Bought the car at 6pm, broken down in a lay by 30 mins later CL63AMG

[Submariner1]

Great news.
Anything you could share with us other W216 owners about where the ingress was from?

Please do share any details of how the water got in. I really would like to know how that happened. Especially as I frequently Power wash under my car with a Karcher. Obviosly I dont take off the underbody sheilds.
I looked very hard for vents and drains when cleaning the exhaust, for this reason, but couldnt see any.

Reason below :-
My wife once left the sunroof open in a 7 month old S Class. I phoned the MB garage and they said "do not start it". The collected it on a low loader, and asked me to come and see them and bring my insurance policy. Because they said if the water had got past this semi waterproof soundproofing. Then they had to write the car off. And many policies woukd not cover this, as its user negligence.
I said "you must be effing joking!"

They said it was mandatory, stipulated by Mercedes, as there were computers and canbus wiring under the carpet, and if compromised thats it!
Sure you might be able to fix it, but then corrosion could set in later and other more serious issues arise, like brake by wire and ABS and computerised suspension going haywire! Hence the write off.

Thankfully being OCD, as soon as I saw the carpet was wet, I dived in with a really powerful 3000 watt wet and dry. The kind, that can turn a soaking carpet into "touch dry". And I spent one hour constantly hoovering until the low loader came.

The dealer reckoned that quick action stopped the water getting to the other side of the cars carpet ( matts were soaked ) and the membrane was bone dry on both sides.

Very scary moment!
I noticed on my CL500 if you leave the sunroof open and it rains, then the car now shuts the roof! Not put it to the test lol but thats what the manual says.

Not sure where that puts you.
But whilst waiting for the verdict as they stripped out my car (cost £660) , I made a few phone calls, to both Mercedes UK technical ( in the days when they were helpful ) and my insurance company, both said if the water had got to the computers or canbus they would insist it was written off.
Note my insurer were one of the 2 , who would have covered the write off. And the woman I spoke to there said she personally had written off 7 big Mercs because of water ingress in the last year!

If I were you i would be having a serious discussion with my dealer.
Maybe you got lucky and the water was in a "safe" place, or a place they could replace some of the loom.

Sorry if its not good news, but I wouldnt want that car.
Sometimes its better to fight sooner than later.

 

[growla666]

Please do share any details of how the water got in. I really would like to know how that happened. Especially as I frequently Power wash under my car with a Karcher. Obviosly I dont take off the underbody sheilds.
I looked very hard for vents and drains when cleaning the exhaust, for this reason, but couldnt see any.

Reason below :-
My wife once left the sunroof open in a 7 month old S Class. I phoned the MB garage and they said "do not start it". The collected it on a low loader, and asked me to come and see them and bring my insurance policy. Because they said if the water had got past this semi waterproof soundproofing. Then they had to write the car off. And many policies woukd not cover this, as its user negligence.
I said "you must be effing joking!"

They said it was mandatory, stipulated by Mercedes, as there were computers and canbus wiring under the carpet, and if compromised thats it!
Sure you might be able to fix it, but then corrosion could set in later and other more serious issues arise, like brake by wire and ABS and computerised suspension going haywire! Hence the write off.

Thankfully being OCD, as soon as I saw the carpet was wet, I dived in with a really powerful 3000 watt wet and dry. The kind, that can turn a soaking carpet into "touch dry". And I spent one hour constantly hoovering until the low loader came.

The dealer reckoned that quick action stopped the water getting to the other side of the cars carpet ( matts were soaked ) and the membrane was bone dry on both sides.

Very scary moment!
I noticed on my CL500 if you leave the sunroof open and it rains, then the car now shuts the roof! Not put it to the test lol but thats what the manual says.

Not sure where that puts you.
But whilst waiting for the verdict as they stripped out my car (cost £660) , I made a few phone calls, to both Mercedes UK technical ( in the days when they were helpful ) and my insurance company, both said if the water had got to the computers or canbus they would insist it was written off.
Note my insurer were one of the 2 , who would have covered the write off. And the woman I spoke to there said she personally had written off 7 big Mercs because of water ingress in the last year!

If I were you i would be having a serious discussion with my dealer.
Maybe you got lucky and the water was in a "safe" place, or a place they could replace some of the loom.

Sorry if its not good news, but I wouldnt want that car.
Sometimes its better to fight sooner than later.

Thanks for the encouraging post, not! The dealer striped the entire interior out and checked every circuit and replaced not only the single canbus block but three sections of wire. 20+ hours labour were spent taking out the whole interior
out and I have photos of the work done. There was no damage elsewhere and the ingress was inconclusive as the trader didn't know about it either. Car works great and am not getting rid of it as the dealer checked it from top to bottom and said it was in excellent condition, I even had it on the ramp and there was not corrosion they could find, ABC system was spotless even had new exhaust system. It's staying with me......

 

[John Laidlaw]

Thanks for the encouraging post, not! The dealer striped the entire interior out and checked every circuit and replaced not only the single canbus block but three sections of wire. 20+ hours labour were spent taking out the whole interior
out and I have photos of the work done. There was no damage elsewhere and the ingress was inconclusive as the trader didn't know about it either. Car works great and am not getting rid of it as the dealer checked it from top to bottom and said it was in excellent condition, I even had it on the ramp and there was not corrosion they could find, ABC system was spotless even had new exhaust system. It's staying with me......

Great t hear, stick with it, cracking car....

 

[Submariner1]

Thanks for the encouraging post, not! The dealer striped the entire interior out and checked every circuit and replaced not only the single canbus block but three sections of wire. 20+ hours labour were spent taking out the whole interior
out and I have photos of the work done. There was no damage elsewhere and the ingress was inconclusive as the trader didn't know about it either. Car works great and am not getting rid of it as the dealer checked it from top to bottom and said it was in excellent condition, I even had it on the ramp and there was not corrosion they could find, ABC system was spotless even had new exhaust system. It's staying with me......

Sorry you didnt like the truth, but at least it sounds like they did a great job.
Who knows that was a 2000 S Class, maybe MB learnt a big lesson ( seems so as they now have the self closing sunroof)
They may have changed the layout so sensitive kit is not vunerable. Lets face it they are very big cars with plenty of room to place sensitive computers anywhere except at the lowest point.

Its a bit concerning, they couldnt find where the water got in
More concerning for us other guys, than you .. at least yours has been checked out. And I dont see how, without a huge excavation job, the rest of us would ever even know.
As they say ignorance is bliss.

Maybe the fear of water is overrated, I do wonder how many SLs got caught in the rain :-/

As for body corrosion, That wouldnt worry me. I had 3 new SLs which had leaking rear seal/boots, and like you was given pics ... absolutely no sign of corrosion ... just beautifully shiny painted silver metal. And the seams all had that cream coloured mastic.

I do, wish you well and trust your dealer is right.

 

[davemercedes]

Well done growla666
It seems you have ended up with a classic solution and probably have a better car now than you ever expected - seems it's true that you have to break eggs to make an omelette! Enjoy!

 

[merc85]

Well done to the Op, Enjoy your car Sir

 

[EmilysDad]

Mercedes tried & failed to keep water out of the Smart Roadster .. and then just gave up

 

[growla666]

Update - for those who are interested....

Ok had the car proper for 2 weeks now and it hasn't missed a beat. Frankly its a brutal, snarling weapon of a car that positively bristles with power. No hint of issues since Mercedes of Peterborough fixed the car. Matt and Adrian in the service department there deserve full credit for their attitude, application and determination to fix the car. Day to day I'm getting 15-16 mpg bimbling around town and I have had 26 mpg on a steady 60mph cruise down the M11. Stick it in S mode and f**k its frightening, the back end is all over the place when you floor it. Its like a pit bull straining on a lease, honestly its a beast. I tend to drive around in C mode (bit like the old W mode in older boxes) as its more gentle when you decide to overtake some 2.0Tdi business box. Alloys are huge so kerbing is a distinct possibility in most multi -storey car parks so I try to park it in big open car parks away from Granny and her Micra. Costs a fortune to fill it, 98 RON only here I'm afraid and I only use decent Shell stuff. Annoyingly the in-car media compared to my 11 plate XJ is archaic, no iPhone connection, Bluetooth wont see my iPhone 6, no Harmon Logic 7 either so all a bit 2007! The gearbox selector is annoying as well, prefer the auto selector in between the seats. Seats are v comfortable though and bolster you when you swing around corners at speeds that are indecent. Plus the caramel nappa leather interior is gorgeous. So, finally got the car I wanted at the start......here's to another 2-3 years of 500 hp+ fun!

 

[Botus]

Please do share any details of how the water got in. I really would like to know how that happened. Especially as I frequently Power wash under my car with a Karcher. Obviosly I dont take off the underbody sheilds.

.

there are massive vents in the inner rear wings behind the bumper, these give great access to get many, many modules wet on both sides, and if that doesn't do it, just open the boot when there's water on it as that has a great mechanising for doing the same thing

 

[Craiglxviii]

there are massive vents in the inner rear wings behind the bumper, these give great access to get many, many modules wet on both sides, and if that doesn't do it, just open the boot when there's water on it as that has a great mechanising for doing the same thing

The drafters. Necessary to let BO, bad breath and eggy morning "air biscuits" out. Also something to do with maintaining temperature and removing water vapour so they tell me...

 

[Naraic]

Ok had the car proper for 2 weeks now and it hasn't missed a beat. Frankly its a brutal, snarling weapon of a car that positively bristles with power. No hint of issues since Mercedes of Peterborough fixed the car. Matt and Adrian in the service department there deserve full credit for their attitude, application and determination to fix the car. Day to day I'm getting 15-16 mpg bimbling around town and I have had 26 mpg on a steady 60mph cruise down the M11. Stick it in S mode and f**k its frightening, the back end is all over the place when you floor it. Its like a pit bull straining on a lease, honestly its a beast. I tend to drive around in C mode (bit like the old W mode in older boxes) as its more gentle when you decide to overtake some 2.0Tdi business box. Alloys are huge so kerbing is a distinct possibility in most multi -storey car parks so I try to park it in big open car parks away from Granny and her Micra. Costs a fortune to fill it, 98 RON only here I'm afraid and I only use decent Shell stuff. Annoyingly the in-car media compared to my 11 plate XJ is archaic, no iPhone connection, Bluetooth wont see my iPhone 6, no Harmon Logic 7 either so all a bit 2007! The gearbox selector is annoying as well, prefer the auto selector in between the seats. Seats are v comfortable though and bolster you when you swing around corners at speeds that are indecent. Plus the caramel nappa leather interior is gorgeous. So, finally got the car I wanted at the start......here's to another 2-3 years of 500 hp+ fun!

Health to enjoy...sounds amazing.

 

[growla666]

Ah but the story continued. After my two week hiatus - the problem returned. My heart sank as I thought the dealer had resolved the problem but no, after a particularly heavy down pour the car started playing up again with the same fault. After a number of warnings coming up and the drivers electric seat kept reclining I discovered the carpet behind the drivers seat was soaked. Long story short the sunroof drain was not only blocked but had been crimped. No idea how this happened but the car was back at the dealers for another 4 weeks. Interior of car stripped out and drain replaced. Car returned and fault came back again. By now I was desperate and bought my own £390 car code reader and traced every single fault it showed up. I then trawled the web (and I mean trawled) to try and find the W216 workshop manual, which I eventually found, paid for and downloaded. I found every wiring diagram and traced each fault to the corresponding CAN and went back to the dealers to help them localise the fault. By this stage I had a good relationship with them. Without boring you all with the ins and outs we ended up having every wire in the entire wiring loom resistance tested, had a new ISM (the original was thought to be faulty but turned out it wasn’t and the dealers decided not the charge me for this even though it had been coded to my car and couldn’t be returned to Mercedes), the interior of the car was removed twice, we then thought it was the ECU. That was also replaced but again, was found to be fine, but I agreed to pay £1116 for the replacement. The dealer kept the car for weeks, working on it when they could, test driving it for me every time they thought they had found the fault - only to be thwarted time and time again. By this stage the labour had run into about 60 hours and nearly £2000 worth of parts. But because I had been patience, humourous when I should have been angry and discussed each problem as it arose the dealer was (Mercedes of Peterborough) magnificent. Ok, there’s more. -I did decide to lease a C22d AMG Line Premium whilst I had the AMG attended to - needed it for work so, so that helped. By July the AMG had gone back again and I insisted on courtesy car whilst I waited. The next morning they delivered me a brand new, and I mean 0 miles on the clock C250d AMG Line Premium Plus Sport demonstrator (Haycinth Red Designo) with every option inc 4matic and Airmatic bar head up display. I then proceeded to use that daily and have put 5600 miles on the clock. They even let me take on holiday to Germany and I got 147mph out of it on the Autobahn near Koblenz! I finally got the AMG back last Friday after months of work. The dealer charged me for the ECU, I didn’t pay for any labour and now have an AMG that finally works. The bill should have been thousands but was £1100. And now your’re asking what caused the problem? After all the labour, effort and testing they found a CANBUS block that had 2 dry joints - that once the car moved and the CANBUS warmed up, the circuit to ISM/ECU kept breaking resulting in partial voltages to the gearbox selector causing all the ****** errors. As soon as they replaced that the car hasn’t faulted since in 400 miles and 4 hours of driving. Oh and the 250d? That is such an epic car that I traded in the 220d after only 5 months and bought that too! I want to thank Mercedes of Peterborough for their outstanding service - in particular the service manager Matt Clarke and his mechanics Adi Bonnet (and his apprentice) who worked tirelessly on the beast for months. Am very very grateful and finally have my 50th birthday present working. Long story but perseverance and having deep pockets saw me right in the end.........

Lessons learnt here - check those ****** sunroof drains, give your dealership a chance and be pragmatic as they can deliver, invest in a decent code reader as they’re useful, don’t wast ANY money on warranties unless its a genuine Merc. I have read the small print on 3 market leading ones and they protect you against f**k all. Bank the cash for a rainy day. NEVER pay cash for a car from a non-franchise place, always insist on your credit card for the best protection. I actually prefer driving my 250d than my CL63 after all that...go figure......

 

[V6Matty]

Great result eventually there growla, just in time for a nice hard winter lol. I've visited the Peterborough dealer in the past as well and like you they seemed to genuinely care.

 

[LostKiwi]

I actually prefer driving my 250d than my CL63 after all that...go figure......

Burn him!
Well done getting it sorted.

 

[fabes]

Epic recovery

 

[ajlsl600]

sorry to read of yr dramas , yr being mighty pragmatic .welcome to modern car ownership,does not seem to matter which marque, frankly the more prestige,the more complex the more hassle, do let us have the full outcome.shock me , thats unintended, by confirming its NOT electrical.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Brilliant to hear a positive review of a dealer too- Epic journey, you showed remarkable patience which I’m sure will benefit you long term- positives came too in the form of the 250d...
Deep breaths and enjoy now!

 

[BeeJay]

Just read this thread, from start to finish. Wow, what a saga!

I think the thing which brought about the positive outcome is Growla's attitude, the belief that he would eventually get to drive his car trouble-free, the fact that he remained polite and pleasant, but with absolute determination.

Thank you for the account. It gives hope to all who are faced with the occasional, expensive, fault with this great marque.

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

What an epic tale of perseverance - glad you got the car you wanted in the end - in fact two!!

 

[ajlsl600]

electrical it twas, big surprise. water ingress, not much surprise there either,that really ought to be impossible given the low level positioning of wiring , electronics, not great design that.