.
It would be nice if someone can confirm this.

Unlike the square rack, this in some NEW Thule roof-rack system, it's shown only on the European Thule site:
http://www.thule.com/english/welcome.htm
and is called the Rapid system.

Davidta

I called Thule a couple of weeks ago and they said they did not have any options for the coupe yet, that in cludes witht he basic carrier already installed and with out it.

VoyagerDude

Thanks Davidta.

I'd like to get to the bottom of this. I think I'll order the MB roof rack on Monday and then take it to the Thule place and then we all know.

Also looked at Yakima, which actually has a rack for the coupe. But their steel hooks (coated with some fairly thick paint) hook in directly against the side of the roof, metal on metal (via paint :-) ). That didn't look too encouraging.

The MB rack must have a similar way of mounting except I think the hook is wider, so there might be less pressure.
Also if the roof gets damaged, at least I'll have a point that it's their own MB roof rack :-)

Cullen

I work at a bike shop and I would recommend the Yakima rack. I've never had a Yakima rack scratch up the paint job on a car, and we've installed them on some really nice Benzes and BMWs. People that have bought a roof rack from the dealer come into our store all the time and are surprised when they find out that they have very few options as far as what to actually put on the rack.

VoyagerDude

Thanks Cullen.

I went into the store with the intention of getting a Yakima setup.
On my old car there was a seal running along the side of the roof, so the hooks would go against the rubber. When I saw the benz's roof, I got concerned re. the scratching.

VoyagerDude

In case anybody can use this info, here it is.

Here is the email I got from Thule:

>Neither Thule Europe nor Thule U.S. are the O.E.M. provider for >Mercedes Benz. The company you need to contact is Oris.
>Customer Service
>Thule, Inc. USA

The persistent guy I am, I've picked up the MB roof rack today from the dealer and went straight to the Thule place (Racks Unlimited in Calgary, these guys are the best).

To make a long story short the Thule 6-pair ski carrier fits the MB rack like a glove. We had to use a VW Adapt Kit (from Thule). The kit really means 4 bols that fit into the MB rail (same as Thule rapid bar) and you attach the rack to them.
Both parts have the same aluminium finish so the setup looks really good.

This means that all types Thule accessories can fit the MB rack. Oh, this VW Adapt Kit is made to be used on Volkswagens, their factory racks are also made by Oris.

Hope this helps some of you guys.

VoyagerDude

Steven N

I have a set of Yakima racks with the normal Q Towers. After calling Yakima, I learned that I can adapt it to fit the C230 by purchasing 4 new clip plates. Yakima racks are an excellent alternative. If you plan on carrying kyaks or sailboards, they have a stretch kit which allows you to move the rear support bar much further back. Just check out their website.

jungleboy

who's got it.

Hello, Did anyone get a top-mounted roof rack for their C-coupe. If so, could you write a little bit about it or post some pictures...thank you.

c240x

Here's the link:

Pix of coupe rack

VoyagerDude

I also bought the MB roof rack (the basic carrier) and use it as a base for a 6-pair Thule ski rack.
I also plan to get the Thule (VeloVise) fork-down bile racks for summer.

c240x

Do the Thule accesories fit into the c-channel MB roof racks? I though the Velovise 589 fork down carrier was designed only for the rectangular bars

VoyagerDude

You're right, but apparently there is an adaptor so it will fit the MB c-channel rack (now I know what it's called )

The Thule Flattop ski rack (silver in color) was also meant to be used the the Thule square bars but with the adaptor (which is basically a T bolt ) works beautifully with the MB rack.

oh yeah, Volvo and VW use exact same c-channel system for their racks and accessories.

Rick

I wonder if the taller of the risers is supposed to go in the back so the rack holds whatever it's holding on a level plane. I would thing a boards, ski's or kayak would fly right off the roof if the front was higher than the back (as pictured here) https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...ight=bike+rack

VoyagerDude

Each of these risers is marked as being the front or the rear one with a nice picture on the bottom of the silver rail. They seem to be the same height, when on the car and the skis/boards seem to be horizontal. I've used this setup for 2 months now and it worked fine.