124 corrosion issue

[Chris W.]

We all know that our 124's are getting on in years. Some of us drive in areas where the roads are salted, etc. I have not seen anyone posting about this particular spot. I'm talking about the wheel well for the rear tires. There are a series of plastic plugs put into the metal, and then coated with undercoating material at the factory.

There is one plug on the forward side of the wheel well, above where the rocker molding terminates at the rear (and where all kinds of stones and debris collect), roughly 10" above that point. I know older cars have different rocker moldings, that's not the point...

On my '95, I had a huge water leak into the driver's front footwell which it took me forever to find, it turned out to be that plug (rear wheel, driver's side) had rusted out. I fixed it and went on, but yesterday I found the same problem only worse on the passenger side. Was poking around and pushed on that plug and pop, it fell right into the interior structure. And with a bit more poking I had a hole about 3" x 4" or so! In hindsight I could see that the undercoating was bubbled from rust underneath.

So I've patched it with a "cold" patch, just a big plate I glued and undercoated, as I don't have a welder and I'm cheap. But have a look in the rear wheel wells of your 124 and you might not like what you find...

Rgds,
Chris W.
'95 E300D, 397K