[Chris Brown]

Hi Everyone,

I have been lurking here for awhile researching roof racks. It seems to me that the standard MB roof rack will not allow you to operate the pano sunroof, and most people are opting for the Thule roof racks.

I looked at the Thule website, and it looks like it recommends either the AeroBlade, AeroBlade Edge (has integrated feet), or the square bars. Can anyone speak to the quality of each on the GLA? Any picture would be awesome!

Also, do you need a fairing? Will it fit with the GLA/pano?


Thanks!!

 

[ebilchicken]

Hey Chris Brown!

Welcome to the forum! I'm not sure about the official Mercedes-Benz roof racks but I have a set of Thule WingBar Edge for my GLA.

In terms of quality they are sturdy and all the mechanisms have been fine. I've made 3 trips to the snow this year with a few overnights and nothing has jammed or frozen over.

I can confirm that if you space the bars out properly you can open your pano both tilt and full open. When I have my snowboard clamps and snowboards on the roof I can't full open as the window goes up too high unless I take off the bindings from the upside down set.

I'll be heading up to the snow again this coming weekend and can take some newer photos of the pano open and tilted for you. But for now I've attached the few photos I have of my car with the roof bars on.

 

[cute-ute]

Did you install those onto your GLA yourself or did you bring it to a garage?

 

[ebilchicken]

Hey cute-ute,

Installed them myself. You just need to get the right fitting kit with the right set of WingBar Edge. Part numbers are below for the silver, black has different part numbers.

Foot Pack RT 9594 (includes bars)
Fit Kit 4049

That WingBar kit has a small and medium bar. I'll confirm which one goes on the front and which goes on the rear when I put my bars on again in 2 days time.

 

[cute-ute]

You didn't need to drill any holes into the roof of your GLA at all?

 

[Boxster986S]

You didn't need to drill any holes into the roof of your GLA at all?

Doubt that!

The factory MB one doesn't require that anyway. It clamps to the existing roof rails. Surely the Thule mounts similarly.

 

[Watto]

Thule bars fit to the roof rails. No drilling necessary. I got mine done by a local roof rack specialist and they spent some time to make sure the pano roof would still work on tilt and full open. I am only using the bars to carry a canoe so no issue with other fittings but a kayak holder may not allow the roof to open as the fit is quite close.

 

[SPG43]

I just put the MB racks on my GLA. There is a little tab on the front mounts that keeps the sunroof from opening. It's not a structural part and it doesn't seem to do anything or have any purpose other than preventing the sunroof from opening. My guess is that MB doesn't want you to put something on the rack that would interfere with the sunroof, open the sunroof and break it on whatever you put on the rack. Some kind of preventive dummy proofing? Once I take the racks off I'm going to clip those little tabs off. I like me some sunshine even when I'm carrying stuff up top!

 

[ebilchicken]

Apologies for the delay in these photos.

If you mount the Thule bars in the correct locations you can tilt and open the sunroof.