After discovering (and already addressing) some rust around the jack holes, I recently found more under the hood, where the sound-proofing foam's front edge is held in place. I noticed this right after washing the car, and said foam was wet around that area, probably at least part of the reason for the rust.

So here are some related questions:

* Have any of you found proper ways to:
--> prevent the foam from getting wet and possibly contributing to any further rust?
--> address this rust? In particular the one on the invisible side... I have for now just painted over the visible one, but this is probably insufficient, and I hate letting the rust progress without doing anything, and having to pay a significantly higher bill later (I intend to keep my cars for as long as possible).

* This was another surprise on a model (W124) which is supposed to no longer rust... But I have also read that the W124 had been "cheapened" for the 94-95 years, in particular regarding rust protection: is this a confirmation? I would like to hear experiences for pre-93 and 94-95 models.

Thanks!

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1991 W126 300SE (M103)
1995 W124 E320 Wagon (M104)

I decided not to buy a '94 E320 I was looking at a few weeks ago because of rust bubbles around the car's trunk and along the side of the body, near the plastic cladding at the bottom. It was not just a little bit of rust; it was quite a bit. Also, you know what they say....as far as rust goes, what you can easily see is usually just the beginning. Like you, I was quite surprised to see rust on a late-model W124.

The only rust our '87TD had was a small spot on the rear fender lip, near where it meets up with the bumper. I don't have any problems with the jack holes or anywhere else. Car is 18 years old and has a VERY long time to go before rust renders her undriveable.

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

Do you all think that MB quit galvanizing (or at least used a cheaper process) in order to lesses the production costs of their cars in the mid-90s? After reading a lot of reports about rust on the W210 cars and such, it seems plausible. I was very surprised to find so much rust on a late-model W124.

Here's an early W210 on ebay with a ton of rust all around. For a car- especially an MB- that is only 10 years old, this is ridiculous. The vehicle description is also a fun read...

Evidence of MB cheapening their cars?

No rust yet on my E-320. And it's lived most of its life in pretty humid conditions.

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Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.