W124 weather proofing
 

I noticed whilst cleaning the snow off my car today that compared to my neighbour's car (not an MB!), the gap between the hood & front body panels seems rather big, and the same with the trunk. the trunk has good rubber lining to keep the elements out, but engine compartment doesn't seem to get the same treatment, dumping rather a lot of snow & water into each side of the compartment.
Anyone have problems with this? Design flaw or meant to be?

If you're suggesting a " design flaw " by my fellow countrymen, you're going to get me really pissed. :D

perish the thought...:)

Well, this may only be slightly related.
Some time ago I got to spend a lot of time with a few GM powertrain engineers.
One of the subjects was " thermal engine mapping ".
It is unbelievable how much time, effort & research goes into this, before some underhood components are placed.

Another subject was underhood location for the placement of components that may be affected by crashes, such as brake hardware, et.

While manufacturers of vehicles are constantly striving to reduce " body gaps ", ( this is viewed as a quality control issue by some consumers ), there may still be some mysterious reason for your " large " hood gaps.

There, I've said my piece in defense of the Fatherland! ;)

hehe, well as they said in Top Secret: "you've got to hand it to the Germans, they make great cars!"

my wife didn't understand why I wanted this panzerwagon, but she enjoys riding in comfort & style now. Just wish I could drive it at autobahn speeds.

I think I may get under the hood with some wd40 and petrolleum jelly and do some of my own 'weather proofing' on electrical components & wires.

Although I like my 94 E320 very very much, and the "shut lines" between hood and fenders, trunk and fenders, doors and body are very even, they are not as tight, i.e. close, as my wifes 96 Nissan Maxima (another fine car except for the front seats).

regards,
Mark

Until recently, Mercedes have never had very narrow gaps but they have always been perfectly aligned. I've never been concerned about it even if some pundits seem to think it's a problem. Those same guys used to complain about the hard seats, big steering wheels, lack of cup holders, yada, yada, yada.

As for anything getting in the engine compartment, the W124 has an encapsulation panel on the bottom which keeps everything out. On the top, there are channels where the edges of the hood meets the fender lines. Nothing will get in there either.

Rest assured that the finest automotive engineers in the world have designed the W124. These are cars that would be perfect if only the U.S. Government didn't have stupid regulations about lights, etc.

If you're going to weatherseal the electricals, I would consider using silicone dielectric grease instead, since it won't rot any potential rubber insulation.

Seems like any sort of oil or grease for weatherproofing under the hood is going to attract a LOT of dirt and make a nasty mess.

If you have the factory seals on the side of your hood, or rather fenders, I don't see how anything is getting down from the top anyway.

Don't fool with it! Anything you do will only cause a problem. I've hosed the engine down many times and never had a problem. This isn't your father's Oldsmobile:D

don't worry- i'm not gonna go nuts! The rubber seals on each side of the engine bay have warped and curl in (i guess with heat and age) so i'm gonna try and straighten them back out.

I glued the rubber seals to the fender's lip with weatherseal adhesive purchased at the local chain auto parts store.
Mark