shashivr4

Trying to prepare for the delivery of my new 2013 E350 wagon! Looking for a bike rack that can be used on the rear of the vehicle (versus on the roof rack). Unfortunately, I haven't been successful in my search. Does anyone know of anything?

Thanks!

diesel_power

Did you check out Thule?

shashivr4

Can a tow package be added to US Spec Wagons?

GregTR

Not a factory one, no. Curt Manufacturing makes a Class I hitch that you can use for a bike rack or tow up to 2,000 lbs with 200 lbs tongue weight limit.

I tried to have it installed on my wagon by U-haul last week and the fitment was off to the point where they couldn't mount it. I talked with Curt tech department and said try the sedan one as the only difference is that the cross beam is shorter and it should fit better. I'm waiting for the sedan version (#11001) to arrive to U-haul.

I have a 2014 and I doubt there is this much difference between the 2013 and 2014 in terms of bumper location so right now I'm a bit skeptical about how well it will fit.

I had a Curt on my BMW E90x and it fit fine and installed it myself. This time I figured I'd rather pay the $50 to have it installed and I'm glad I did as the install ran into this fitment issue.

I will use the hitch to tow my 8ft trailer with dirt bikes and to mount a bike rack.

shashivr4

Greg, please let me know how the Sedan version works. Pics would be great!

Thanks in advance!

MinnBobber

European E wagons have a superb factory tow pkg available but US MB wants to force everyone into an SUV instead of a wagon with a nice tow pkg.

The Euro version has a hitch receiver that folds under the car for a tidy look.
It also has the "lever" to release the hitch to fold out/ fold in mounted inside the wagon so it doesn't get dirty.

You may want to investigate is it possible to order the parts here? Possible to mount it on an existing vehicle (not at the factory). I'd guess no on both counts but it would be the best system

GregTR

The hitch system is available as a factory option or a custom retrofit in Europe. Unfortunately the retrofit specifically excludes the North American market as well as Japan, it says so on the retrofit installation manual. Plus if you have the latest Keyless-GO with the hands free trunk opening that also conflicts with this retrofit so it's a double whammy for my particular car. The other issue is the ball itself which in Europe is a metric 50 mm which is 1.93 inches which is too small for a 2" receiver but too big for the 1 7/8". Plus it's a ball which is not bike mount friendly unless you want to dole out even more money for the Euro hitch ball mount specific bike rack.

More info here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tow_hitch
And This is why you can't get the factory hitch in the US, because it's an ISO standard hitch and the US is one of the few moronic countries who do not conform to an international standard. And with only ~1,700 wagons sold annually MB refuses to design one for the US when most would get a ML instead anyway.

GregTR

Well I went to Uhaul to get the sedan hitch fitted. No dice. The length of the support bar is indeed shorter but it is not angled so the other part would not line up with the bumper any more. They also found the screws that came with the kit too short to mount the support bar to the frame.

Ultimately it was a fail as of right now and there are no other alternatives that I know of. I'm kind of disappointed and have no idea what I'm going to do about it...

shashivr4

Thanks for the update. I don't know why we can't simply order the kit they utilize in Europe...I guess it makes too much sense...

shashivr4

Found this also on my recent trip to Europe. Wonder if these accessories could be purchased from a US dealer?