Oh, I've seen rust on later 126s... But not on anything too much newer... But then again, let's give it time!

126s seem to rust in the doors, and around the window sills. Particularly in the rear. I know this, for many a fine 1987+ 560SEL I've seen has this....

I havn't seen too many 129s, 140s or 210s, etc with rust.

But I think the theme here is give it time...

I had a blowout on the freeway a couple of weeks ago and when I went to jack up the Turtle the jack tube ripped itself up the rocker . I haven't used them since I first bought the car three years ago and they were fine then. The outside of the rocker looks solid but inside it's all rusted out :( .So far I've only noticed one small area on the 124 under the washer tank.

Almost all jack tubes are candidates for rust. They're in the perfect spot for moisture, on the bottom of the car, and are designed with a "double wall." Of course, they are also covered in undercoating, wax, and underseal so, any moisture that does find its way in, stays in.

I restored a W116 over a few years. It was very rusty underneath and took plenty of welding - new rockers, floor pan sections, wheel arches etc. It was really amazing how sections that looked completely sound turned out to be rotten. You have been warned.

The best thing you can do to prevent rust is have the underside waxed, and inject all the holes MB thoughtfully provided with wax too. It costs very little compared to the delayed cost of the damage a few years down the line.

I used DINITROL and a compressor powered gun, but I'm sure you could find a good garage to do this for you.

You know, in Europe, specifically in the UK, there are a lot of services that prep the underside of your car for the winter. I know a few of them even come to the house to have the underside "sealed."

But in the US, I'm not sure if any suck service exists. I do know that they come to you house, jack your car up on stands and throughly scrub the underside of the car and treat it with waxes...

In most automated car washes, we have the "rust inhibitor" treatment... For the extra 1.50, you get the assurance that your car will never rust... Very funny.

I made the mistake of getting that treatment on a car several years ago. Took a week for the backseat floor to dry out. It managed to find every openeing there was on the underside of the car and blast water up into it.:mad:

how bizarre!!! i really don't thikn that should happen rick. but i could be wrong.

you may have rust. i didn't have any holes in my floor pan until i poked them myself through the rust. even so, the carpet was wet before i poked the holes - thus water came in sans holes.

maybe you should remove your seat and start picking away to see whats going on.

or not... and keep your mind at ease. that could open a can of worms you don't want to see.

Hi All-
Yeah all cars rust...and all can be repaired with time, energy, and effort (or money) i just HATE the rubber factory undercoating - if water or moister gets in there its ALL over--- trust me it looks great, might feel great(the rubber is pretty solid and will hold the rott tight - unless it is really swollen), but its not...be warned is good advice if your not too advantageous into digging into your car.
-Jake

The W 126 will also rust, that is for sure. Especially the Coupes have problems with the rear window frame. There are several W 210 an W 202, which have rust problems, especially on the upper door frames.

Big rust you will find on all W 123 (even the younger ones, if not taken care off, for example the area where the hood hinges are attached), of course the W 115 and especially the W 116.

Biggest ruster of all is the R/C 107. They are really bad.

Pretty much on all models you will find rust either at the window frames and/or behind the inner wheel house behind the front wheels. This area needs to be flushed with every car wash.

On my W 110, which spent its whole live on Long Island, there is rust everywhere.

I kind of like this area:
http://www.ikonengold.de/eberhard/flossenschweller.jpg
It is all original rust. Original rust you take the original body panel and replace the whole area to get a decent result.

A little tricky is the C-pillow at the fintail-body. It will be some serious overhead welding to get that area solid again...

Kind regards
Eberhard

por-15
 

I have found that POR-15 works really well. They told me that it isolated the metal from the moisture and when the two do not get together, you do not have rust. I have used it on two cars, and I have been very impressed with the results. http://por15store.com is where I get it from.