smytw1972

MDMercedesGuy:
I am gonna wait and see what this dealer does in the next couple of days.. I figure I give them 5 working days to come up with some intelligent and logical answer as to how they will fix the flaw. Then is on to another dealer. For those in the Houston area.. I am open to suggestions on which dealer to try based on y'alls experiences. Thanks for your comments MDMercedesGuy!

Boris0126:
Trust me... I wont be driving a leaky MB for long.. and it aint going to be on my $$ either. We are buying "Cream of the crop" right... we should expect Quality as consumers and not let these dealers push you around.

livestrong191:
Problem is as I told MB... they don't have common sense!

W204Man:
Seems to be the general agreement amongst us Houston area residents

Thanks all.

smytw1972

Squirble:
Yesterday... Two MB reps and I drove a '13 C250 thru the same car wash I had just driven my '13 C350 thru... water came thru it just as did with mine. As you said.. you need to pay attention to the floor mats.. specially if you have black interior and the original MB mats.. as dry or wet.. they look the same. I noticed it because I always buy the heavy rubber MB mats and save the originals in case I sell the vehicle. So make sure to run your hand thru the mat and surrounding areas to check for wet spots. Water seems to be coming thru behind the glove box... right at the firewall. Also.. if you run your hand on the outside of the glove box towards the firewall.. you will find a plastic cover with some ventilation holes... if you feel the inside of that cover with your finger... you will feel sponge/foam like material... well.. turns out that if your vehicle does leak like mine and the other we tested... depending on how much water leaks, water will drip into the floor or not. If it doesn't drip in the floor is because the sponge/foam material on the inside was able to absorb the water that leaked. Pretty sure that is not the intent of that foam in there... more like for sound proofing purpose if you ask me. But then again.. I am not the design engineer of the C-Class.

My settings on A/C... left and right set to AUTO on 74F, no difference if you have air re-circulator set on or off. You may wanna try both settings.

Good Luck.. and hopefully yours don't leak.

Thanks

livestrong191

SO what did theTwo MB reps say when you drove through and it leaked. Are they using it as a new selling idea clean your car inside and out with one pass through a car wash. Mercedes benz we keep you squicky clean inside and out

Squirble

I'll check it tonight. I have the all weather mats as well so it should be pretty easy to spot. I have a 2012 C250. Were there any physical changes between the 2012 and 2013? I can't tell from pictures.

smytw1972

Deer in the headlight look from both.

smytw1972

Squirble:
That I am aware of... no changes.
But guys in here can tell us for sure.

livestrong191:
Deer in the headlights look from both

Ikester

I think they are made in South Africa now

spyked

Wow. Scary stuff. I have taken my 2013 C250 through car washes several times with ZERO issues. Auto climate always set to 72 on both sides. Dry as the desert inside. I do notice that since I go through a wash with brushes, the ski rack panels pop up (either from brushes or power dryer at the end). I just push them back down - they are designed to move obviously.

My car is built in S.A., June (or July) 2012 build date.

Hope they fix your car!

Samaral

I always keep the A/C on when in the car wash, never had ANY leak. Touch or toutchless, makes no difference.
I would complain until they fix it.

smytw1972

Samaral:
Yeap!

spyked:
Correct

Ikester:
Yeap.. 80% in London SA.. and 20% Bremen.. engine and trans from Germany.
'14 will be made entirely in Tuscaloosa from what I was told in the Factory tour.. as well as the R class.. so we shall see.

alonsoli

This is my first time responding to any threads here though I frequent the site...I bought my 09 C300 in January...certified preowned....never noticed this before but I drove to the supermarket and it started to downpour, something it does regularly in South Florida. I sat in the parking lot waiting for it to let up and heard dripping inside the car. I looked at the passenger side of the car and saw water dripping in down the side of the glovebox onto the mat. The middle of the A pillar was also wet. I do have a sunroof and retracted to see if there was anything such as leaves or debris that might have been trapped but cannot see anything visibly though the top of the A pillar and the headliner were not wet at all...

Not sure if anyone has any advice for this after reading what smytw1972 is going through but I didn't go through a car wash and this is happening to my mb.

smytw1972

Alonsoli:
I no longer own the C350... but I will tell you that the water leak was the reason why I switched back to BMW. At the end, MBUSA, my Local Dealer, and MB Germany told me in not so many words... that I was an idiot and it was my fault for not reading the manual on how to properly operate the vehicle. After a couple of months of asking every C-Class owner I would bump into in Houston, I narrowed it down to the issue be true for most '09-'13 model C-Class... as some owners knew about it... but were complaisant to the fact and said "oh yeah, but is just a little water, no big deal". My '08 C-Class didnt had the issue.

If you have an '09... read page 295 of your owners manual, then read the '13 manual page 277... BTW, the same generic wording that appears on the $200+ SLS models.

From the MB Op Manual...
Make sure that:
the side windows and the sliding sunroof
are fully closed.
the ventilation/heating is switched off
(the OFF button has been pressed).
the windshield wiper switch is in position
0.
Otherwise, the vehicle might be damaged

alonsoli

smytw1972
I just read pg 295 of my manual. It does say in mine to press the recirculating button...
it is supposed to rain again today perhaps I will test that theory however I somehow doubt that.
On a good note...
I just got a letter in the mail from MB USA finally recalling faulty tail lamps in the 08-11 C-class cars. At least they are finally taking responsibility for that defect.

sfox410

For What it's worth:
The way I understand it, the sunroof has a drainage system that drains to the ground via channels through the A pillars. When the A pillar channels get clogged with debris water will back up a enter the passenger cabin. Some blockages are not readily visible to the naked eye so the problem isn't all that easy to see. I've read that the best way to clear the debris/clog is to use compressed air nozzle in the channel openings once the sunroof has been fully opened. I believe the channels may be visible near the front corners of the sunroof recess. The compressed air (compressor not canned air) forces the debris out the bottom opening. I guess debris and water can get into these channels even with the sunroof closed. I have never had this problem myself, but I remember reading about it (maybe on this website) and mentally storing it for possible future use.

TheRulesLawyer

I had the same issue with a subaru a long time ago. There was water collecting inside the front passenger door. Apparently the drain holes had been painted shut. They cleared them up and no problems.

alonsoli

Thanks sfox410 and TheRulesLawyer...
I used the compressed air nozzle this morning. We expect rain again this afternoon so will see if it works...fingers crossed

carlsjr

I just had this happen for the first time on my 12 C300.. now my AC blower motor is kaput!! wtf.