When I get a newer car in a couple of years I think I'll skip the W210 and go right to the W211.

I saw a 1998 E300D at a train station that was rusted like crazy! Looked like a 20 year old car, amazing.

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Of course by now, MB knows to make their car almost rust proof. I would expect MB is smart enough to do this as rust should be a thing of the past. Needless to say, if my car showed any rust I would dump it and try a Lexus.

You'll need one after 2004 or you might find the same problem.
I think you may be wrong...

Don't think so. Mercedes has stated that the W210 is 48% galvanized, up from 42% on the W124. I know...you'll ask where the reference is, I'll try and find it...

Either way, I can't understand why the car isn't fully rust-proofed like other makes. Audi, Volvo, etc. never really rust the way some of the W210s are.

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

Have you looked closely enough?

You may be one of the lucky ones. Try peeling back the weather stripping on your outer door frame and inspect it. I would be surprised if you found no rust at all. Look at the bottom of the door frames as well.

I'm not bashing the 210 overall - it's a fantastic car to drive and I love mine. But the rust issues are unforgiveable, IMO. Sad to see such a beautiful car rust like a freakin' Lada left in a salt bath.

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

I believe that was more of a problem in the W124 M104/M119 engines.

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

Ah yes. Another reason I love the 124. No rust on either of ours.

The first vehicle I ever owned that just would not rust was, believe it or not, a 1986 Dodge Caravan.

Maybe the EPA has a new rule prohibiting rustproofing. They may want the cars to decompose and disintegrate rather than hanging around forever like styrofoam.

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2012 E350
2006 Callaway SC560

Yup, my 300E was a rust-proof tank. One damn fine built car.

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

On the spring perch issue, I just got a fax of all the old service records for my E430 (I recently purchased it, I am the third owner). Car was serviced regularly at the MB dealer in Toronto, Canada.

In 2002, the car had a service performed - "Check and repair both seam sealer on front spring support". There is a dealer 'op code' of 023411 listed for this service. There is also a labor amount listed but it has been blacked out since I was not the owner at that time.

So, mine have been inpected and repaired. Good to know. Sad that this is required on such a major structural component.

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Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

How can I find info on the TSB for door frame rust?

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2002 E320 4-Matic
2008 Subaru Outback
2009 Subaru Forester

Thats another place to check for rust. There are three undertrays, one for the gearbox, one for the engine, and one for the radiator. This picture is the underside of the radiator.

Of course I've sorted it now, but theres still a hole in one end where I poked my finger through

They're great cars but you really have to dig deep and look around, remove bits of trim etc. Anything that isn't on display doesn't IMO have to look pretty, so when I find rust like that I just remove it, proof it, and then POR15 it.

Its also worth waxoyling the underside, its not expensive to do.

I know about several 210s who have had the roof replaced due to rust as well.
My parents had a Ž98 280 4MATIC and a Ž00 240, the thing that scared me the most was how extremely fast you get "worms in the paint" in places where the paint get scratched. Seems that the steel quality is really bad on these cars.
They have a W220 S320 now, and I recently discovered lots of rust in the rear wheel arches as well as on the trunk lid. The "worms" also applies to the W220.

I think IŽll stick to my W140 400 SE for a while. The W140 tend to rust too, but not even close to the W210 and W220.

-Michael

I'd love to hear what the MB engineers have to say about this. I'm sure these design and material decisions were made against their better judgement.

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1985 380SE Blue/Blue - 230,000 miles
2012 Subaru Forester 5-speed
2005 Toyota Sienna
2004 Chrysler Sebring convertible
1999 Toyota Tacoma

They were probably pissed!

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

48% galvanized??.... shameful!! Back in '86, Chrysler finally reached 100% galvanized on their Caravan/Voyager. I worked at Chrysler at the time, and I remember seeing the numbers. The expected life of the body against rust was 11 years... far beyond the 5-year rust-through warranty. The vehicle was over-engineered for rust protection. In my department we were amazed that Chrysler didn't (or couldn't) find a way to capitalize on this engineering, either through warranty or through advertisement.

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95 E320 Cabriolet, 169K