timbutter

Hi! I recently purchased a w124 E200 estate (station wagon!) fitted out with the bench seat in the rear. The depressions in the boot space to take the fold down seat elements are very wet - if I leave the seats down they start to go mouldy! I cannot see where the water is coming from - it's a complete mystery. Most annoying thing is I have just moved from a w123 to a w124 exactly because I was tired of having water leak in all the time!

We have had heavy rain over last few weeks here in Ireland and the car is usually parked with the tailgate facing into the prevailing wind. Could water force it's way in around the tailgate seal? The padding under the two rear windows is prety wet, but the two compartments to either side of the boot space under those windows seem dry (i.e. where the spare tyre is kept on one side and where the jack etc. are stored on the other). At this stage all the upholstery is a bit damp, though this is probably just condensation. I'm now waiting for a spell of dry weather when I can open up the car and air it out. The car does have n electric sunroof - could this be source of incoming water?

Any thoughts on this matter would be very gratefully received!
Tim

mgw_300e

you probably have a bad seal (window or tailgate), or a plugged drain. One thing to do is spray the car with a hose, one suspected area at a time, and see which one gets the inside wet. My guess would be a plugged drain, maybe the sunroof drain(s).

PDJ89C

That's awesome! The sunroof has a drain for water then? cool .

SUNILP

the sunroof has 4 drains. One in each corner. The front 2 go down the A pillars and rear 2 go down the C pillars. Check wheel well area for any signs of rust.

myfirstbenz

TE's are notorious for having "weeping" on the rear windows, mine does but it doesn't cause any issues. I have a sirius satelite antenna on my rear gate, and the cable sticks between the gate seal and the body seal, this causes an occasional drip if I wash the car... but nothing serious. I'd check your seals.

Ron in SC

That's 100% accurate. Even cars that do not show leak will most probably have rust under the gaskets which will only be visable when the rear side windows are removed.

You will need to remove rear side windows and gaskets and repair rust damage, then reinstall windows using proper sealer. I've done this job and I'll try and find posts on other forum and post link here.

The shocks or struts that lift the tailgate have a bellows/seals that are fitted to the body of the vehicle and the strut. If the struts were ever changed and the bellows are not fitted just right water could leak there too. When changing the struts I changed the bellows too. I doubt water is leaking around the tailgate seal.


Edited:

http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforu...highlight=rust

http://www.mercedesshop.com/shopforu...d.php?t=163366

shadowgriffen

I always wondered why the hell rust was starting to show on my lower-rear window

myfirstbenz

^^^ yeah, I was too, it sucks.

AdamF

I'm going to have to tackle this soon as well.

timbutter

After throwing a few buckets of water over the rear end of the car I have identified all the leaks. Both rear windows leak, but not much and the drains on both sides are clear so any water that does leak in can also leak back out (that said, the windows will have to be re-sealed as rust is starting to set in). My big problem is actually the seal along the upper rim of the tail gate - water is slooshing through and causing the flood. The seal seems a bit soft - may need replacing. There is actually a small ridge in the plastic panel at the top of the tailgate and this seems to be channeling water into the car interior. The seal is also quite dirty so I may just try to give it a good clean to allow water to drain away more effectively.

Thanks for all comments received on this one!
Tim