By the way, which did you decide on using the tape and simply not silicone those things? I'm sure I don't know yet how they detach from the body, so perhaps I'll have a better idea when I remove stuff and actually see this beat. So far it's raining out... And will be tomorrow... haha - ill have plenty of water to deal with after this rain, for sure...

Do these drains get cracked and need replacing sometimes?

You will see when you get the cowl off. The drains are large plastic chute's. The punched a hole in the body and put the drain in. The gap between the body and the drain opened up over the years, plus MB only stuck some crappy foam sealant in their. I used the tape to build up the lip of the cars body so the water would go down the drain, seems to have worked.

This is the only area of the W126 that I would call cheap. MB should have designed and sealed these better.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200