My 300e shock tower completely fell apart. I didn;t even see it coming. I was noticing some weird noises when i went over bumps. Brought it in and the mechanic said there is a big whole in my wheel well. After getting it back i looks behind the strut tower and half of it was missing from rust. Ive been oil spraying it but it is so bad, like metal is missing. Then i notice a shiny piece of aluminium underneath the fuse box. But looking under the wheel well its all covered with that rubber undercoating, can't even tell. So somebody had tried to rig something. Anyways i kept driving it because i had no otehr vehicle and it kept getting worse and worse, finally i decided it's over and i put the car on jack stands and seen that all the spot welds that held the hump to the sheet metal came off. There was literally 1 inch of sheet metal stopping it from hitting my hood.

Everyone i showed said its not fixable and to toss the car. I have nothing to lose so i'm gonna fix it! I have a pretty good plan, ill post pictures and keep you guys updated. I just cut out another strut tower from a junkyard in phenomenal condition considering its a 1987 sitting at a junkyard and boy was it hard to get out with the tools i had. Has anyone ever attacked this kind of problem?

Would something like this be road legal though? Wouldn't you get defected once you need your check up?
Do post pics, I am very curious to see how it is!
How can it rust so bad? I checked my 1994 C124 for rust EVERYWHERE and the only places I found trace amounts of rust were on a metal undershield that protects the sump, a metal clip that holds a bracket on top of the rear number plate, and very minimal amounts around the jacking hole (btw, should I be repairing this?)

Hope it all works out for you!

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Smoke Silver 1994 E220 Coupe Automatic
0 kilometers 6 September 1994
100,635 kilometers - 6 September 2010

allen:
dbl check with your dealer first. there is a chance that it is covered by warranty.
you are in Canada and word is that MB Canada may cover some of the repair
costs.

if so, congratulations. we don't have this option in the USA

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-- raymond~
47º 34'N 122º 18'W

Many thread on strut mount towers corroding. If dealer wont cover it try getting a replacement welded in from a junkyard.

i highly doubt the dealer will cover it but i will definetely look into it, i know the people there well since i'm always in buying parts lol I will forsure be keeping an eye out for rust in this area. This is a huge job for this car with the double fire wall and the weird shape. Check out the pics, i kid you not i did not have to cut or do anything to get this out, the only thing i did was chisle 1inch of metal on the left side that held it up, I'm so glad i didn't drive that day, and i was about to drive my brother to work! As for it being legal after, i don't know, i'm not gonna sell the car, it's already safetied so i don't know about that, but my repair will be nothing short of extreme.[IMG]file:///N:/MY_PICTURES/0826001209.jpg[/IMG]

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HHHHHOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW did you never see this huge hole before??????
Presumably you open the hood for an oil change and other servicing???

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Smoke Silver 1994 E220 Coupe Automatic
0 kilometers 6 September 1994
100,635 kilometers - 6 September 2010

This is why I do an annual RustCheck on my car.

HAHA no my hood is opened all the time, i told you it was patched, cuz theres a sheet of aluminium and crappy tar looking rust cotting covering up. the top looked fine until it started making noise, rust didnt do it on its own, all the spot welds broke. Within 2 weeks after the noise started happening, the whole thing came up.The part from the junkyard is so well built thats why im so shocked that it came apart so easily.

Have any of you guys heard of POR-15 rust paint. Im debatting on getting it because it's so expensive and im sure Tremclad will do just fine???? What do you think?

oh ok... because I thought it'd be hard to miss that hole

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Smoke Silver 1994 E220 Coupe Automatic
0 kilometers 6 September 1994
100,635 kilometers - 6 September 2010

Do a search on POR 15 a lot of the members on the diesel side swear by it.

Allen, to avoid killing yourself or someone else stop driving your 300E until you get the strut tower repaired. It's clearly a safety issue.

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Fred Hoelzle

The car is parked on jack stands, It won't driven until it is 100% fixed and safe. To blead brakes on this car do you need a vacuum bleader or can you do it by pumping the brakes.

Allen, recommend that you use a pressure bleeder. Pumping the brake pedal can result in damage to the master cylinder.

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Fred Hoelzle

I broke the brake line, it was sooo rusted and inevitable for breaking. Check out the pics of the strut tower old/new. Black one is the old one that fell apart and the grey one is from the junkyard. Can somebody tell me anything i should know about for fixing the break line, fluid and process for bleading.

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