C Class Sports Coupe - Broken sunroof/part flying off car!

GK10

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Just bought a great 02 Merc C Class Sports Coupe with a great spec and the panoramic sunroof.

Once I returned home I opened the sunroof using the switch. Everything was fine. Whilst it was closing, it stopped just past halfway and sort of jammed. I pressed the close button again and I heard a snap and a something fly over the windscreen. After closer inspection, a few metres in front of the car was a piece of plastic which I've uploaded.

The roof is closed, but it seems one side of the roof is sealed and tight, whilst the other side exposes a few hinges. It will only open a few inches now and I get that jamming/cracking noise.

Please take a look at the photos and let me know if you've got any ideas as to what the problem is. The dealers were good although weren't too happy as they are adamant everything was working. They asked me to take it back on Monday so they can investigate and said that we'll discuss the next steps after the problem is diagnosed.

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/11/imageexx.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/651/image1znt.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/194/image2czl.jpg/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/171/image3qf.jpg/
 
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GK10

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Sorry to be a pain, but giving this a bump. Any comments? The dealer doesn't think the plastic that snapped off in the first image would affect the roof mechanism but I'm dumbfounded!
 

LTD

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If you have just bought it and it's broken and with warranty then they should fix it - end of.
 
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GK10

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This is the email I got from the dealer yesterday.


You need to get that looked at, as it was all working fine. 100%

The warranty will not cover a plastic clip breaking.

Can you find the clip and save it for me to look at.

Perhaps you could come back here, so we can have a look. Should be no reason why a clip would ruin the roof mechanism.
 

malcolm E53 AMG

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Sorry to hear of your problem with the sunroof, hopefully the rest of the car is functioning ok, takes the gloss of the purchase unfortunately.

I would visit MB and get an estimate and idea of what has gone wrong and armed with the quote visit the seller and broker a deal. If the cost is minimal they should pick it up and if it's a lot perhaps a contribution from them would be in order. Always a problem with older MBs as the parts and repairs can be expensive.

Hopefully it will be something simple and not incur a high labour cost.

Hope this helps!
 
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GK10

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Sorry to hear of your problem with the sunroof, hopefully the rest of the car is functioning ok, takes the gloss of the purchase unfortunately.

I would visit MB and get an estimate and idea of what has gone wrong and armed with the quote visit the seller and broker a deal. If the cost is minimal they should pick it up and if it's a lot perhaps a contribution from them would be in order. Always a problem with older MBs as the parts and repairs can be expensive.

Hopefully it will be something simple and not incur a high labour cost.

Hope this helps!

Thanks. The rest of the car is great, really pleased with it. This is is: http://www.seymourpope.com/car-details?id=ms253xmdno

Do you know if MB charge for an estimate, or will they take a look at it, provide a diagnostic and further options for free? Thanks.
 

LTD

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Very tidy car.

Forget MB, look at a local Indy with some passion about older cars if you want to look after it in the longterm. MB are simply too expensive these days.
 

The Pan Man

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Can't help with the problem but that is a very tidy motor car with one of the best design alloy wheels IMO. I would not think that the sun roof issue will be major.
 

malcolm E53 AMG

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Thanks. The rest of the car is great, really pleased with it. This is is: http://www.seymourpope.com/car-details?id=ms253xmdno

Do you know if MB charge for an estimate, or will they take a look at it, provide a diagnostic and further options for free? Thanks.

The car looks great, a very well looked after second car no doubt.

MB will give you an estimate for rectifying the problem which you can then take to the seller. Be open with them (MB) re what you are doing and there shouldn't be a problem. Better to let them do the work as this is a warranty claim and they are no doubt familiar with the problem.

When you get the issue resolved it would be better as already mentioned to find a good MB specialist (Independent) to service the car in the future unless you can afford MB prices. If you ask the question on the forum someone will make a recommendation relative to where you live.
 
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GK10

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I've just got home. As agreed with the dealer I decided to take it to their garage. A few mechanics took a look at the car, but didn't want to touch anything as they were worried the glass would shutter. They weren't sure what the part was and said they need to book the car in and remove the whole sunroof to figure out what the problem is. On the way home, I passed a Mercedes dealer and thought I would stop to ask if they could take a look at it. They said they don't do servicing/parts there, but they found a Mercedes technician who was working that said he could take a look at it as a gesture of good will. He noticed the issue straight away. He said the arm on the driver side sunroof has completely broken in a number of places. The clip comes from that side and he found the area where it had broken off from. He also asked if anyone had tried to get into the car previously and I said not that I know of. The reason he asked was because that side of the sunroof is slightly bent and raised when it should be flat. He said there was no marks so maybe the force of the incident bent it slightly. He did manage to fully close the sunroof so both sides were sitting flat and sealed so rain couldn't get into the car. He did this by removing a spring that had broken and was caught on something.

He basically said he thinks they could get away with just replacing the driver side arm section of the sunroof. He also asked if I had a warranty and if I bought it from a Mercedes dealer because they would be able to repair it for free.

Going to email my dealer now, and see what they say. On the phone before I went to the garage, he said "hopefully it will only cost you £30/40", but I'm not too pleased considering I've paid £5000 for a car and the sunroof broke the first time trying to open it. As far as they are concerned it was working 100% before they sold it, but I'm not sure if that's enough?
 

malcolm E53 AMG

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Glad you're making progress with it.

It's worth bearing in mind that there are a lot of plastic components in cars nowadays and with age these do deterioate and become brittle. I would be wary of using the sunroof in extremely cold weather especially as the car is 10 years old.

I would definitely let MB fix the problem and try and get a contribution from the seller. You really need a quote from MB to proceed and before the work is done come to an agreement with garage that sold the car.
 
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Just got a reply from the dealer:

Hi,

Its normal for him and his team to want to book the car in so they can be thorough and take apart the mechanism in order to fix it properly - this will be by far the most efficient way of getting it fixed and what they will do most likely is order in any official part they need for the car - a main dealer will charge you a huge premium for any parts they supply and off course the labour rates will be far higher.

I can confirm that no one has tried to get into the car / sunroof previously which would have caused it to be raised / misaligned. The sunroof mechanism has worked perfectly since we acquired the car (we have to test it and we could not sell the car with it broken) so I can only deduce that this was a result of the failure of the part when you opened it and the clip part broke off last Friday afternoon.

The technician you mention below is referring to repairs being done under a 'main dealer warranty' - this only comes if you buy a second hand 'approved' car from a Mercedez dealership. The warranty scheme that comes with your car will not cover a clip or an arm snapping in a sunroof mechanism such is the nature of the system (and it could have been forced) and also the fact this occurred immediately on day one of your ownership.

I appreciate this is frustrating timing but essentially you have bought a 10 year old car that despite being in great condition will have the odd moving component deteriorate / wear out over time. That said we are confident that his team can help you rectify the problem - the first thing to do is get the car to him on friday so he can diagnose the problem and then he will provide a quote to you and in turn order the part in.

Once we know the facts of what / how is broken Im prepared to offer some sort of contribution to the part fitted by Mr Clutch as a goodwill gesture.

It sounds like from your visit to the Mercedez specialist it should be something simple like the driver side arm and I have passed on this information onto the garage.
 

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