W202 Rust, A word of warning

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andy27168

MB Enthusiast
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Joined
Nov 27, 2004
Messages
4,800
Location
Southampton
Car
65 Plate E350 CDI Convertible, 2006 CLS 55 AMG, 1997 C230K, 1999 C43/55 AMG
Hi,
As some may know I have two W202's, a "P" reg. C230K Sport, and a "T" reg. C43/55 AMG.
I bought the C43 knowing it had some dreaded rust worm around the normal places namely all four wheel arches, and when it went in for a gearbox oil change at PCS in Horndean Ollie commented that there was some rust around the floor pan on the passenger side front and that the jack pad was missing that would need attention.
Well I did,nt give it much thought to be honest especially since it passed its MOT a few weeks later. Since the car when I bought it had just had a "B" Service at MB Southampton, and was running well, it was 2 years till Assyst told me that a "A" Service was due, so keen to maintain the MB full history It was duly booked in. Result no pick ups other than they said the MAF needed to be replaced, more importantly no mention of rust and the fact the car had passed another MOT, I was starting to think the rust was only superficial and would wire brush it off and treat it at some point.
First time I thought something might be amiss was when I would use the standard MB jack to change the front passenger side wheel, there would be a lot of creaking and cracking noises, and it would seem that the side skirt of the bodykit was bending as the bar of the jack was hitting it under the weight of the car.
I would then avoid using the MB jack, and use a trolley jack on this wheel.
Another 2 years went by and now a "B" Service was due and being told on the last service that MB would not stamp my book unless I had the "extras" done, even if I had showed that they were done by a VAT registered garage by means of a reciept, I decided to use an Independant that had not long opened very close to me called Pentangle, when I picked the car up he said I would need to get some welding done as the floor was holed through rust very close to the jacking point.
I was,nt very surprised to be honest at this point, so I actively decided to find someone to carry out the work.
After a recommendation from the other forum I decided to use Colin Baker Custom Metalwork.
Car Welding Hampshire, Classic Car Welding, Classic Car Restoration by Paul Baker Custom Metalwork, Hampshire UK
Have a look at the web site and the pics of the work he has done in the past, I think like me you will find it impressive, he even gives you a disc of detailled photographs of the work done.

Here are some of them.
The Car on the ramps.

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What could be seen under the car notice how the jack pad has been driven into the car by continued use of two post ramps. (Passenger side front).

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Here are pics of the other three,
first front drivers side.

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Then the rear,
Drivers side.

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Passenger side.

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And this was before we removed the side skirts!!!!!
 
Well heres what was found once the side skirts were removed,
Front Passenger side.

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Halfway along the Passenger Sill.

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And finally the rear.

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What was found after a dig around.

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Drivers side.

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This side was only surface rust and cleaned up well and given a good thick coat of stonechip.
 
Some more pics on what was found.

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Not good news Andy :( your sills look to be in a very bad way. I think i would be tempted to take one of those outer sills off totally. Sort out the inner sill, then weld on a new outer sill.
Pull up the carpets aswell and check the rear floor pans while you are at it mate :thumb:

Make sure he treats and kills the rust totally before covering it in stone chip.
 
Its already been done Justin about a year ago now, and as you said, new sill on Passenger side, new wing as it needed to be removed to remove the sill.
More pics yet to come.
 
Its already been done Justin about a year ago now, and as you said, new sill on Passenger side, new wing as it needed to be removed to remove the sill.
More pics yet to come.


Ah ok Andy, thought it was happening now as you just posted it :rolleyes:

I think i got away well with mine compared to what yours was like :eek:. Have you got finished pictures as well :thumb:
 
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So a plan of attack was formulated.
Passenger side sill replaced in its entirety, jacking point refrabricated, floor repair, and inner sill.
Because of the sill being replaced the wing needed to be removed, and as it was rusty i decided to replace with new MB item.

Wing and front bumper off

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Outer Sill removed, at the original factory weld points, you can see that the front wing is removed and the jacking point in the upper left of this pic, and where the door shuts have been cut/removed.

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Mine was getting pretty bad last year (no holes however) before I had the work done, all facelift W202s must check theirs!
 
Please no more!

It's like ferrous oxide porn.

So sorry to see how bad it's got.

I daren't even look at mine until I get over all the money I've just spent on other things.

But I know that if I'm going ot keep my W210 I'll need to spend about £2,000 to £3000 on chassis and bodywork.

And there's little rust showing a present.

But I know it will be there.

It's a brilliant car but it will be a total rust bucket in two years (and that's after a re shell in 2003).
 
I should of said this repair took place getting on for a year ago now.
Well the repair begins...........
I,ll let the pics do the talking.....................

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Last ones, and probably the most important ones.........The finished article.

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Apologies for so many pics but I think they say a lot more than what words could
 
that's some nasty cancer rot you had on your car.
glad you fixed the problems.
must have cost you alot to remove rust and replace with new metal??

you still drive you C55 in winter?
that rot will one day come back again.

I'm glad I don't drive mine during winter.


are you planing to repaint your entire car to match complete if you have any colorshade differance?

happy motoring :thumb:
 
Thanks for all the photos. Great repair work. I do hope you've had the repaired areas injected with Waxoyl/Dinitrol or equivalent to prevent future recurrence of the tin worm.
 

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