Well, Murray, my 98 E300, goes in today for some rust repair. How much I have done professionally and how much I do myself (with POR-15 and touch up paint) depends on the cost. My guess is that no body work has ever been done on the car.

Where I've noticed rust:

All four wheel wells (only one visible from side)
Trunk lock
Various bubbled spots here and there
Crossmember below radiator

The spring perches look to be in good shape....but I will have them carefully inspected.

I'm not a fanatic when it comes to cosmetics, but within reason I want it done right.

Those of you with a W210, have you found that dealing with rust is a constant ongoing concern? Or if I decisively deal with things at the 16 year mark, could I be set for another 10 years or so?

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 158k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 177k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 72k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

On my '99, rust became a problem after less than five years. I think it's a permanent problem with the 210's. One thing you want to do is to gently lift the door weatherstripping, especially around the top of the doors. On mine, rust formed under the weatherstripping. By the time it became visible, it was extensive.

After the repair if the car is extensively rustproofed with a petroleum based product or a good synthetic equivelant can extend the metals lifespan considerably.

The rust will come back as it totally never sleeps once established. But it can be substantially delayed with thought and effort. If the solid tar like coating was applied to the car at the factory. It both contributes to the problem and prevents a superior rustproofing agent from getting to the metal.

Oxygen has a tougher time reaching the metal is what you are trying to accomplish. Existing rust coated in a semi fluid product slows it's rate of oxidation many many times as long as the oxygen cannot gain direct access through it.

Thanks for the tip....I checked around doors and there's no rust at all.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 158k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 177k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 72k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

When I discover rust I usually address it in a very stern manner. Some people might even find it rude.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

I found rust under the door seals in the front window frames. Even California W210s are not immune. Good thing rustoleum gloss white matches my car.

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CENSORED due to not family friendly words

It's mostly a function of how much time the car spent in the Rust Belt. Our 1998 car has been in the south nearly its entire life and there is absolutely no rust on the car apart from a small area where some sub-standard body work was done. The underside is very clean, too. I'm quite certain the exhaust is all original apart from the oxidation catalyst.

Two neighbors have W210 cars. One is an early wagon and it carries some serious rust. Not sure how much longer they'll make it thru inspection. The other is a face lifted E430 and that car is real clean. Can't see any rust on it and it sits outside 24/7.

We had an '02 wagon. Got rid of it at 140k. Ran great but the rust was making a complete nuisance of itself...popping up everywhere. Kinda like whack-a-mole. I couldn't keep up with it. MBz repaired some minor stuff twice.

Not bad....my auto body guy is going to do all four wheel wells, several bubbled areas, and the trunk lock for $700.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 158k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 177k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 72k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I'm not sure this is the case. While I'm certainly in the rust belt, the '99 rusted far faster and with more gusto than my '87 190TD or my old '79 300CD. It certainly woudn't have survived 25 years. I think it had something to do with switching to low VOC paints.

Look at my pictures, it shows one front fender, both were replaced and the car repainted. There was other rust, the front fenders were the worst. My brother, who lives in the same area, has a 1999 E320 with zero rust. His car was bought 6 months after mine, did they change something at the factory, who know? The rust started about 8 years into ownership, a 1972 Pinto probably would have less rust....spring perches OK.

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1999 E300 Turbodiesel 169,000 miles
1986 Porsche 944Turbo 20124 miles
1948 Dodge Deluxe 4 door 66521 miles

$700.00 and you are good to go for many more years. My Black 1999 E300 has a little around the rear quarter panel and two spots smaller than the end of a q-tip. Guess what? Survived upstate New York harsh winter as a daily driver and now PA. Just getting that bit of rust. It was just taken care of is all. I'll have it till I croke or they stop selling parts for it (I doubt I'll see that). Oh, if the rust becomes too much for you to handle, I'll be happy to take the girl off your hands.

Mine was in MA up until last now in RI. Considering it's spent its whole life in New England, I'm impressed with the condition of the body. I too am hoping to keep mine for a LOOOOOONNNNNG time. Only 78k miles!

I thought about doing spring perches just because....but my auto body guy, who has done dozens and dozens of these, seems to think I'm fine.

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14 E250 Bluetec 4Matic "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 158k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 177k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver on Tan, 144k mi, wastegate conversion, ALDA delete

19 Honda CR-V EX 72k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

Have you plunged the (4) moonroof weep holes with weed trimmer line? I've an idea that if these cars are kept out of doors, that their roof drain weep holes will plug with debris and eventually cause rusting out near their terminus points. I never plunged my '99 E300's the 14 years I owned it, but then it was garaged when not on occasional overnight travel.

Interestingly, although my E320 CDI doesn't have a moonroof, I am sure that it has (4) weep hole drain tunnels because of the (4) inset roof luggage rack fixture points. I need to do a reaming of this car's drains one day, to see if they're plugged or free and clear.

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'06 E320 CDI
'17 Corvette Stingray Vert

I agree that once rust has a foothold, it is very hard to kill off, but it can be controlled.

The key is to get the rust to be encapsulated so that it does not have any oxygen going to it. In order to do that, it must be coated with a material that will not allow oxygen to get to it. I have found very good success using the paint that the Mercedes Source guys sell. It is a kind of very tough urethane paint that is extremely hard when dried. I've compared it to POR15, and I personally prefer what I use.

The so-called "Miracle Paint" can be used as a resin for putting multiple layers of fiberglass mat on. That's how I fixed some of the larger holes in the vehicle (all holes were NON structural), in the typical places... wheel wells, etc.

1) I cut out any non-surface rust.
2) I ground down any surface rust until we got to sound metal. If covered by any undercoat or sound material, I removed it all. What a pain...
3) I put a thin layer of Miracle Paint down with a good margin beyond the rusted area. Again, the idea is to trap the rusted areas so that they can't get air to them.
4) I used the Miracle Paint with several layers of fiberglass mat and built up the patch until it was thick and tough enough to call it done... where the hole was patched and was strong enough.
5) After everything was very thoroughly dried, I sprayed flexible (NON RUBBER) undercoating paint on the surface to UV seal the repair.

Done.

It's been a couple of years... Looks like it stopped the rust completely.

Good luck,

Packman

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83 240D - 4 speed manual - Manilla Beige
189K miles, Tachometer mod, cool wooden shift knob from PeachParts, CocoMats, Original factory paint, manual windows, manual sunroof. Starting to add AudioWrap to this car too!