In case there is anyone else out on the forum who, like me, gets an urge to haul a canoe, kayak, bicycle, surfboard, or other toy, I thought I would warn everyone about a couple of things.

First the pro parts man at my mercedes dealer had a heck of a time with getting the CORRECT part number for my 2012 C63 coupe. Apparently, Mercedes makes 3 versions of a roof rack for the C series: wagon, coupe, and sedan. The part numbers are very non-intuitive. One has a "W" in it, one has a "C in it, and one has an "S" in it, but those do NOT correspond to wagon, coupe, and sedan. That would be too easy. The Coupe takes one of the others besides "C".

It gets even worse.

This is apparently NOT the number that the parts man must order. He has to key it to another number entirely, tht has NO C,S, or W in it - just numbers.

He thought the correct number was 204-890-13-93 and he had one in stock along time that he offered to me at a very attractive price to get rid of it. I took it home. It did not fit. It was too wide.

I brought it back and he and I tried it together in the service area (raining outside), and he agreed that there was no way it could be adjusted narrow enough.

He graciously took it back and said he would replace it with the correct one - at no additional cost. This was nice because (1) he had given me a GREAT price (my lips are sealed) and (2) the correct pn costs $60 more! A very nice man and a very nice MB dealership (Mercedes Benz of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island).

He got the new rack in the 2nd business day after.

Its part number, the correct one, is 204-890-05-93.

This one was incorrect as adjusted from the factory, but was easily adjusted to the correct width with a hex key that normally comes in the box. This box however was missing the hex key. So he took the hex key from the old, incorrect box kit and put it in mine.

It gets more interesting yet . . .

Our cars have a relatively narrow rooftop - lots of what the designers call "tumblehome". This greatly limits the width of the rack, since the Mercedes design, which is actually a Thule design made for Mercedes, ENCLOSES the ends of the bars inside the towers, which themselves add even more tumblehome. This makes the bars unstealable, but also short. The bottom line is that the clear space on the bars between the towers is just 30.5 inches.

This has repercussions.

It limits greatly the size and number of toys that can be hauled on this rack.

Specifically for canoes, canoe widths range from super slinky 22" racers to 38" tripping canoes with good carrying capacity. Most "recreational" canoes are in the, yep, 30" wide range. Fortunately, I favor the slinkier, narrower type of canoe. If you want to haul a canoe, hopefully you too do. Hey, we are C63 drivers after all, so why would we want a SLOW canoe??

For bicycles, the narrow width gets limiting by virtue of the bike handlebars.

For paddleboards or surfboards, again the width of the boards may limit you to ONE board unless you figure out how to SAFELY doublestack or haul "on edge".

By the way, MB offers bicycle haulers that fit on the racks, and board haulers, but NOT canoe or kayak haulers.

But the Thule dealers say that the MB bars are the same profile as the Thule branded bars, so Thule accessories "in general", but not always, fit. Use due diligence when shopping . . .

Finally, Thule offers just ONE device for hauling canoes. It consists of 4 clamps, 2 of which clamp to each crossbar. The clamps are a few inches wide each, whoch coupled with the 30.5" bar length we get for the C63, means we can only haul super slinky canoes, and maybe not even those, if we use the clamps the way Thule intended. Thule intends for these clamps to be mounted to the bars OUTSIDE the canoe gunwales. However, clever (and desperate) canoeists have apparently determined that they work fine when mounted INSIDE the gunwales, since their sole purpose is to prevent sideslip and angular skewing in a 60mph (or higher???) road speed.

The Thule "Portage" kit includes these 4 clamps PLUS a collection of good straps to secure the casnoe to the rack, the front end of the car, and the rear end of the car.

Who thought this would actually be easy??

Great things about the MB solution include:

- The racks BOLT to hidden recesses in the C63 roof. NO paint contact whatsoever

- The bolting makes the racks VERY secure

- The spacing between the front bar and rear bar is 30" center to center. Believe it or not, this is very generous for cars! Most have only 24" c-t-c. Only some SUVs, wagons, and vans have longer c-t- spacings. I want to canoe, but I won't drive a wagon, SUV, or van for the privilege of doing so!

- The entire MB system is very well protected against theft of the rack or its components. You'll see what I mean if you buy one.

I wish I had more width to work with, but I can live with the 30.5". But if you are shopping for water toys, keep that 30.5" dimension in mind.

Jim G

 

Turns out that there is an optional Thule (not MB) kit called "Xadapt12". This is a set of 4 special bolts and extended barrel nuts, which allow you to connect a number of Thule accessory kits (including the canoe carrier, for example), directly to the aerobars without using the clunky "clamps" that are otherwise required. The kit is inexpensive and makes the mounting of the accessories notably more rigid and foolproof, and also more secure from an anti-theft perspective.

I am adding this to the posting for the benefit of anyone later doing a search on "roof rack".

Jim G

 

Jim we need pics of the C63 with the roof rack!


Thanks


-Patel

 

I should be able to take some tomorrow after I wash the car. Of course, it won't qualify as "C63 ****" - a C63 with roof rack is like Sandra Bullock with braces - or with a Mohawk.

Jim G

 

Er, I read on the internets that in some circles these days, all of that would very much qualify.

(subbed for the Sandra Bullock braces pics)

 

Thanks for your post, and I'm guessing it will fit with my C350 coupe. I am looking to take my mountain bike with me, and trying to put it in the trunk is less than ideal.

Pics would be great.

-Thanks.

 

Be very careful on assuming it will fit. The parts guy at my dealership is an MB pro who himself found the number of variants and their fit by model confusing. All you should deduce from my posting is what part number works and what part number does not on a C63 COUPE, period!

My parts guy was troubled by the complexity and illogic in the part number naming, and I suspect that the original rack he sold me was gathering dust at the dealership precisely because it had been ordered for a Coupe and found to not fit, long before I got there!

Big companies do make stupid naming and part numbering decisions simetimes . . .

If you buy a rack from MB (or from Thule or Yakima for that matter), INSIST on the deal clearly stating that it must fit your specific model and type!

Jim G

 

https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...roof-rack.html

 

Here is how the rack looks installed on my 2012 C63:

(But note that I have not yet installed the rubber strips that run along the top surface of the aero bars, as I first need to install a set of tabs for the Portage canoe kit, THEN the rubber strips. The rubber strips protect the canoe, bicycle, paddleboard, etc from damage via rubbing on the aerobar)











Each tower, and also its individual COVER, is indexed and LABELED for a specific location on the car(look closely):





Once properly installed, each tower does not touch the car's paint ANYWHERE (notice the ga.Only the BOLT and 2 hidden tabs connect to the car:





The next 2 photos show the hideen tabs misaligned and then aligned. They must be aligned in order to secure the rack properly and in the right location! This is easy to do, but you have to KNOW to do it (see the instructions for the rack):








The green rag is what I use on the FAR end of each aerobar when installing each aerobar, to ensure that far end does not scratch my point by slipping down the roof.

Here's the Thule Portage kit for hauling canoes:





I have not installed it yet, as the Thule dealer is getting me 2 extras that make the kit far nicer in appearance and more secure.

See my next posting (next few minutes about why people who don't need a rakc might consider installing one.

Jim G