Hi to all,

I am new here and in need of some advice. I just purchased a 1999 E 320 and here is my problem. It rained here in Florida last night very heavy. We had almost an entire night of hard rain. This morning I open the rear drivers side door and find a small amount of water that had collected under the door and it ran out onto the ground. Then I notice that the floorboard was very wet. Even the mat was wet. No other part of the car was wet though, not the other rear side, and the front floor was dry. The seats were dry, the door panels were dry as well, even the trunk. My heart nearly sunk....my beautiful car has a bad water leak! I called the local MB dealer, and he said to run water over that door cause the door seals might be leaking or even the sunroof drain could be clogged. He suggested that after I run the water a while, I go to the other side and see if I see any water coming into the car. So, I ran a strong hose on the roof and down that rear door and I opened up the other side of the car and couldn't see any water at all. The door seals seem to me to be ok, but I noticed along the roof of the car on that side the small seal of trim that is located on the roof above the door is loose.

Any clues to what it could be? Where else could I take it to get it looked at? The dealer wants to charge me 155.00 to just water test it. My car also has the silver AMG panels along the body of the opening of the door that light up blue. All of them work but that door where the floor was wet. Any suggestions on how to fix that?

Thanks to all who read my post and any help greatly would be appreciated!!!!
Thank You

 

it's a ledge and for WATER DEFLECTOR.

 

Hi,
Observation is the key to finding water leaks.

Dry off the surfaces in the vicinity of the leak and use some sort of powder or chalk dust to dust the area. Then conduct your water test and establish from "lines" in the chalk dust where the water has been running. Unfortunately water runs downhill so a leak high up may not show itself until it has travelled quite a distance.

The doors have more than one seal attached to them. Only one of these is a continuous seal around the whole periphery of the door. The others tend to be local secondary defence. The main seal should remove the chalk dust when you shut the door a few times.

Since you have a sunroof this is high on the list of possibilities.
Do you use the roof?
Are there pine needles in the area?
Likely scenario is the drains at the rear of the sunroof tray are blocked so since water gets past the seal between the glass and the body (which it is recognised it will)... the tray will slowly begin to fill up until it overflows into the interior. The drains exit adjacent to the rear bumper one per side. Difficult to access because they are above the headlining.

When you parked the car was it on level ground? If not level was the side that was "down" the side the water came in....if so it is even more likely the roof.

Good luck,
Stuart

 

Hi,

Thanks for the help. The car was parked on level ground. I was just worried that this is going to be something major to fix. This has had me worried all night. If it is the sunroof drains, any advice on how to clear it?

Thanks again

 

Proper way is to drop the headlining.
However CAREFUL application of air pressure from the end of the pipe behind the bumper might work. Problem is you will have to find where the end of the pipe is. This might mean removing the removing the bumper. A straightforward process which requires no special tools. Process is dependent upon model.
Stuart