I have no idea what kind of rust proofing / sealing 210's have, but I find it hard to believe they are without any kind of protection.

There is a shopforum regular who posts here (can't remember his name) who is the Shop Forman at a Mercedes dealer in New Jersey. He has posted that the early 210 models were mistakenly not properly sealed in the under coating. I presume the later 210's were, but they all seem to be rusting worse than the 124's did in their time.

There was also a recall that was performed on my 2000 E430 where they applied some silicone caulking around the door frames. I suppose this is a fix to prevent the kind of rusting that affected cars like the door rust on Mark Cummins' E320 wagon.

All I can say is that my E430 was purchased new in Houston and lived there until I bought it in 2005 is completely rust free.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".