lboudreau

Just thought I would run this by you guys to see what you think. As you can see by the attached pictures I have water coming in around the plastic rivets for the plastic trim on both sides of the trunk. The car was in an accident and I think they reused some of the parts. Since these are one time use rivets I'm pretty sure that I'll just replace them and it will be fine. BUT... if you look at the images with the trunk gasket it looks as if the gasket was put over the plastic trim instead of under (it sort of overlaps the plastic) Maybe it is supposed to be like that. Could someone check their cars to see if the gasket installation looks exactly the same?

You can also see pooling water right at the bottom of the trunk opening. I think this is dripping down along the gasket.

Viper98912

I had a leak in my Cavalier that I could never really find, so I just ended up drilling a hole in the spare tire well where it'd pool. lol.

I'll try to check my gasket tomorrow, but your pictures are a little hard to decipher.

lboudreau

Yeah not the best pics! I also don't want to drill any holes in my C55

I do have the car going to the body shop to have the weld points redone but I wanted to trouble shoot this leak and solve it once and for all. I may get a new trunk gasket and the plastic trim that goes on the left and right side with new plastic rivets. Hopefully that will help.

Newzchspy

To what extent was there accident damage?? If it was a hard rear-end hit (i.e. rear quarters, trunk and bumper/cover , I'd check the trim, gaskets, trunk alignment etc. See if you have photos of the accident damage and that'll give you a clue.

Sounds to me like there was a quarter replaced where they "cut" it off and re-welded or riveted a new one on?? See if there's an old copy of an estimate floating around. That'll tell you exactly what they did.

lboudreau

As far as I know the rear quarters were welded on and a new trunk lid was put on. The body shop is going to be redoing the weld points and also realigning the rear window and trunk lid.

Unfortunately I do not have a copy of the estimate

Newzchspy

Seriously?? That sounds like a bad rear-end hit. Two (2) new rear qtrs, trunk and probably bumper, support etc? Wow? Did you know this BEFORE purchasing the car??

If you told me new bumper cover and supports, it wouldn't raise an eyebrow, BUT new quarters?? That had to be a BAD hit to the rear!!

lboudreau

Yes I knew about the hit before the purchase. But for 12 grand with 31K miles I couldn't say no. The car drives just like any other C55 I've driven. It has been inspected both by my Mercedes dealer and a Mercedes certified body shop and they both said the structure is perfectly fine. They just need to make adjustments to some body panels. Sub frame and all rear end suspension components have been replaced.

The only thing is this water leak, and it is most likely because the trunk gasket had not been installed correctly.

Viper98912

Checked for you and on both sides, the plastic sits on top of the rubber lip.

Welding quarter panels is pretty common, since it's the one part of the car that you can't swap out (bumper, fender, etc). In this case, it may have been a high hit (say from a lifted truck) that caused the trunk top to crunch but the frame was structurally sound. Regardless, I personally wouldn't buy a high end vehicle with re-welded panels, I'd only do that for econoboxes. In the end it's worth what it's worth to you, and $12k is a good deal to some.

Beware that you may have more problems than just a simple trunk seal, but good luck with your findings.

lboudreau

Right on, thanks Viper. So I guess that answers the question that they are installed incorrectly.

I am with you in that I normally would not purchase a car that was rear ended. However, the Mercedes dealer that inspected it gave me a thumbs up, and two mechanics that I speak to regularly over there said that they wouldn't have hesitated to purchase the car.

You are right that it was a high hit since the rear diff and structure were untouched, but the quarters, trunk, and rear window were damaged. Funny though, the exhaust was replaced from the cats to the rear of the car.

Newzchspy

Don't know the facts, BUT it wasn't that HIGH if they also replaced the exhaust which is only about 12 inches from the ground or less. Veh was probably a "total loss meaning it got totalled by an insurer, sold to an auction and they sold it and someone rebuilt it. Similar to Mike's ( Hooley's ) car last year (C55 DynoComp). His was a front end hit, however. I'll bet you the bumper and cover were replaced, supports as well (wish I could see the estimate the adjuster wrote).

Where did you buy it from, dealer or private party?? Do you have the listing for it and did they disclose the prior accident??? (Not that it matters since you own it now).

lboudreau

Don't know about the exact location of the hit. But the estimate was $24900.

Purchased from a dealer who had purchased from an auction. Clean title on the car so it wasn't a write off or a salvage. Obviously wasn't hit hard enough to scrap it. Like I said before, car drives great and is super tight and solid. It isn't my daily driver either so if it ends up needing work then fine. I also don't care if I need to spend 10K to get it where it used to be since I plan on keeping/collecting it.

But I would agree with you that seeing the original damage would be interesting to see!

Newzchspy

You're saying it was a $24,900 HIT and the car was not totalled?? With all due respect, how do you think it got to auction??? In the USA, that car would have a "salvage" title with that kind of hit and repairs. BUT, if you're happy with it and the fact that it was a $24,900 HIT, then that's all that matters. As far as being a collector car, forget it. As much as we can dream, the C32/55 will never have that status. They are rare, BUT not like an R63 or E55 wagon. Even the C63 Affalterbach Edition, as gorgeous and rare a car it is, will never achieve that status since the new one (2012) will be out shortly.

lboudreau

It went to auction because it was a Repo. The repair was done at 14500 miles and was driven for another 12000 miles before being taken back by the bank. Those records have been confirmed both by the DMV and my Mercedes dealer.

And I meant it would be a collectible to me. A 300SL is a real collectible but hey, none of us have that kind of cash laying around.

ruben65

Looks like you need a new rubber seal, and its supposed to go under the platic cover, this could be one area that you are getting water in the trunk. Check the plastic rivets that hold down the platic cover as well.

Here are a left and right shot of how mine looks.

Viper98912

You never know, the impact of the crash might have caused the exhaust or mufflers to fall or break off the hangers, hence why they might've gone ahead and replaced it. Doesn't necessarily mean they were hit....

lboudreau

Thanks for the pics! It looks like you have different (and by different I mean correct) plastic rivets. The ones that are on my car look nothing like yours. Yours seem thicker. I looked up replacement ones and they seem to have a water seal on them as well, which mine do not have.

I'm going to get this trunk seal looked after this week and post an update.

Newzchspy

A $24,900 rear end hit? Sounds like the whole rear-end of the car was trashed?? I don't know but for $25 K, they could've got a nice used car!!

lboudreau

I agree with you. But Maybe they were hit and then hit someone. When you start replacing things like front fenders, headlights, etc it can get expensive. And I believe that may have happened since one of the front fenders looks like an OEM replacement that was painted.

But to total a car when it has 14000 miles, it would have to be some serious damage since it has to cross a certain percentage of what the car is worth. And when we are talking about a car that was $80k - $90K new in Canada, it makes sense that the insurance company fixed it rather than total it.

Newzchspy

As Sheryl Crow so eloquently wrote: "If it makes you happy"

lboudreau

Yes it does

Although I do plan on getting an SL63 at some point this year so I'm afraid the C55 will soon be forgotten.

Viper98912

Don't forget when (I think) it was Car and Driver that tested a BMW 328 about 10 years ago and they lost it on a curve. They got the car to slow down in the grass and eventually tapped a twig of a tree in the front bumper/fender area at around 10 mph. When they got the damage estimate, it ended up being $29,000 in damage. For a $28,000 new car.

MBfinatic

is ur c55 silver with grey interior?

kjb55

MB revised the plugs for the panel where you have the leak. Although my screen shot (attached) doesn't specifically list the W203, I saved it because it was applicable.

Newzchspy

The old adage, the sum of the parts is greater than the sum of the whole!!! No more is this true than with cars.....

I personally wouldn't buy a car with a $25 K hit (front and rear), but to each his own. In the US, it'll show up on CarFax etc as a wrecked car, thus ALWAYS affecting its resale value. So, you get it for cheap and sell it for cheap..........and the beat goes on!!

Newzchspy

Good find, those secure the body shell cover to the metal (body) below the body shell cover. The body shop may have used the old rivets when they replaced the shell cover.