24 VRT
Active Member
- Joined
- Oct 1, 2010
- Messages
- 128
- Location
- North Hampshire
- Car
- '99 S210 E320CDI A/garde - gone to a better place.. Now '09 S211 E320CDI Sport.
Having had to replace my existing set of roof bars from the old S210 as they wouldn't fit the S211, I wondered about keeping the new ones better protected when not in use. The old ones used to just lie on the floor in the garage getting dirty and picking up the odd scuff or two. I knew there were Mercedes storage bags available, but the best price I could find them was c.£40. To be honest, I didn't like the look of them - a sort of glossy nylon finish which, to me, didn't give off a sense of durability. There are aftermarket storage bags about but, again, they look flimsy - and those that didn't still seemed to have poor quality reviews on Amazon etc.
In my search I did, however, find some excellent bags by Audi which looked rugged, durable and well designed. Best of all, if you are patient, they can be picked up very cheaply on ebay. This is mine after a bit of DIY:-
This is how I did it.
The Audi logos on the sides are a sort of vinyl transfer with adhesive backing:-
Coat generously with Isopropyl Alcohol (rubbing alcohol) or a suitable solvent of your choice. The top transfer will then seperate from the adhesive backing which will remain attached to the material surface. Further application of Isopropyl Alcohol to small areas of the adhesive at a time will result in it losing its adhesive qualities, and it can then be scratched off. I just used my fingernail as if you use anything sharper there is a risk you will catch a thread in the material which will then look unsightly when finished. This is showing part way through adhesive removal:-
This is the two sides of the carrier side by side showing the first side where the logo had been removed. The darker patch is just the dampness from the removal process:-
Once both logos were removed, I felt some form of MB branding would be nice. Luckily I had some old alloy wheel centre caps lying about and one of them was still in good uncorroded condition - it looked good mounted on the large pocket at the top of the carrier:-
To fit it securely, I gently lifted the lugs on the metal faceplate of the wheel cap so as to release it. Then the mounting clips and rim on the plastic back of the cap were cut off (I used a razor saw to give a clean cut) to leave a c.5mm backplate for the metal to be re-attached to in due course. The backplate will now sit snuggly up against the material of the carrier. I attached it to the material of the pocket on the carrier with a rivet - cut down the centre of the raised three pointed star on the backplate (so that the rivet head doesn't sit proud of the backplate and interfere with the metal faceplate sitting properly when re-attached) then drill a hole through the backplate to take your rivet. Make a small cut in the material of the pocket for the rivet to go through and then get a suitable sized washer for the rivet to clamp onto inside the pocket and to prevent the rivet from pulling through the material. Before finally pulling the rivet gun, ensure that the backplate is orientated correctly so that when the metal faceplate is re-attached the Mercedes logo is facing the right direction. You should now have this:-
Lastly re-attach the metal faceplate and fold over its tags to clamp it to the plastic backplate. Job's a good 'un!
By the way, the Audi part number is 8R0 071 156 C (Storage bag size 1) and it easily accomodates my Mercedes S211 roof bars. Bag dimensions are 125cm x 25cm x 15cm and it has a dividing partition down the middle to create two compartments, one for each bar. The pocket on the outside is big enough for the Mercedes manual for the bars, along with the allen key etc. I got mine for £15 which compares well to the £40 for the Mercedes version, even if you also have to buy a new wheel centre cap to fit to it (use the cheap ebay knock off versions).
Cheers.
In my search I did, however, find some excellent bags by Audi which looked rugged, durable and well designed. Best of all, if you are patient, they can be picked up very cheaply on ebay. This is mine after a bit of DIY:-
This is how I did it.
The Audi logos on the sides are a sort of vinyl transfer with adhesive backing:-
Coat generously with Isopropyl Alcohol (rubbing alcohol) or a suitable solvent of your choice. The top transfer will then seperate from the adhesive backing which will remain attached to the material surface. Further application of Isopropyl Alcohol to small areas of the adhesive at a time will result in it losing its adhesive qualities, and it can then be scratched off. I just used my fingernail as if you use anything sharper there is a risk you will catch a thread in the material which will then look unsightly when finished. This is showing part way through adhesive removal:-
This is the two sides of the carrier side by side showing the first side where the logo had been removed. The darker patch is just the dampness from the removal process:-
Once both logos were removed, I felt some form of MB branding would be nice. Luckily I had some old alloy wheel centre caps lying about and one of them was still in good uncorroded condition - it looked good mounted on the large pocket at the top of the carrier:-
To fit it securely, I gently lifted the lugs on the metal faceplate of the wheel cap so as to release it. Then the mounting clips and rim on the plastic back of the cap were cut off (I used a razor saw to give a clean cut) to leave a c.5mm backplate for the metal to be re-attached to in due course. The backplate will now sit snuggly up against the material of the carrier. I attached it to the material of the pocket on the carrier with a rivet - cut down the centre of the raised three pointed star on the backplate (so that the rivet head doesn't sit proud of the backplate and interfere with the metal faceplate sitting properly when re-attached) then drill a hole through the backplate to take your rivet. Make a small cut in the material of the pocket for the rivet to go through and then get a suitable sized washer for the rivet to clamp onto inside the pocket and to prevent the rivet from pulling through the material. Before finally pulling the rivet gun, ensure that the backplate is orientated correctly so that when the metal faceplate is re-attached the Mercedes logo is facing the right direction. You should now have this:-
Lastly re-attach the metal faceplate and fold over its tags to clamp it to the plastic backplate. Job's a good 'un!
By the way, the Audi part number is 8R0 071 156 C (Storage bag size 1) and it easily accomodates my Mercedes S211 roof bars. Bag dimensions are 125cm x 25cm x 15cm and it has a dividing partition down the middle to create two compartments, one for each bar. The pocket on the outside is big enough for the Mercedes manual for the bars, along with the allen key etc. I got mine for £15 which compares well to the £40 for the Mercedes version, even if you also have to buy a new wheel centre cap to fit to it (use the cheap ebay knock off versions).
Cheers.