In researching my damaged blower motor and wet carpet from a defective air intake box and/or drain, I found that there are many owners in the same boat as myself, with cars denied service repair while in and out of warranty. I'm within warranty.

While it may not have happened yet, it's only a matter of time.

So here's a poll. Has your blower motor and/or carpet been damaged by water intrusion?

Yes. No. Not sure.

Perhaps if we get enough people to respond, we can get MBUSA to honor their product and/or warranty.

Is this the front blower or the second or third row? My third row blower quit, and I got it fix under my CPO warranty at the time.

Front blower.

I think the members after reading these threads are aware of the poor design MB came up with concerning the drain for the intake filter unit. If it hasn't happened in your R yet everyone should know how to prevent it just by making sure the drain is cleaned out when you change your cabin filters. MB has lost points, as far as I'm concerned by not covering this design flaw that they most certainly are aware of since 2006. I wonder if the new redesigned 2011 has the same drain set-up? If MB didn't change the design it would be my opinion that this has turned into a money maker for the dealers!!

Checked again last night an the intake/drain hole is bone dry. And we've had LOTS of snow. I've never cleaned the drain.

Last year VW sent me a page that was to be added to the maintenance section of the owner's manual for my GTI. It added a "clean the sunroof drain" step to the 40k mile maintenance. Why? Because the drains were getting clogged and probably leaking water onto the front seats. Sound familiar? If MBUSA takes any action on this, it'll probably be to add a "clean the drain" step to the service document if it doesn't exist already.

Looking on-line last night, I noticed that MBUSA has added to the Maintenance Booklet to clean the air box and drain at two years or 20,000 miles starting with the 2009 model year. Isn't that a long time frame to check?

No notice of checking the 2006-2008 model air box and drain.

you know my story - yes on blower being damaged, but carpet was fine as we had rubber mats. also, blower fan frozen also drained/damaged the car battery, $450 to replace...NOT covered by CPO.
PL

Does anyone have pictures of the problem? Is it a repairable item our do you have to continually keep the drain clean?

135 views and 4 votes?

Well, it's obvious it's not a big problem from 135 views, 4 votes and maybe I'm late to the game with this. If nothing else, it's brought attention to the fact that the air intake box drain needs to be cleaned on a regular basis. It's not called for in the owner's manual or the maintenance booklet for the 2006-2008 R models from the maintenance booklets I've downloaded at MBUSA's website. Starting in 2009, it's required to check and clean the air box drain every 2 years or 20,000 miles. Depending where you park, inside or out, that might be long time to check. I would suggest cleanng the drain in there more often and/or what you feel comfortable with. A visual isn't enough, pull the two clips off and run water down the drain to make sure it's flowing properly.
On another note, if the rubber diaphragm isn't removed, go ahead and pull it. Our dealer said he wouldn't do it unless we asked or there was a problem. Of course it's too late then if water gets in.

Look at the thread on chaging your cabin air filters from the engine compartment side. Once you've pulled the cover off, you just need to make sure there are no leaves or debris in the bottom or in the drain. There is a rubber lipped diaphragm you can pull out with your fingers or a pair of needle nose pliars.Total time to do it all is probably five minutes.

Here's the bottom of the air intake box drain showing the rubber diaphragm before and after removal.

My front blower has water and doesn't work, and also the 2nd row doesn't work. Is the 2nd fan wired in parallel with the first so if it stops working both stop?

I pulled the front and it's got water so I'm getting a diff. one over the weekend. I'm hoping that when I plug in the good front blower that both will turn on.

^^^^ Good question.

Are you buying on-line or from a dealer. I bought mine on-line and saved a bundle of $.

Should take 30-45 minutes to swap out. Pull just the panel below the blower. No need to pull the kick panel, etc.

MB Mercedes-Benz Class Action Settlement Of Class Action Lawsuit Over Mercedes-Benz S-Class W220 and Mercedes-Benz CL-Class W215 Reed Valve Water Leakage

August 12, 2010

If you are a current or former owner or lessee of a 2001-2006 model year Mercedes-Benz S-Class or CL-Class vehicle, you may be entitled to benefits from a class action settlement.

I believe that MB added clearing the reed valve to the R series service schedule.

I was lucky to have caught mine in time last fall when I went to change out the cabin filters. The drain was plugged and there was a small amount of water in the box. Not enough to effect the blower or leak into the cabin. I will check it every oil change.

My 2006 R350's 2nd raw fan kept coming on irregularly. The dealer said the dew point sensor is damaged from water and asked $700 to replaced it. Are you kidding me? I bought the sensor from another dealer for $90 and replaced it myself. I checked the old sensor, it was corroded from water for sure. But the "problem" continues. As I read from these posts, there may be a problem with the blower too. Good grief... This is so unfair as we get penalized for their lousy mechanical design.

Definately check the air box and pull the diaphragm in case it's clogged. I'm tempted to drill a hole or two in case the drain clogs up again.

YES! Just this afternoon I had my R500 towed to the dealership. It's been raining in the DC area for 4 days. Last night my husband was driving in the rain again and the car electronically flipped out - wipers stopped, dash lights came on and off, windows went down, radio stopped working, headlights went out. He got to a garage and pulled the key out and the car wouldn't stop running. Had to pull some fuses to get it to stop, but a few lights stayed on.

Over the phone, the service adviser asked if it had water damage, if the passenger floor was wet. Floor wasn't wet, we hadn't driven through a 12" puddle, just normal bad weather driving. When the tech got into it, he found 2" of water in the tray/compartment that houses the battery and some controllers. My adviser said that the heavy rain overwhelmed the drains and water got into the air-intake and into the electronics. $5000+ in damage and he told me to call my insurance asap.

Doesn't quite sit right - sounds like a design flaw.

Sounds like MB and the dealer shucking their responsibility again.

I'd get a complete breakdown of the $5k, as I can't imagine what costs that much. The blower motor is ~$100 on-line iirc and 30 minutes to replace. The battery is several hundred iirc, but can't be that hard to replace. Carpet might dry out. Place fans in there with rhe windows down.

An independent should be able to fix you up a lot cheaper.

Let us know what happens and good luck!

BTW, I'm on my iPhone so pardon my spelling...