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Water leaks in to center roof housing of cameras

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Old Feb 10, 2020 | 09:46 PM
  #1  
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2015 W212 E400 - Abarth 500
Water leaks in to center roof housing of cameras

Hi All,

First Post !

I have a 2015 (W212) E Class sedan ( E400) over the past weeks I had water pool inside the plastic housing for the windscreen camera/s ( directly behind the internal rear vision mirror ). It pools to such an extend that it spills out the sides of the cover when you corner. When the water builds up all the safety features associated with the camera/s stops working. ( Active High Beam, Lane Departure etc ) the actual hardware under the cover and the cloth covered wiring get soaked with water.

I've now drilled two small holes in the cover to let the water drain, onto the dash and center console !

Firstly, I assumed the water was getting in from the sunroof, however the tray is dry and the two A pillar drain tubes/pipe are clear and water runs straight through to behind the front tyres.

Is there any other points of entry for water ? I'm starting to assume the glue of windscreen might be failing.

The car is a August 2015 built, but I brought it new in February 2017.

Any help greatly appreciated. !!!!

RHD - Passenger side view of camera pod, water appears to the left of the silver box.




Thanks.
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Old Feb 11, 2020 | 11:25 AM
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It's very likely that you have a bad windshield seal. You should have it inspected asap - the cost of re-sealing it is going to be a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of repair if your electronics get fried
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Old Feb 11, 2020 | 11:39 AM
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It still sounds like a leaking sunroof to me, and I certainly would not be drilling holes into components. So, you opened the sunroof completely and poured water into the front cavity and all of it drained out, correct?
You can isolate the windshield by spraying water directly at the top of the windshield while being careful to not let any of it onto the roof area.
Once again, it is more than likely clogged sunroof drains.
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Old Feb 11, 2020 | 03:13 PM
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2015 W212 E400 - Abarth 500
Thanks for the replies

the drain tubes a definitely flowing freely, the ones in the A pillars - are there any others?

I only drilled holes in the plastic cover - with it removed, no panic.

Yes windscreen testing on the weekend!!
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Old Feb 11, 2020 | 03:30 PM
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No, just those two. When you pour water into the front sunroof area the water needs to move very quickly out of the drain holes. If it seems slow at all then you have a problem.
Test the windshield area all across the top left and right, end to end. good luck
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Old Feb 11, 2020 | 06:07 PM
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2015 E400 and 2015 GLK350
Is there any possibility that your car has had a windshield replacement? Many years ago, I had water coming down the inside of the windshield, and it was due to a faulty seal on a replacement windshield. In my case, we didn't know about it until the front edge of the roof actually rusted away. Since the car was still under warranty (thankfully), the dealer decided to replace the entire roof. I rejected that repair job 27 times before I finally accepted it. As soon as I accepted it, I drove the car out the back driveway of the dealership service department, then back into the front driveway and traded it off for a new car. Hope yours is a simpler, better problem to fix.
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Old Feb 13, 2020 | 09:31 PM
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2015 W212 E400 - Abarth 500
Does anyone have access to the diagrams showing the assembly of the front of the roof, where the front roof panel meets the top of the windscreen glass, can that panel be removed ???
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Old Feb 14, 2020 | 08:42 AM
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This may help.
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Old Feb 27, 2022 | 09:19 AM
  #9  
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E400
leaking windshield

Originally Posted by adrians
Hi All,

First Post !

I have a 2015 (W212) E Class sedan ( E400) over the past weeks I had water pool inside the plastic housing for the windscreen camera/s ( directly behind the internal rear vision mirror ). It pools to such an extend that it spills out the sides of the cover when you corner. When the water builds up all the safety features associated with the camera/s stops working. ( Active High Beam, Lane Departure etc ) the actual hardware under the cover and the cloth covered wiring get soaked with water.

I've now drilled two small holes in the cover to let the water drain, onto the dash and center console !

Firstly, I assumed the water was getting in from the sunroof, however the tray is dry and the two A pillar drain tubes/pipe are clear and water runs straight through to behind the front tyres.

Is there any other points of entry for water ? I'm starting to assume the glue of windscreen might be failing.

The car is a August 2015 built, but I brought it new in February 2017.

Any help greatly appreciated. !!!!

RHD - Passenger side view of camera pod, water appears to the left of the silver box.




Thanks.
I realize this is an older thread, but did you ever find out where the leak was coming from. I ask only because my 2016 E400 just developed a leak, it is currently at the dealership.

Thanks in advance,
Tgomez
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Old Feb 27, 2022 | 04:27 PM
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2015 W212 E400 - Abarth 500
Originally Posted by wellcaf248
I realize this is an older thread, but did you ever find out where the leak was coming from. I ask only because my 2016 E400 just developed a leak, it is currently at the dealership.

Thanks in advance,
Tgomez
Hi wellcaf248,

Yes in the end it was the factory original windscreen that was leaking above the steering wheel (RHD car). The windscreen has never been removed or replaced, since I brought the car brand new.
The only silver lining was that I was involved in a accident and the end result was that the repair shop had to pull the windscreen out and it broke, so a new one went in. No issues since.
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Old Feb 28, 2022 | 05:32 AM
  #11  
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2014 - W212.065 - E400 ( M276.820, 3 liter Turbo) RWD not Hybrid
Adrian, does you E400 has pano-roof ?
Windshield potential leak and also pano-roof potential leak is my greatest fear, more so the pano-roof makes car less ridgid on top and hence more flexing.
Is your car garaged at home and when at work ? I mean sunlight protection.
Sunlight UV and its heat is another killer for any type of window/pano-roof seal for my tropical climate.

thanks
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Old Feb 28, 2022 | 04:30 PM
  #12  
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2015 W212 E400 - Abarth 500
Hi,

Yes the car has the full glass roof, two panels, front is a sunroof.
I've had no issues with the sun roof, I regularly check the drain pipes to ensure water runs through to behind the front wheels. Also regularly use silicone spray to lubricate the roof mechanisms.

Car lives outside and survives the Australian summer, as does my Fiat 500 Abarth, (convertibles are in the garage).
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Old Mar 1, 2022 | 03:59 AM
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2014 - W212.065 - E400 ( M276.820, 3 liter Turbo) RWD not Hybrid
Adrians,
I see, thanks for the info.

The pano-roof will creak or make funny mettalic snapping sound later on with enough mileage and enough bad roads and/or when driven hard enough.
The sound will come when one side of the car climbs a slope at a high steering angle. Say a house with a high slope from the main road,
this is when the car will sort of "twist" from un-even weight distribution.

You can loc-tite the pano roof frames and the sound will go away. It is just a maintenance item eventually in the long run.

There are 2 special lubricants from Mercedes for the pano roof.


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Old Mar 1, 2022 | 10:23 AM
  #14  
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Mine did the exact same thing. If I taped the seam across the top of the wind screen it would stop. Luckily I got a big crack in my screen from a truck and had the windscreen replaced. I asked if I could see the seal after they removed the original glass. There was a clear breach with debris. No problems since replacement
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Old Mar 4, 2022 | 09:03 AM
  #15  
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2016 E400 4Matic, 1994 Mercedes Benz E320 Sedan (Sold), 1995 E320 Wagon (Sold)
Since I bought my 2016 E400 a couple years ago, every once in a while, I would get a couple of water drips down the inside of the windshield. I always thought it was some random condensation, but this winter it’s become clear that the seal along the top of the windscreen has opened up. I have a lot of wind noise now and I can push on it and make it louder.

On one of the FB W212 groups, this seems to be a pretty common problem!

@konigstiger Are you aware of any bulletins about this?
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Old Mar 4, 2022 | 09:32 AM
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No bulletins I am aware of. Was windshield ever replaced? If not, purchased new see if dealer will goodwill repair out of warranty. If CPO, history should show whether or not windshield was replaced by dealer if so, again request goodwill repair. Depending on circumstances and your relationship with dealer they may agree to repair otherwise they will simply claim it is not covered and repair will be at cost.
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Old Mar 4, 2022 | 10:36 AM
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2014 - W212.065 - E400 ( M276.820, 3 liter Turbo) RWD not Hybrid
Dang.... not a good news for me a E400 owner. Indonesia locally assembled unit.
So far the victims are : We have Oz market probably German made/assembled & US Market probably USA assembled.
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