Hi all.

I'm having a recurring issue with my 2005 E320CDI in relation to a leaky sunroof. Since I've had the car (about 4-5 months now, only 46,000 miles on the car) I've had a water intrusion issue with the standard sunroof. After some extensive troubleshooting by my independent shop and several visits where the car was down for a few days, the problem was found to be water intruding into the passenger compartment as described in Mercedes Star Bulletin P-B-77.10/24d dated September 4, 2008.

This issue is not related to leaky or backed-up sunroof drain tubes, nor the water into the A-Pillar issue. What is happening is that the butyl rubber sealer between the plastic sunroof frame and the body of the vehicle is not making good seal in one location in the front, causing water to enter during medium to heavy rain. This has apparently been going on for some time with the car, but since the car was apparently garaged (due to the excellent condition of the paint) my guess is the leak didn't happen often enough to be corrected. Naturally the local Mercedes dealer will not release the service history on the vehicle, so I'm unable to tell if the car has been previously serviced for the leak by the dealer network.

Anyway... The service facility I use followed the instructions on the bulletin to remove the sunroof, installed the appropriate butyl cord sealer on the frame, and re-installed the sunroof. A 13-hour job. The butyl cord was obtained from Mercedes as their part number A005 989 12 71 11. So after days of down time on the car and over $1,500 spent, no joy. It still leaks. The car has never been in a crash or had any roof work, it's all clean and straight as from the factory.

SO.... has anyone else previously experienced this issue and, if so, what worked for correction of the problem? It's obvious that the factory butyl cord solution is not enough here, but the roof has to be able to be serviced in the future so permanent adhesives are not the preferred solution.

Expanding on this, according to the bulletin this is the range of vehicles covered. This extensive of a listing represents a good many vehicles methinks!!


Model 203.040/061/064/065/081/084/261/264/281/284
Model 209.365/375/376
Model 211.026/065/070/076/082/083/265/282/283
Model 215.373/374/375/376/378/379
Model 219.375/376
Model 220.170/173/174/175/176/178/183/184
With Code 414, Sliding Roof



So far the leak has not permanently stained my headliner nor entered into my electronics, although I've had some running water from the driver's sun visor light a few times now. I have a fairly good warranty policy on the car, unfortunately seals are not covered as with most after-market warranties. I live in Central Florida, land of torrential afternoon rains (which we had today with local street flooding!) and this has to be fixed.

Thanks for any help on this issue!

Eric

 

Just a little more information that I learned while visiting the shop today in conversation with the manager and inspecting with the headliner completely out of the vehicle. What is apparently happening is that water during heavy rain is somehow making its way past the first, outer sunroof seal. This happens and that's the reason for sunroof drain tubes. My shop has already changed the outer seal with a new Mercedes seal and the new seal is, in all respects, fine based on inspection. After water breaches the first seal, the drain tubes should be able to handle the water leakage in the frame. Both drain tubes are fine, they are carrying their capacity of water and are not leaking in any way. the shop verified this with both the old seal and the new seal. So... the problem occurs when you get a lot of rain all at once (I.E. the Florida downpour). Water gets by the first seal and floods the sunroof frame in excess of the capacity of the drain tubes to remove water. Then the water somehow gets past the second, butyl seal at the plastic sunroof frame and into the car.

The shop has a call into Mercedes engineering to see if they can provide input into repair solutions, however I have no information back as of this evening. Again, I'd appreciate any info from the community as to other owner experiences and any fixes that worked for repair. Just to stand behind the reputation of the shop I use, the technicians are all Mercedes certified and have at least 20+ years experience on Mercedes. I have no reason to believe anything is installed improperly or does not meet factory specs. All parts used are OEM Mercedes.

Thanks
Eric

 

i am having a similar issue, did yours ever get resolved?

 

Well, finally yes. After the sunroof was pulled for the third time since it was still leaking, the indy RTV'd the hell out of the seals and that finally stopped the water. Mercedes was of absolutely no help, denied there was a problem, would offer no technical assistance, and in short performed the dodo maneuver.

Since the seals were RTV'd, I've experienced no water entry problem. Thankfully it's held through four years of Florida heavy rainy summers.

Eric

 

Thanks Eric, looks like that project is in my future!

 

Same problem here in my 2008 E63. Just had the headliner replaced yesterday and no leaks could be seen over the old one. Driving home from the shop, my driver's vanity light started dripping on me during a sudden downpour.

Are y'all telling me I need to inactivate and seal my sunroof?

 

no, you don't need to do that.

Check and clean your drains and drain hoses from the sun roof.

I poured water down each of my drains till I found the one that was leaking into the car instead of out of it.

i am guessing that my drain hose has become disconnected, but i am not totally sure how to get to it.

 

Search this forum: "sunroof drains".

 

I have fixed my Sunroof leak. The water leak was happening in the sunroof drain.

Here is how I did it:

The hose from the front drivers side had come off of the drain spout. The rubber was torn.

I took off the A-Pillar cover, the sun visor, and handle. This have me enough room to get my hand to the spout and put the hose back on. I put some sealant around the hose to try to keep water out of the headliner. In retrospect, I should have put some kind of clamp around the hose.

I can post pictures if needed.

 

 

I appologize for the late reply put I will look for the photos and get them over to you.

 

Hi Eric,

Hopefully you are still around here. Can you explain in more detail where the RTV was applied? Was it between the seal and the sunroof glass itself?