Steve_B

All 4 doors on my 2007 ML63 are showing signs of either corrosion/rust or a 'primer reaction'. The area to check is on the inside edge of each door where you'll find an area of about 1cm in width running just inside the outer edge (remember, we are talking about the inside of the door and not the outside). If there is nothing visually to see then run your finger along that 1cm groove to check for bumps in the paint.

I took my car into MB last week where photos were taken although had a phone call today to say that they had inadvertently deleted them from the camera so were coming out again tomorrow. The initial response was that there shouldn't be a problem in having them either rectified or replaced but I'll have to wait something like 10 days to get that confirmed. A 'primer reaction' was mentioned as a possibility but I have my doubts in which case, if it is rust, all four doors will have to be replaced. If it was just one door then I'd be thinking it's unlucky but as it's all four I'm now thinking it's a production problem and hence the heads up to other owners.

This is not good on a four year old car

I'll update with any progress.

schmick325

I saw major rust on the lower inside of an 05 Porsche Cayenne Turbo just this week.

Sounds like same area.

Steve_B

**Update**

After a lengthy wait, photos lost by the body-shop, I've finally been informed that all four doors are to be replaced. I can't believe that I'm the only owner to suffer with this problem so I would urge you to check the area identified in the following pics before the problem gets out of hand.

crtfour

My '06 ML is doing the same thing. Is this covered under the basic warranty or is the warranty for corrosion longer?


Thanks,


Rob

Steve_B

Whereabouts in the world do you live Rob? Warranty is different in different places. The 3 year warranty, here in the UK, is over on my car but I do have extended warranty although I'm unsure whether this is giving me the cover on the doors, as it hasn't been specifically stated, or whether it's a goodwill gesture due to the severity.

If I were you then I'd take it in to your local MB dealer and state, as I did, that this isn't good enough on, in your case, a five year old car. For what it's worth the body-shop guy who took the photos said that he hadn't seen this happening before on an ML, at least not on the doors. Apparently the tailgate can be an area affected by the same sort of thing though, thankfully, not on mine.

crtfour

I'm in the U.S. Our warranty is 4 years/50k miles, but I was thinking most manufacturers had a longer protection period for rust/corrosion. I will check to find out.

Mine is present only on the back doors along the bottom edge (2" strip) and has not yet afftected the vertical portion of the doors.

Thanks for the post....it reminded me that I need to have the dealer look at it. I should start a post similar to yours on the non-AMG ML forum to see if any of those guys have the same problem. I agree....no 5 year old vehicle should have the problem, especially a Mercedes.

Btw, nice ML! I'd love to have the ML63, but I love my ML500 as well.


Rob

Steve_B

Update

Credit where credit is due, MB have replaced all four doors FOC.

I also took the opportunity to get the front end resprayed whilst it was in. Car looks mint again and has restored my faith in the brand!

I still don't know if this was done under a goodwill gesture or via the extended warranty that I have in place as it's never been mentioned. In any event, at least those in the UK will be comforted by the fact that there will be no hassle from MB should this failure occur on their '63'.

dgiturbo

Mine at dealer for same issue. Hope I have the same result as you. Link to pics posted under W164 forum section.

Steve_B

And it looks identical to the issues I had. US$ equivalent paid under warranty for all four doors was $10,000 plus taxes.

Best of luck with the claim.

schmick325

This is an issue.

This thread made me check my doors and I found this:




I thought it was the 2 fronts only, but when I went to the Benz bodyshop the estimator knew where to find more and sure enough all 4 doors had the beginnings of it. Said he had seen plenty of them.

MB came to the party though and paid for the repairs 100%, even though car is out of warranty now.

If it weren't for this forum I either would have caught it when it was much worse and probably end up paying for it myself

Thanks OP!

Steve_B

Brisbane....I'm guessing that this isn't road salt related then

Pleased you've got it sorted and you can't fault MB for dealing with it once it's brought to their attention. Is it a 2007 model?

schmick325

I doubt very much if any snow or salt has ever fallen on a Brisbane road

The car used to live in Sydney and that would be the same. We would have to drive about 10 hours from Sydney to even see snow and thats for about 6 weeks of the year, right up the mountains.

I went to a dealer and had a look at their used stock. All 3 silver 07 ML's they had in stock showed similar corrosion to my car. I didn't say anything, drove away and started making phone calls.

The bodyshop owner (this is a Benz only shop) said he had seen plently of 06/07's with it and had rectified a number of cars.

Steve_B

That's a relief.....my ML63 is due to dock in Brisbane in 6 days aboard the ship 'E-R Malmo' and then onto Auckland around the 24th.

mbz_newbie

I just bought an '07 ML63 last Saturday.

Thanks for the thread, I found this on driver's side doors only, right next to the bead that seals the folded metal edge.

schmick325

I thought it was my front doors only too, only to be shown by a bodyshop where to look on the rear doors. Have a look at the area where the rear doors hinge to the car.

Make sure u get all 4 doors done as it will become a problem in the future if you just get the fronts.

chinacks

As its turning to 2013,
I recently purchased a 2007 , and it has some small bubbling happening in the same spot?

Will mercedes replace this for free in canada or will I have to pay out of pocket?

jafores

My truck is in the Philippines where there is no such thing as road salts. Had the same issues the dealership replaced all 4 doors.

xxGenericSNxx

3 of my 4 doors on my 07 R have this issue. Will find out in a couple weeks if the dealer can convince MB corporate to replace it since my warranty has expired.

I've checked many 06/07 MLs and Rs, and also an 07 GL that all happened to be at the dealer and they all have some form of this rust. And in Seattle we never use road salts (never enough snow/ice to warrant it).

I think this issue is more of a factory imperfection.

iS088

Mine is a 07 model, lives in Canberra, Australia. No issue.

MAmendola

I live in upstate NY, where we have brutal winters and use lots of salt. My 09 does not have this issue. I am fanatical about keeping the door jambs and inside edges washed and waxed. Those having the issues it does appear to be a mfg defect.

xxGenericSNxx

I think this issue is only an issue for first and second model year cars (06 and 07) and from my research it is NOT related to road salts. It's just something that "happens."

scyukon

I had to get the bolts drilled out on my rear hatch as they had rusted (and one had broken away!) such that the hatch would not open. Sigh, so much for merceds certified pre-owned.

schmick325

Had this happen too.

1 bolt snapped on the Auto gate arm side and a shop who 'repaired' it installed an incorrect size bolt, eventually stripping the threads in there.

I had to drill everything out and recoil it all.

All good now!

14 months since my door corrosion issue and all is still perfect.

newguy2008

So, before I head to my local Stealership and ask them about this, is this an actual recall or will they look at me like I'm retarded and proceed to quote me $15,000 to paint and replace 4 doors?

xxGenericSNxx

I'm fighting MB on this right now. At first they said they'll pay 50% of repairs, so I got a quote of $4,800 to strip and repaint. Then when I went to proceed, MB said only if I buy new doors- total cost is now a whopping $12,300!!!!

I've reopened my case and will keep fighting. If MB won't pay for repairs I'll be looking into a class action lawsuit.

MB never made a recall nor have they admitted any fault. However, 100% of the 06/07 ML, GL, R vehicles I see in my service area have this issue on at least one door. Seattle, while a wet climate, doesn't ever salt the roads so it's definitely not an issue with that. It's just a crappy prep for the doors that's causing the issue but MB needs to confess.

BMW has 12 year rust warranty and at MB we're only left with the regular 4 years.... this is ridiculous.

Will report back what I find out.