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Yesturday on the way to a Christmas dinner, we were in the wifes C240, on the freeway doing about 75 mph. Cool and Crisp outside (38 degrees in Seattle) when suddenly... there was an explosive gun shot sound. And with that sound bits of glass fell from the sky.
The sunroof decided to Explode OUTWARD! 90% of the glass that blew, blew outward and only a few pieces fell inward. Obviously I immediately pulled off to check out what the eff just happened. gun shot? rock? pumpkin?
Appears as though its none of the above. I did some research and concluded, okay... not so uncommon for Mercedes. As I read several others also say its like a volcano blowing outward, or like a fist went through from the underside.
SO... along with my searching... I read that I should call MB Corp (which I did, and they say to bring the car to a local stealership so they can diagnose. before they offer to pay for any damages)
My question is... 1. Is it even worth taking the risk and them saying NOPE, no fault. and 2. Has anyone on the forums actually changed the sunroof?
I have tried to search for procedures and have found nothing. I also am curious to know, if I decide to do myself... Can I buy just the glass and frame? or is it best to buy the glass/frame/track for few more dollars
I assume this is probably a time consuming project, but not a super challenging project. BUT, I do not want to rip into the car just to find out, I would be better off waiting to see if MB Corp will handle, or if I should just claim to the insurance.
There's certainly no reason to not try MBUSA and see if they will pick up the tab, and see if they will be accomodating. I'd be surprised, but maybe they'll give you a partial credit as goodwill, as you're a repeat customer. Worth a shot.
If they don't, I haven't seen on here any step-by-step DIYs. I had to replace my panorama roof on my coupe in the Fall, and as it's my DD and I have no garage and not really the confidence to mess around with a new one, I let the dealer do mine. It was very expensive (several thousand), but I do have a warranty on the parts & labor for a year from install.
I would imagine that there would be a pretty big difference in price between just the glass and the glass, tracking, guides, and such, but if you're going to do it, might as well replace everything that can be easily replaced.
Good luck. Hey, at least you got a memorable Xmas.
i was able to find a utube video demonstrating how to remove the sunroof panel on a W202, and it looked fairly straight forward, no need to pull down the headliner etc. BUT not too sure if the sunroof is the same between the W202 and the W203.
I've made an appointment to have the car go into the dealer, its due for its service A now, so while its in there, see what they say and see where MB corp goes with this.
I originally took to the dealership, they said about 2600 to fix. I gave up on MB Corp route, just went through the insurance company instead.
Insurance estimated 950.00 to fix and handed me a check -500.00 deductible. I then went straight to dealer and let them battle it out for the difference. The two settled on $2100.00 and 3 days later the new glass was in and working.
After I brought the car to work and parked... I noticed that where the plastic had been taped to the roof.... the clear coat and come off with the tape. Someone had noticed it before me, cause you could see where they had rubbed it. SO, back to the dealership again... where they claimed no fault, and the insurance company didn't really believe me. BUT fortunately I had pictures on my phone that I had taken the day the roof shattered and was able to prove that the paint was in perfect condition before.
I have a Mercedes Benz E550. I was traveling on the highway doing 70 miles per hour. As I was driving, all of a sudden there was a loud explosion. I swerved to the left in the vehicle because I was unsure what the explosion was or came from. As soon as I heard the explosion, thick pieces of glass came from the sunroof. Large pieces of glass fell on the back seat. Glass fell on the passenger side as well as pieces of glass fell on my shoulders on the driver's side floor. I looked around my surrounding to determine where the noise could have came from. There was no indication of outside forces.
I was very nervous, this never happened to me before. I pulled over at the next exit and evaluated my vehicle. I was in amazed because the sunroof had a whole the size of a basketball.
I contacted Mercedes Benz and they indicated that it was my problem to deal with. I spoken with an attorney who stated that other Mercedes Benz owners have experience this manufacturing defect.
You can file a complaint with the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA 1-888-Dash-2-DOT. This is a serious problem and could cause serious bodily injury even death.
The same explosion happened to my 2012 E250 Coupe sunroof. I live in Turkey and the MB Dealer refused to fix it under warranty. The insurance company reported that there was no external impact. So I had to pay about $1000 to replaced it. I file charges against MB.
it must be temprature/pressure related. Could the pressure inside get too high say on a hot day, or may be at fast speed be the cause. or if it's too hot outside but the AC is running inside, ofcourse the glass itself must be real weak if that could happen..
Driving across the Nevada desert, I met some people who's windshield just popped out of their RV.
When I was a kid that happened to us in the middle of nowhere. Luckily it didn't break and my dad pushed it back in and we kept going....
I wonder if the glass is getting hit by something at some point and damaged then just explodes at some point. Honestly how many of us do a thorough inspection the sun roof for cracks or chips ever day or heck even every year? So even if you don't think it is damaged before this happens maybe it was?
2012 C300 Sport 4MATIC (current) 2006 C280 Elegance 4MATIC (sold)
What the heck? That's weird. Did you have the windows rolled down? I saw someone's entire rear glass fly out on the highway a couple of years ago during the summer but the driver had the windows down so I figured the combination of all that wind and perhaps the adhesive for the rear window was bad and that was to blame for it happening. It must be one of those freak accidents where extreme conditions have to happen in a perfect combination. Perhaps it could be a chemical or something used in the glass to cause that to happen?
12-26-2013, 05:29 PM
