W123 It rains in my car!
 

I've had this problem for a while, and until now, I've been dealing with it by parking my car in the garage when it rains, and simply not driving it. However, now that winter has finally begun in Northern California, I need to get this fixed. It appears that my windshild seal is leaking, as I have found water on the driver side floorboard and a soggy carpet. In the attached picture, you can see that the windshield seal has prtially pulled away from the body of the car. I know that it is not the sunroof drains, as I have opened the sunroof and poured a small amount of water into each drain. Water trickeled readily onto my driveway. Additionally, the inside of my dash is wet where it meets the windshield seal.

Intuitively, it seems that it should be the windshield seal, but I know that these cars can be tricky, and I don't want to spend $400 to fix something only to find out that it was not the source of the leak.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this matter??

since i knew it was going to really rain for the first time this year, yesterday i vacuumed out the drains under the hood. apparently clogs there can lead to water problems throughout the interior. i'd check up under your hood, there are drains under the hood hinges and below the battery, and the equivalent location on the other side. both of mine were clogged with leaves and dirt and other debris.

OK. I'll check that out. And if these holes are clogged, that can lead to water leaking onto the dash??

not the dash, but the floor. it could be coming from your windshield of course, but it could also be related to the drains. last time it rained last month i had a little wetness/puddle on the passenger floor, and its rained a lot more in the last 24 hours than it did in months and theres no water anywhere, after cleaning the drains

Got it. I'm pretty sure I cleaned them a few months ago, but I'll check again

If it is the windshield gasket and you're going to have a shop do it, make damn sure the shop knows what they are doing, and don't just take their word for it. I'm still dealing with a poor quality install that cost me $650 (w/ gaskets), from one of the best shops in town, with MB seals, and a shop owner who swore that they had plenty of experience with vintage Benzes. Call your local MB dealer and ask who they recommend for auto glass, then rake that guy over the coals. Ask him to explain to you how the trim is mounted, how they remove it, whether he prefers OEM seals, what parts he will need because they will likely break, questions that will tip you off as to whether he is talking from experience. I'm waiting for $150 in parts from the MB dealership (on auto glass shop owners dime) to re-do the hack job that his tech did when he reinstalled my trim incorrectly with a sheet metal screw. And the OEM windshield seal I provided these people doesn't even look properly installed. After they f'ed up my car, I basically had to learn myself how the job should have been done, research and order the parts, and next I will have to take the parts to the shop and explain to the techs how it should be put back together.

I've learned the hard way; you can't just drop an MB off at a reputable shop and assume that they know what they are doing, even if on the surface it looks like do, and claim that they do. If I ever have to take my car to any shop again, I will research the repair myself and interrogate the goddam tech.