What up everyone. I am stuck at a bit of a dilemma here.

I have a 2012 C300 sedan, and I go snowboarding lots every year, and am getting tired of fitting all of my gear in the trunk, and having to put the back seats down all the time to put snowboards in.

So my plan is to get the Mercedes Cross Bars of course, and here is where I am stuck.

I have a choice of either the large roof rack that can hold 4 snowboards, or a Mercedes roof box.

Now my Mercedes guy recommends the Roofbox, cause it is actually pretty hard to fit 4 snowboard on the large rack, and for me the roof box will protect the equipment from rocks, sand, etc.

But I park in an underground parkade and don't want the clearance to be an issue with the roofbox. (I see trucks park without any issues down here)

First world problems hey!

Any one got any suggestions? Or their 2cents

 

Measure how much clearance you got left when pulling in with the car then find out how tall the box is and add it together.

 

Here's my $0.02:
I have same model as you with a roof rack and my wife has an Escape that we use the roof box on occasionally for longer trips to camp, snowboard, etc. when we take our Rottie with us. I have positives and negatives on both. The roof rack is awesome for quick trips to our local ski place (more of a hill with lifts but you get what you get in Iowa). I've taken it out to Colorado on a few trips with just the two of us and its worked great. If you give your boards a good waxing and just leave some un-scraped wax on the nose facing out, you should be fine for shorter trips. I've also found that putting one of those heavy duty trash bags (some times double bagging (lol)) will help keep grime off your decks and bindings. I've just done this to the front and back and met them in the middle and clamped them down under the rack bars so they dont flail around the whole ride or take too much gas mileage off. Never had an issue with rocks or anything dinging my boards. The water or snow? Who cares, they're snowboards, they're going to get wet when you start riding, hence the extra bit of wax that you would just need to scrape off when you get to the mountain, takes 2 minutes and you're done. The drawbacks are obviously the chance you take to potentially really tear your board apart if they get hit by rocks, but havent had an issue.

The roof box is great on the escape, but we got a larger one so it doesn't really fit on the C too well, just hangs off the back too far. Its great in that the storage is there and its covered and has a lock for when you get to the mountain. I can fit 6 boards vs 4 in the rack, plus other bags and such that dont need to be temperature regulated (clothes, boots, riding equipment, etc.). The drawback is that unless it is a Thule or Yakima that has the quick release knobs, they are a pain in the *** to get on and off her car. Granted SUV vs car would be easier, but the one we have only opens from one side so invariably I have to climb on the seats to reach the far side. If you get a really nice one that opens vertically or on both sides, maybe not as big of an issue. Plus storing the thing is kind of pain as it take up a lot of room everywhere it goes so its in the basement/garage when not in use, just taking up valuable space for other stuff. The rack just goes in the closet and doesn't take up a lot of room.

The last thing I'll say is price. Depending on what your intentions for use are I would say a roof rack is the better option for just your snowboards. That's why I bought one for my car before we got her new one and the box. It was cheaper and all I needed it for was transporting my boards to and from riding. Everything else fit in the back and truck. The boxes are expensive for the really nice ones, just for snowboarding, might not be worth it, but we take it camping, snowboarding, road trips in general and for larger family events where we need to take a lot of stuff and our dog. Additionally if you have a pet, a box is great to still have storage space and still be able to take them.

Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask!