S212 Wagons and Roof Racks
 

I am disappointed to find that I cannot get more than 10% off the big name roof rack brands like Thule and Yakima...at least not in Canada. Seems the distributor up here has a lock on prices and US internet outlets are prohibited from shipping North.

This is what I found and the Cdn prices:

ROOF BARS

• Thule Snowcat 5401 system; 2 bars w/locks. Skis only - $329.95
• Mercedes-Benz basic carrier A212 890 0493 - $374.30
• Rhino-Rack Vortex Aero Silver 49” VA126S - $434 pair
  Includes Leg kit SX001 @ $194
• Thule AeroBlade Edge 7503 size L single bar - $465.90 pair
• Yakima Whispbar S45 (910 mm) system; 2 bars w/locks - $524.99

SKI RACKS

• Yakima PowderHound 4 pr. Ski rack- -$169.00
• Mercedes-Benz Standard ski rack A000 890 0493 - $202.00
• Thule Flat Top 6 pr. Ski rack - $179.00
  Add 4 pk locks - $75.00
• Mercedes-Benz pull-out ski rack A000 890 0393 - $330.00

ROOF BOX

• Thule 613 Pulse Alpine - Low Profile Ski and Cargo Box - $466.95
  Dimensions: 88.5" x 25.5" x 12.5" Max. Ski Length 211 cm
• Yakima Skybox 12 Carbonite Ski and Cargo Box - $669.99
  Dimensions: 92" x 24" x 16" Max. Ski Length 214 cm
• Mercedes-Benz 450 roof box black metallic A000 840 0300 - $839.00
  Dimensions: 86.5" x 31.5" x 15.75" Max. Ski Length unknown?

Thule's Snowcat system seems ideal for skis only, but is wasted money if I want to upgrade to bikes or a roof box. M-B bars are the best price but the most awkward looking. Love the flush-fitting Yakima Whispbar and Thule AB Edge designs, and I'm not so concerned about clearance as I don't open the pano roof during the winter anyway. There is huge variation in styles of roof boxes and surely some go better with the S212 than others but which ones? I favor the low profile ones and need to fit 200 cm X-country skis. Color is also a consideration; with tenorite gray I think I'm safe with black or similar dark gray, but silver or light gray might be out.

Would appreciate responses to a couple of questions from those who have or are also shopping for roof racks:

1. Anyone know what the max. ski length for the M-B 450 box?
2. Anyone from Canada know of a deal on Yakima Whispbars (my first choice)?
3. Anyone in the States know an internet sale that would ship Thule or Yakima up here?
4. Lastly, can those with roof boxes please post a photo and describe the pluses and minuses of their set-up?

Need2Speed,

did you find a solution? I'm looking for racks and box for my wagon.

thanks

Sorry, no :-(. Still scanning local ads for a good used set-up.

i've got the whisbars and thule box on mine. the whispbars don't allow room for the sunroof to open but are almost invisible.

How's the noise on your set up? I had OEM BMW racks on my e90 and wasn't too bad, but once you put on the touring cycle holder (for thru-axle road bike with wheel on), the whistling was unbearable.

it's not bad, no whistling. It creates an air noise similar to the side view mirrors starting around 45. any speed up to 70, the noise is easily masked by light music or conversation volume. after road trips i often leave it on for days while commuting without realizing its there. i never leave the crossbars on without the box so i can't comment on those alone.

I'm leaning towards the Aeroblades at the moment and Force box. It's just the wife and I, no kids.

Ive got the thule box before it was called the force something 1800 in gloss black.

For what it's worth... I'm running a Thule setup (square load bars) carried over from my '03 Passat wagon... it grabs the cargo rails just fine - no concerns loaded with bikes or cargo box. Might open up some search options on the kijiji market.

Have you tried mounting the crossbars as far back as possible? In order to at least allow the sunroof to tilt open a crack

Jabberwock, do you have the rail mounted bars or the flush mount? I'm not worried about opening the sunroof but I am concerned about wind noise and the Aeroblades seem to have more.

i mount the front crossbar directly over the b pillar. This achieves the max spread the box will allow which reduces vibration.
I also don't put my hand anywhere near the sunroof open/close switch when the bars are on there.

I have the flush version, http://www.whispbar.com/product/rail-bar/

Thanks. I think I am going to go with those as well. Now to pick a box.

search craigslist in your area. i got a killer deal on mine.

Is this the correct spec: Whispbar S45 (910 mm) system?

thanks.

Here's the PN 8050407. I purchased them from ebay. The description says 38.5"-42.5"

Thanks!

Ebay has a few ranging from $230 to $530, wow.

A couple of used Thule Snowcat ski-only bars have popped up on kijiji locally so I might try it out. Concerned the clamps are not rubber-coated though, could mark up the roof rails.

From a review of the Snowcat " The one nice feature that is not told about is that the coating on the hooks themselves that wrap around the roof rack - it is kind of a plastic coating around the metal part itself. And it also has another plastic padding underneath of it, too, so it does not mar up the finish of your factory roof rack. "

You might want to check out that "kind of a plastic coating" comment.

I still haven't ordered any bars. Interesting that Rerack has the S45 for more on their ebay site than their retail site.

the Thule carrier has a protected hook as well as rubber seat.

Thanks Jabberwock.

I got these bars from AliExpress
They appear to be Whispbar replicas
$100 for the pair, a fraction of the price of the Thule I was also considering. They have a rubberized coating around the clamps
So far so good, the keys are pretty flimsy but they are noise free and do the trick for my purposes. Time will tell if they hold up

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...532a563aa9.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...63efa6d8b9.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...fa9c83d010.jpg

those look exactly like the whispbar. How do they sound without a box on there?

Shhh - if you're quiet enough you might hear them

Honestly, the build quality of these cars is so superior, I dunno if you can hear anything. (I'm coming from an Audi V8 with aftermarket exhaust and they are much more noisy) I certainly don't hear wind noise, but it is cold here in Canada and I haven't driven with the windows down

Note: I've mounted them just behind the front doors, so there is room for the sunroof to tilt open. These are too low for the sunroof to slide back and same goes with the Thule Aero bars. I'm sure with the sunroof cracked open you'd hear a bit

Do you have a link where you bought them?

Resurrecting an old thread. What is the maximum length box that might fit on a wagon? I've seen some very long boxes out there. The fit guide at Thule said 90" box would fit.

Anyone have experience with Inno boxes? Just curious how they compare to Yakima or Thule.

Thanks

Oops sorry I missed your message here from awhile back
I found the crossbars on Aliexpress
A quick search shows this now, which is the same as what I bought
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1x-C...ceBeautifyAB=0
Hope that helps

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...6a93561ce1.jpg

Cross bars in action while camping, with a basic rooftop box

UPDATE: just bought a set of S46 Whispbars on clearance at the local rack shop for 40% off list. While Yakima recommends size S45, I found the front bar fits fine. Only the back bar was too wide due to the car's tapering roofline. Easily solved by following a helpful YouTube slide show by Dave Briskham which details a few simple steps to cut down one end for a custom fit. Took off 2 1/2" which still allows a good amount of adjustability. Next, a low profile roof box to carry nordic skis. Packline or Skiguard with "tunnel" mounting of the cross bars through the box would be great but boy are they expensive!

Good to hear you got the bars. Good luck on finding the right box. I've been looking for a couple of weeks and haven't narrowed it down but it's still going to be around $600.

I'm with you on the price limit :y

Thanks for the insight...
So, the forward S46 Whispbar will fit without modification on the S212 rails? And the rear Whispbar will need to be trimmed?

How far back from the sunroof will the forward bar fit without mod?

Without trimming, the front bar will go to the back edge of the B pillar. As said, I took 2.5" off the rear bar. I've positioned it to the rear of that side rail support which lines up with the C pillar, but it can adjust either direction.

Any evidence of touching?

Cargo box next
 

When I close my eyes and dream of the perfect cargo box for the S212, this uber-sexy Packline model appears. Based on their FX SUV model but sadly not available in North America.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...53e45d1331.png
The Skiguard 830S is close, a bit longer and taller but with essentially the same profile and fiberglass construction, and retail in the USA for $1300. Unfortunately that translates to almost $2k in our feeble Canadian dollars once shipping/taxes are included. Yakima boxes are just plain fugly IMHO and Inno boxes too short for nordic skis, but nice low-profile Thule boxes in ABS are about half. Hmmm, what price style?

How is the wind noise with the racks? Not when loaded but without anything on there.

Unnoticeable in city driving, haven't been on the highway yet.

It should be possible to trim the end of the bolt? The Whispbar jaws have excess travel for the width of the S212 side rails and several mm could be removed without consequence.

How long on your skis? https://www.thule.com/en-us/us/cargo...pine-_-1691708 is supposed to handle 215cm. My cross country skis are still in Regina but I'm not going to be putting them in the box, it's more for clothes and maybe golf clubs.

I'm looking at the Inno as it's white (same as the wagon) and low profile.

My comments re length were directed to the Inno boxes, which max out under 200 cm interior length. Too bad because I agree they are very nicely styled. The reason I want a box or rack to carry skis is so they arrive at the right temperature. From inside the car it can take 15 minutes and longer for them to cool down to snow temp.

Canadians may be interested to know that we now have a distributor for the Packline ski boxes; Debel Distribution in Vancouver. They plan to market online through Rack Attack on an special order basis with 25% deposit and up to 6 months wait time. Aside from that inconvenience, the retail pricing quoted me was 25% higher than the equivalent Skiguard boxes out of Colorado, even including exchange, shipping, and taxes. And Skiguard has stock :y

Nice, not even available in the US. The Skiguard are nice looking but about twice what I was looking at.

I have left over roof racks and the coffin size box for sale. Both OEM, ,make me an offer if interested. However, the roof box has about 200 bucks worth of stickers on it haha.https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...cb6363c5de.jpg

I ordered the Inno 624 and it should arrive this week. Yesterday I put the rack on for the first time to get familiar with it. There isn't a whole lot of clearance between the bar and roof. The Inno instructions say to have a minimum 2" between the bottom of the bar and the roof and I'm no where near that. Is this normal for the Whispbars?

The Whispbars are by far the closest to the roof of any crossbars I've examined. The solution is to use the slotted track on top with a T-bolt to attach your box. Some box makers provide this attachment, otherwise you have to look for an aftermarket supplier. Thule for example discontinued their T-track adapter kit in North America about 3 years ago, according to my local Thule dealer. He said there wasn't any demand? OTOH, the kit is still available in Europe and Australia.

By the way, my search for a cargo box continues. I was very very close to pulling the trigger on a Skiguard box (which comes with the T-bolt attachment) after receiving a favorable quote from the Colorado distributor. But when I returned to purchase a week later, the price jumped and I just lost faith in them.

Thanks! Inno does sell a slotted track kit, it's on order now.

The Skiguard is about twice what the Inno is, but the Skiguard does look nicer. And the Inno is lighter than the Skiguard so the wife could possibly put it on herself.

I put the Inno box on tonight and thought I would try it without the T slot adapter. The hooks of the attaching mounts had some room to work so I went with it. But, there is not a lot of room between the bottom of the hook and the roof. I'll have to watch how much the hook drops as i put the gear in. But now that I think about it, i might be better off using the T slot adapter. i didn't completely understand how the adapter worked but it seems a better solution.

Post a picture!

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...6bec04a719.jpg

I put the T slot adapter on and it was a lot easier than the standard mechanism.

Hey that looks really good! White box is a nice touch. How about a profile photo?

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...04a09fb27d.jpg

Not too bad.

Looks to be in an ideal position close to the roof but without worry about scratching, only possible with T-tracks. Please post your impression of the wind noise after some miles.

We just did a 1k km trip along the coast from east of LA up to Morro Bay and Paso Robles. The noise wasn't too bad around 115k but moving north of 120 it started to get loud. The weather was warm so with the air and music blasting the noise was not that noticeable.

Your box looks to be in the best position to reduce noise, not overhanging the windshield, so I suppose that is the least noise that can be expected.

Finally ordered a cargo box
 

This thread has come full circle. I started by complaining about price fixing on big brand cargo boxes and will conclude with first hand experience.

Amazon Canada had a killer deal on my #2 choice for a cargo box to mount on the Whispbars (Skiguard was #1), including free delivery before Christmas. The low-profile Thule 606 Flow will accept about six pairs of Nordic skis up to 210cm long and sits only 11 ¼ inches above the cross bars.

I’d seen this box at a local rack shop last summer. Although non-current, they had a few in stock offered at $50 off MSRP. The sales guy raved that fit and finish was better than newer models and I’d be smart to grab one before they were gone for good. I took a close look at several boxes and came to the conclusion I preferred the gloss black acrylic finish of the 606 over the matte, pebble, and faux carbon fibre texture that covered many new boxes. I also appreciated how it didn’t flex as much as others when raising and lowering the lid, and thought the overall shape nicely compliment the S212.

But the Thule was just too expensive to justify for occasional use, and I found it aggravating that retailers were generally sticking close to MSRP even on this non-current model. I kept hunting and eventually came upon the Amazon sale by Thule themselves. Before pulling the trigger, I called the shop to see if they would price-match. They wouldn't budge so I went with Amazon and saved 25%.

When I checked my Amazon order later that same day, I found that Thule had increased the price back to full list. One can only wonder if the bricks and mortar store made a complaint after my call?

Regardless of which brand, you must pay attention to how the cargo box mounts to the Whispbars as there isn't a lot of clearance between bars and roof. I was fortunate to locate a Thule adapter kit for the 606 which allows their box to mount to the crossbar T-slots rather than using Thule's clamps. You could also scratch-build a T-slot adapter with parts available on Ebay.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...1e0cba84f.jpeg
Thule 606 Flow cargo box

Glad to hear you finally got a box. What, it took about two years from your first post? That's some perseverance. :)

LOL, just shows it was more of a "nice to have" than a "need to have" ;-) Made do last season using a Mercedes ski holder from my old W124. Fit the Whispbar T-slot just fine but of course the skis were exposed to the elements.

Here is my Ski Box Comparison in order of MSRP:

Packline NX 215 shipped from Vancouver
Length 215 cm, width 88 cm, height 34 cm
Weight 24 kg, capacity 450 liters, ski length 212 cm
Material high-gloss, ABS twin-sheet plastic

Skiguard 830S shipped from Colorado
Length 214 cm, width 88 cm, height 30 cm
Weight 25 kg, capacity 470 liters, ski length 205 cm
Material gloss fiberglass-reinforced polyester

Whispbar WB754 Lo-Line not available in Canada
Length 230 cm, width 94 cm, height 30 cm
Weight 24 kg, capacity 420 liters

Thule Motion XT Alpine available locally
90 mm clamps fit Whispbars or T-track adapters available
Length 230 cm, width 95 cm, height 33.5 cm (12.25” above bars)
Weight 30 kg, capacity 453 liters, ski length 215 cm
Material gloss acrylic over ABS plastic

Thule 606 Flow available locally
80 mm clamps will not fit 85 mm Whispbars width without modification – use T-track adapter 697-6
Length 226 cm, width 87 cm, height 31 cm (11.25” above bars)
Weight 25 kg, capacity 400 liters, ski length 210 cm
Material gloss acrylic over ABS plastic

Yakima Skybox Lo Carbonite available locally
Length 234 cm, width 91.5 cm, height 29 cm
Weight 23.6 kg, capacity 425 liters, ski length 221 cm
Material matte ABS plastic

Rhino-Rack Z86 Zenith available locally (optionally available T-bolts)
Length 215 cm, width 88 cm, height 37 cm (@ 13.6” above bars)
Weight 23.6 kg, capacity 453 liters, ski length 201 cm
Material gloss ABS/PMMA

Thule 613 Pulse Alpine Low available locally
Length 225 cm, width 65 cm, height 32 cm
Weight 13.6 kg, capacity 312 liters, ski length 211 cm
Material matte ABS plastic

The pending arrival of this box creates two new concerns; 1) how to store it when not on my vehicle, and 2) how to keep it clean while in storage in a dusty parkade. Seen a few YouTube videos adapting kayak wall holders for storing cargo boxes. Also online are bespoke storage covers in Europe but pricey. Anyone MacGyver'd something interesting for either purpose?

I'm in the same situation, the box has been in box it arrived in three months ago.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...19c6f9b3ee.jpg
The plan is to hang it on the wall using the original clamps that are attached to a rod that sits in more hooks. Hopefully the picture gives you an idea. I don't have the ceiling space in the garage for those fancy hanging storage methods.
Not sure if this is good for the box long term but I don't use the clamps and mine will be inside the garage.

Excellent solution :y

I'm going with a product which combines storage and protection. Have on order this nifty full-coverage waterproof bag made by Cover It of the Netherlands, which I intend to hang from a couple of hooks. Because it's internally padded on the ends, I could also stand it up.


https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...30d74bf47b.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...de85fd0593.jpg

Going with the Flow
 

Here are in situ pics of the Thule Flow attached to Whispbars via T-slots; a nice fit IMHO. Was at our local Nordic skiing area and a little fresh snow fell making it just a perfect day :-)

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...15f2d2856b.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...43014aa827.jpg

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...0c3cb868b4.jpg

Very nice!