Bicycle rack to suit E220 estate

[219]

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Dear visitor, Sorry, but for your vehicle Mercedes-benz 2019 E-CLASS T-Model (S213) we cannot offer you a towing solution. Perhaps you can retry searching via the license plate search. If you still run into problems, please contact our customer service. We are happy to help you!

That is probably because they already sell an S213 towbar ( and exclude AMG ) .

If there was demand they might make a carrier only ball for it ...

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

A detachable towbar, with “dedicated” electrics, with a tow ball mounted carrier is the right way to go for your circumstances.

Roof mounted carriers are superb, and have the fewest compromises whilst traveling g, but getting them up there and then securing them is not easy, especially in your own.

I personally would avoid a tailgate mounted carrier. I wouldn’t want to mount one bike, never mind three. Risk of damage to your car is significant let alone the risk of them falling!

So back to a towball mounted option. Whereabouts are you? A member in your area may be able to recommend a tow bar specialist fitter.

It won’t be cheap, but spend the extra on a reputable tow bar (I prefer Westfalia and that’s what Mercedes will supply if you order their kit) and also dedicated electrics.

On a car as new as yours it will be worth spending the extra few hundred pounds. Your cabling won’t be touched - dedicated electrics plug into the car’s wiring harness.

 

[219]

Just to clarify the car is an SE not AMG and yes it has the curved lip overhanging the rear window glass just like the image above. Does having a tow bar fitted by an independent affect the warranty ? Are you sure its ok to let an independent near the electrics ? I have read on here that a tow bar has to be 'mapped' - can you explain what that means. Is it a simple job and what electric pin would i ask for - i have read on here that there are different types. I dont understand what you mean by invisible with the tow bar removed ? Is it that you can remove the tow bar to make it invisible after fitting when not using the rack ? Im clueless about tow bars thought once they were on then there were visible all the time. What about the tow bar interfering with the parking sensors ? I was hoping to just get a rear bike carrier, but perhaps this is impossible/bad idea. I would never use a two bar for anything else, just bikes - is it worth doing ? Also apart from the warranty are there any issues with insurance - is this a modification ? Are there any driving licence issues ?

Sorry Margaret , your last question was about driving licence issues .

Since you won’t actually be towing a trailer , there won’t be any .

The law changed a number of years ago and , depending when you passed your driving test , you may or may not have groups BE , C1E , D1E which permit you to tow a trailer .

If the back of your photo card licence does not have the groups with little pictures of vehicles towing trailers then you would need to pass a towing test .

For those of us old enough , it wasn’t an issue and I towed the family caravan all over the UK from age 17 ; it always seems strange when people say to me they can’t (legally) tow

In your case , putting a cycle carrier onto the back of your car - even one of those long platform types which stick out up to a metre or so - does not count as towing : it does not have any wheels on the ground and is just an extension of the car .

Do , however , add up the weights of your three bikes , plus any carrier you buy , and check the total does not exceed the nose weight limit for your car ( that is the vertical load on your towbar which any caravan or trailer can exert downwards ) - this should be given in your cars handbook , and plated on the towbar if you get one , and might be anywhere from 50Kg to 150Kg , more likely towards the lower end . If the two figures differ , always go by the lower one .

You also asked about ‘electrical pin’ .

Historically, in the UK , the trailer socket was a 7pin socket , confusingly known as a 12N socket - this supplied the mandatory rear lights : indicators , brake lights , left and right tail lights separately , and , originally a constant 12V feed for ‘accessories’ .

With the advent of rear fog lamps in the late 70’s the 12V feed was used for the rear foglamp .

However , as caravans became more complex , there were requirements for additional circuits , things like reversing lights , 12V fridge supply , caravan battery charging , caravan interior lighting , tyre pressure monitoring .... for this a second 7pin socket ( with different pin configuration so they couldn’t be wrongly plugged in ) known as 12S came about .

On the continent, a 13 pin plug is used which may be partially wired only for obligatory lights ( all you would need for a lighting bar ) or fully wired for use with a caravan .

If you think there is the slightest possibility you might take up caravanning in the future ( you already go camping ) then get the fully wired socket ; otherwise just the basic one will do what you need .

 

[pmcgsmurf]

I too assumed the car was a 2019 AMG line car.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

I think the only option is a tow bar mount if the OP doesn't want to have to lift bikes onto the roof.

Tow bar mount is the only secure way of holding those 40 kilos on the back of your car. And don't forget that it'll add a metre to the length of your car when parking.

Thule do some great holders, that fold really easily. Budget just over a thousand for the towbar and holder. The holder you can buy secondhand and sell after you're finished with it. The £600 cost of the towbar you'll never recoup.

I do know a few, slightly Amazonian, ladies who are happy to "man"handle bikes onto a roof rack. They're fit, strong and happy to do it in the rain with muddy bikes. Otherwise, it's usually blokes' work.

(For elimination of doubt, I have no end of admiration for such folk. I know one who celebrated her birthday last year, by putting two bikes on her roof on a Friday, driving 700 miles to Mont Ventoux in a day, cycling it on Saturday, and then again on Sunday, and then driving back on Monday. But she's a bit ...."driven.")

 

[Londonscottish]

Tow bar mount is the only secure way of holding those 40 kilos on the back of your car. And don't forget that it'll add a metre to the length of your car when parking.

Thule do some great holders, that fold really easily. Budget just over a thousand for the towbar and holder. The holder you can buy secondhand and sell after you're finished with it. The £600 cost of the towbar you'll never recoup.

I do know a few, slightly Amazonian, ladies who are happy to "man"handle bikes onto a roof rack. They're fit, strong and happy to do it in the rain with muddy bikes. Otherwise, it's usually blokes' work.

(For elimination of doubt, I have no end of admiration for such folk. I know one who celebrated her birthday last year, by putting two bikes on her roof on a Friday, driving 700 miles to Mont Ventoux in a day, cycling it on Saturday, and then again on Sunday, and then driving back on Monday. But she's a bit ...."driven.")

That's impressive!

I find it tough with my son's MTB, easier with my wife & daughter's hybrids and easy with mine - but that's pretty light.

I treat it like a minor work-out. But it's certainly not for everyone.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

That's impressive
I find it tough with my son's MTB, easier with my wife & daughter's hybrids and easy with mine - but that's pretty light.
I treat it like a minor work-out. But it's certainly not for everyone.

It's do-able, for sure.
But, as I've spent the last five years discovering, just because you can, doesn't mean that you should, or will want to.

And all that's without discussing the whole "bike security thing:" from driving into height restrictors, to Eastern Europeans stealing bikes from vehicles at European service areas. (It's not a Grimms fairy tale: it's a regular "thing.")

 

[Eddy77]

One point to note. IF the car is on a personal lease you will need to get approval to fit a tow bar from the leasing Company AND they will insist on it being fitted by a Mercedes dealer. You won’t be allowed to have one fitted by tow bars ‘r’ us. If it’s not leased then you can go wherever you want. Not sure what the deal is if it’s on PCP (subtly different to a lease) but do check if the car is financed under one of these plans.

 

[Margaret]

Thank you guys for all the replies. I will look into the tow bar situation. I dont think a caravan will be on the cards for me, for now I am happy in our tent. I will lift the bikes to see if I could do them over head, but I have some lower back/disc issues so it might not be a good idea. 12N might be the way to go. I will try to get a price and think it all over !

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Thank you guys for all the replies. I will look into the tow bar situation. I dont think a caravan will be on the cards for me, for now I am happy in our tent. I will lift the bikes to see if I could do them over head, but I have some lower back/disc issues so it might not be a good idea. 12N might be the way to go. I will try to get a price and think it all over !

I had to lift my son’s BMX on to the roof bars last week, albeit on an SUV and so at head height - it’s not just the weight of the bike and carrier which can make roof mounted bike racks difficult, it’s the need to reach forward with the bike high up in order to get it on to the roof bars, and then steady it whilst reaching around to secure it. Not impossible but needs some strength and dexterity.

On a roof based system you secure the bike to the cycle carrier and then lift the lot on to the roof. With the tow bar based system it’s much easier because the cycle carrier is usually mounted to the tow bar first, and then the bike is secured on to the carrier - so as long as you can lift each bike to knee height then you should be fine, and no reaching around the bike to secure it, and all done at waist height or lower.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

PS If you get a towbar fitted I would go for the 13 PIN socket supplied with most modern towbar kits, rather than the twin 7 PIN sockets. The reason being that 7 PIN plugs are increasingly rare now, and if you ordered the towbar when specifying a brand new car it would come with a 13 PIN socket from the factory. If you ever need to connect a 7 PIN plug then you can buy a converter for a few pounds

 

[219]

I had to lift my son’s BMX on to the roof bars last week, albeit on an SUV and so at head height - it’s not just the weight of the bike and carrier which can make roof mounted bike racks difficult, it’s the need to reach forward with the bike high up in order to get it on to the roof bars, and then steady it whilst reaching around to secure it. Not impossible but needs some strength and dexterity.

On a roof based system you secure the bike to the cycle carrier and then lift the lot on to the roof. With the tow bar based system it’s much easier because the cycle carrier is usually mounted to the tow bar first, and then the bike is secured on to the carrier - so as long as you can lift each bike to knee height then you should be fine, and no reaching around the bike to secure it, and all done at waist height or lower.

With my roof bar based systems , the carriers were already on the bars : I just lifted the bikes up into the channels , middle ones first , swung the grips up to hold the front bar of the bike frame , then secured the wheels to the channels .

I can’t imagine why anyone would do it the other way around ?

 

[Margaret]

Just some final questions. How long does it take to fit a tow bar, just say if I went for the 13 pin one. I see some companies come to your home to fit them. Any disadvantages to adding a tow bar to the car ? Does the car then recognise when it's there and when the carrier is detached the lighting is back to normal ? Will it interfere with 360 camera and sensors ?

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Just some final questions. How long does it take to fit a tow bar, just say if I went for the 13 pin one. I see some companies come to your home to fit them. Any disadvantages to adding a tow bar to the car ? Does the car then recognise when it's there and when the carrier is detached the lighting is back to normal ? Will it interfere with 360 camera and sensors ?

If you get dedicated electrics then the fitter will “code” the car to tell it that it has a towbar with electrics socket(S) fitted. When the car detects that something connected to the electrics socket(s) then the car will adapt accordingly, for example it will automatically disable the rear parking sensors but leave the front sensors active. The 360 camera will continue to function as normal.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

With my roof bar based systems , the carriers were already on the bars : I just lifted the bikes up into the channels , middle ones first , swung the grips up to hold the front bar of the bike frame , then secured the wheels to the channels .

I can’t imagine why anyone would do it the other way around ?

Whichever is easiest. I’ve tried both ways, and find lifting whilst mounted the easier and safer option. Perhaps It’s the other way round on a lower car.

 

[bolidemichael]

Do bikes on the roof limit the speed on the 'autobahn' versus the speed one can achieve with a tow bar mounted kit?

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Do bikes on the roof limit the speed on the 'autobahn' versus the speed one can achieve with a tow bar mounted kit?

In most circumstances mounting bikes on the roof will create more drag than mounting them on the tow bar, as it will also increase the frontal area and disturb airflow by a greater amount, and so mounting bikes on the roof will usually reduce the top speed by a greater degree than mounting on the tow bar.

You would have to be driving at very high speed to find out by how much though, and I wouldn’t want to do either with bikes mounted on the roof or tow bar!

 

[219]

Do bikes on the roof limit the speed on the 'autobahn' versus the speed one can achieve with a tow bar mounted kit?

I’ve never found it a limiting factor , but they will add drag and increase fuel consumption .

I’ve never toured abroad with bikes , and have never exceeded 70mph with them in the UK , usually with a caravan on the back as well ( the other thing I’ve done is to put the bikes inside the caravan , but this adds to the towed weight and more significantly risk of damage to the interior of the van , so I got the roof carriers for my W123 and W124 estates , the six cylinder variants being excellent tow cars ) .

The other thing going abroad with bikes on the roof is some ferries have height restrictions , or will charge you for extra height or length .

 

[pmcgsmurf]

Thank you guys for all the replies. I will look into the tow bar situation. I dont think a caravan will be on the cards for me, for now I am happy in our tent. I will lift the bikes to see if I could do them over head, but I have some lower back/disc issues so it might not be a good idea. 12N might be the way to go. I will try to get a price and think it all over !

First thing to do @Margaret is check the VIN plate inside the drivers door and make sure it has the Gross Train Weight figure, I've not seen you mention if it has.

If it does you are good to go with a towbar option.

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Just on the Eurotunnel front, not that it's properly relevant here, but...

There is NO extra charge for bikes on the roof on the Eurotunnel. You ride in the double height train, but they don't charge you anything extra.