I mounted my Thule roof rack on the roof of my 745, of all places, and holy moly it makes a lotta noise. I put the front bar in line with the back edge of the front door (or front edge of the back door if you're a glass-is-half-empty type) and the back bar a bit behind the rear doors. And it has "Q" towers for wahatever that's worth.

I couldn't believe how loud it was! A viscious howel from about 35 mph on up. Is there a preferred spot to mount racks to minimize noise? Do those farings get rid of the noise? I'd like to have the rack up there all the time for carrying stuff and things, and I'd like it to be quiet, not loud. Suggestions?

Thanks.

- Steve (with a newly lit glove box)

BTW, is 745 the correct nomenclature here? I know that's how 240 wagons are spoken of amongst the bricksters, same with the 700's?

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Steve in Minneapolis -- 1988 745 GLE 135k, 1987 245 DL 285k

I have a Yakima rack but it only takes about 3 minutes to pull it, I get better mileage without it. When I'm not boating, it's off!

Thule's use square bars, Yakima's are round, could that make a difference?

I have a '92 745 with a Thule gutter mount and mine doesn't howl. Do you have the end caps on the bars? My father gave me his Thule roof pod and I drove it from Seattle to San Diego this Xmas without roof howl and I got the same mileage that I got without the rack.

Air turbulence over a motor vehicle does not always follow common sense. Pickups come to mind...leaving the tail gate down or removing it causes more drag than leaving it up. The dead air space in the bed actually improves air flow over the vehicle. (Those tailgate nets crack me up.) I only mention this to illustrate how I might have managed my mileage on the highway.


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'92 745 B230F

I have a Thule Rack, either a 1050 or 1080 (not sure which) that I used a few times on my previous 745. I don't recall it being particularly noisy, either with the crossbars alone or with a pair of bicycle carriers mounted (or even with the bikes on it) Nor was it a problem on a 123 series Mercedes.

I haven't used it on my present 745, as that one has a permanently mounted chrome rack, which may account for an occasional faint whistle, and a slight increase in the overall wind noise level, but certainly not a major howl at any speed above 35.

Are there any open holes on the rack? If so, try duct tape as a temporary fix to isolate the source of the noise.