As part of a repair after my wife's 2001 e320 wagon was rear-ended at a stoplight, the body shop re-installed the rear window. The new gasket they used was quite different than the original -the new gasket had a rib that was clearly visible when installed, and the new gasket did not fit tightly to the tailgate opening, and the gasket overlapped slightly with the third brake light.

Looking at another similar e320 wagon, I see the gasket is entirely smooth on the outside (no rib!), and fits great, with no third brakelight overlap.

The body shop is re-doing the repair, and today called to tell me the replacement gasket they have purchased is exactly like the previous one they installed, ie. it has a rib, and presumably will overlap the third brake light somewhat.

Can someone tell me if there are two different rear window gaskets available for this car? I'm thinking maybe one gasket was for the older w210 which had the third brake light mounted at the bottom of the window, and the gasket I need is for a wagon with the third brake light at the top of the window.

Please help if you can - the body shop is threatening to install this gasket tomorrow!

thanks very much,
Dan

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2001 e320 wagon
2004 F350
2006 Crown Vic

As it turns out, the gasket had been installed backwards (inside-out?) on the rear window - the rib is meant to be hidden! This time the body shop used an installer who had experience with M-B, and the gasket looks great.

Special thanks to Phil @ FastLane for an (as always) incredibly fast response to an email question (regarding the correct part number for this).

Dan

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2001 e320 wagon
2004 F350
2006 Crown Vic