Yet another W210 rust question

[Devonian]

Hi all,
I have read through many of the posts on here on the rust issue and wonder what the general feeling on this question is or if there is a definitive answer.
My E200K estate (2001) has some slight rust patches showing on the bonnet and wings around the headlight. My local dealer phoned me this morning to say the claim for warranty work had been accepted (for the interest of other readers I had a full MB history until I bought the car 9 months ago since then it has had one sevice at an indie) and the body shop will be phoning me to book it in.

So my question is what work are they likely to do. Will they just patch up the rust or will they replace the bonnet and wings. In my opinion if there is evidence of rust for which they accept liability then the panels should be replaced not patched. I just thought I'd gather some info before I get the call.

Pics attached

Thanks,

Andy

 

[jberks]

They'll clean it up, treat the rust and paint it. The rust is pretty minor (I had worse on my 2000 210 4 years ago) and they didn't replace any panels on mine. I was quite happy with the results though, and it didn't return which is the main thing.

 

[philharve]

Hi Andy

I agree with jberks, slight rust will be 'cleaned up' rather than require panels to be replaced. Replacement will only occur if, during repair, a panel is holed.

'Cleaned up' might suggest a quick rub down with emery and a localised respray but in my recent experience a repair under warranty goes much further.

If the corroded panel can be unbolted, it will be and given the full treatment: paint stripped back to bare metal, chemically treated to remove hidden rust, sealed using an expoxy process and painted to a standard better than the original paintwork. As jberks comments, a good repair should last a very long time. You are more at risk of rust breaking out on other panels than a repaired panel. After all, MB won't want another warranty claim for a repair that corrodes again, although it does happen: it happened to me.

If you can, speak to the bodyshop and they will outline the process involved. There is a surprising amount of work involved in fixing quite minor rust. I had a 'back to bare metal' job done on my bonnet because there were 2 or 3 very small rust spots appearing on the trailing edge of my bonnet, near and around the water jets. The cause was inadequate paint thickness and rust could break out anywhere on the bonnet at a later date. That's why all the paint had to come off. Rust spots appearing anywhere on a body panel means the whole panel is suspect. Repair it once, repair it right!

I note you own an E-class Mercedes manufactured around the Millenium. You must ensure you have a full corrosion check at each service. I now use an indie and that's how I found out about my corroding wheel arches which were also repaired under warranty using the aforementioned process. The rust would have been evident at the previous service which I had done at a MB main dealer. They didn't mention rust to me (did they check?) and that's why I changed to using an indie.

REGARDS

Phil

 

[Devonian]

Update

Car was collected by local bodyshop, kept for just over a week and returned to me in excellent condition.

No cost to me - so I have to give full marks to MB for the way I have been treated.

 

[anyweb]

nice work, now show us a photo of the finished result

 

[izzi613]

Did you get a courtesy car and if so what?

 

[Devonian]

yes I did get a courtesy car (mitsubishi colt - awful !! )

I'll take some pic's in the morning and post tomorrow

 

[Devonian]

Pictures as requested

Here are a few pics of the "after"

Of course I'm not a Bodywork guy so can't really comment on the standard but it looks fine to me (sorry it's a bit dirty have done a few miles since getting it back )

 

[izzi613]

Devonian is your car meant to have 2 tone bodywork? Theres a nasty colour discrepency between front bumper and everything else and then rubbig strips and everything else. Are these replacement parts from another vehicle?

 

[Devonian]

Umm interesting. You are right there is a difference in colour between the bumper and bodywork though it appears more so in the picture. However I am only the second owner and I have sopken to the original owner and this car has never had any bodywork repairs prior to the work I have just had done. I notice that the rear bumper is a slightly different shade than the bodywork as well so I suppose it must be as original

 

[television]

I noticed that the color is not the same, but I have seen this on other cars where the bumpers have been sprayed at some time, its hard to see the bonnet against the wings

 

[Devonian]

I'll be bringing the car up to the meet on 19th. so you can cast your expert eyes over it then.