Acoustic shield underneath car

[uumode]

Who's heard of an acoustic shield that lines the entire (or most of) the underside of the car?

Bodyshop reckon that the rust on my floorpan is 'actually' on my acoustic shield and formed by moisture and actually just wipes off, so just needs a valet underneath the car.

 

[Ian B Walker]

That would be a cool Mod......wipe off rust

Sorry couldnt resist that

Ian

 

[uumode]

Here is the rust
http://www.wan.st/floorpan/

Mercedes UK says it's not covered under Mobilolife 30 year.
I've contested it, pointing out it's the floorpan, subframe, and they refused it again.

If this isn't underbody corrosion what is???

 

[stwat]

My god I hate to say it but my 14 year old 190 has less rust on it than that!!!!! Them pics are shocking




Stu.

 

[stwat]

Just had another look at the pics and it looks to me like there isnt any underbody protection at all!!!! Any car i've looked at underneath has a thick coating of protection but yours just looks like grey primer!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did they forget it at the factory?????

I have to say that i was in the motor trade for over ten years(im now out of it, thank god) and that looks like a ten year old+ car underneath!!!

If all the cars that went through "the bad patch" in the late 90's, early 00's are as bad as this, then mercedes have got a massive problem on their hands!!!!!!!

As you can proberbly tell, them pics have shocked me somewhat to say the least!!!

 

[Tigger]

If all the cars that went through "the bad patch" in the late 90's, early 00's are as bad as this, then mercedes have got a massive problem on their hands!!!!!!!

I am of the opinion that the worst is yet to come.

DaimlerChrysler only recently reached a deal with 6000 of its workers in Germany where in return for securing their jobs until 2012 it will begin cutting labour costs by 500 million Euros a year!!!

 

[stwat]

DaimlerChrysler only recently reached a deal with 6000 of its workers in Germany where in return for securing their jobs until 2012 it will begin cutting labour costs by 500 million Euros a year!!!

Oh my my!! This sounds to me like the quality can only go down

Someone please, please, tell me diferant but have the days of mercs doing 500.000+ miles without any big problems gone forever??????(my old mans 123 did 750.000 miles before he got rid!!!!!)And it still ran spot on!!

Please dont tell me that their just like a ford or a vauxhall nowadays

I have a sad feeling that the new ones just aint going to last like they used to

I hope im wrong but it just seems the way things are going!!!

 

[KillerHERTZ]

its only a matter of time till someone spots a brand new motor on the forcourt with rust!

 

[miro]

Who's heard of an acoustic shield that lines the entire (or most of) the underside of the car?

Bodyshop reckon that the rust on my floorpan is 'actually' on my acoustic shield and formed by moisture and actually just wipes off, so just needs a valet underneath the car.

Rust is no great problem - the question you need to ask is whether the strength of the metal is depleted. Brown metal, grey metal, shiny metal .... all the same if it does the job.

 

[uumode]

Just had another look at the pics and it looks to me like there isnt any underbody protection at all!!!! Any car i've looked at underneath has a thick coating of protection but yours just looks like grey primer!!!!!!!!!!!!! Did they forget it at the factory?????

I have to say that i was in the motor trade for over ten years(im now out of it, thank god) and that looks like a ten year old+ car underneath!!!

If all the cars that went through "the bad patch" in the late 90's, early 00's are as bad as this, then mercedes have got a massive problem on their hands!!!!!!!

As you can proberbly tell, them pics have shocked me somewhat to say the least!!!

This shocked me - (I 'think' it's a cover for the front suspension)

I originally included it in my first claim, but didn't contest that part as it wasn't deemed structual. However it shows bad MB engineering if the component rusts in its 4th year. 'probably' this is the 'acoustic' panel? which they are referring to.

It got refused by MB UK and the dealer wasn't given an explanation.
So maybe for underbody corrosion, the corrosion needs to perforate a hole to be a warranty claim.

 

[Robbo]

Looking at the shocking state of your car uumode, I'd seriously consider selling it and getting something else before the costs of repairs become prohibitive otherwise you'll end up with a pile of rust on your driveway. I'd Keep away from the W210. it looks seriously flawed.

These piccies of remind me of cars from the 1970s. Truly shocking.

I had a look underneath my W203 (2000 X reg) and I cant see any rust at all so at least the W203s seem to have been better rustproofed.

 

[Will]

Rust is bad, period. There is an element of acceptance, ie, unprotected metal will rust eventually, and metal that is coated will eventually have its coating damaged and may start to rust. But there is a LOT more rust on that car that any reasonable person would expect to find on a four year old car. As a comparison, I recently sold a 1986 190E Cosworth. It had never had any welding, and the underneath showed virtually no corrosion whatsoever. That was on an 18 year old car.
Where do you get your car serviced? I was under the impression that as part of the MB service, they did underbody checks for damage and corrosion? Was this not mentioned in the report?

Fair enough, at this stage the rust does not look dangerously advanced, but it isn't going to get any better, and you will be welding the bloody thing together in a couple of years! If there is a 30 year corrosion warranty, then they have made there own bed - that will not last 30 years!

Good Luck,

Will

 

[uumode]

As a comparison, I recently sold a 1986 190E Cosworth. It had never had any welding, and the underneath showed virtually no corrosion whatsoever. That was on an 18 year old car.
Where do you get your car serviced? I was under the impression that as part of the MB service, they did underbody checks for damage and corrosion? Was this not mentioned in the report?

Will

I sold an 14 year old Audi 90 with little corrosion underneath too (apart from bolts/fixings), a tiny bit of corrosion under the front wheel arch, and wiper arms (darn.. forgot to wax the black paint on the arms!)

MB has full MB service history, and bodyshop technicians are blind to the issue of the corrosion at the moment or have bad communciation with MB UK, i.e. not covered under Mobilolife 30 year anti corrosion warranty.

 

[NormanB]

The pic of the diff shocked me - there is no way mine will ever rust it has a nice coating of diff oil both inside and out

 

[V12]

That reminds me of our 1980 G wagon in some sad way, which has towed things out of salt water and all sorts.

That really is quite shocking for the age of the vehicle...

 

[Dieselman]

Acoustic shield..B*ll*cks!!

Don't worry about the diff and not too much the subframe but the rest is on the body itself.

This is mostly surface rust but needs dealing with now to stop it becoming serious.

When my car was two years old I spotted some rust on the radiator support and had it dealt with under warranty. When I got the car back I rustproofed the underside and in many closed sections.

I checked my car last night and am pleased to say it's perfect underneath now.

My next car will get fully treated from the day I buy it, even if it's brand new. We have a sixteen year old car in the family and it's only had one weld, caused by a poor accident repair. I treated this car myself many years ago.
If you properly rustproof a car it is money in the bank later on.

 

[230K]

The pictures you show have the potential to be a problem in a few years if left untreated.
With my own 210 i removed all the plastic panel (8mm self tapers) and got the underside steam washed, stay with them when they are doing it and make them be as thorough as possible even goin back for a second go.
Remove each road wheel and pressure wash thoroughly around all the spring hangers particularly at the front.
Purchase 5 litres of Waxoyl together with a pressure sprayer get some very old cloths on and cover everything with waxoyl paying particular attention to your brake lines spring hangers air con pipes and oil cooler pipes.
replace all the plastic covers and forget about it.

Also treat the doors boot and bonnet inside if they were not done during your rust warranty work.

P.S Be careful with those brake pipes they would fail our MOT system here in Northern Ireland i would clean the fur off them with wire wool prior to waxoyling.

Cheers

230K
98 210 Estate 300TD
93 124 Estate 300D

 

[IanT]

I agree about it being a bit poor (putting it mildly).

I don't think there's any noticeable rust under my W210 except on things like exhaust mounts. I would expect rust in some of the areas you've shown simply because they are heavy (thick) gauge panels and parts and they're very simply coated in paint without the attention to sealing that goes into the thinner body panels. Rust there will not degrade the parts structurally for many many years and will certainly look atrocious long before there can be any doubt about its safety.

You probably have three options... One, go to a different dealer and try again, the second to accept that it's rusty, get out your wire brush, can of waxoyl and treat everything you can find, or sell the car and buy something else.

I'd go with the first option, then the second. Otherwise try to forget all about it, as it's unlikely to perforate all the way through in the next 4 years unless you drive it on beaches!

MB may try to argue that the parts are exposed underneath and that they've been impacted by stones and road debris, but the underfloor treatment looks very basic and I'd recommend a dose of waxoyl to make sure it stays protected for years to come.

Ian.

 

[Will]

Just looking at those pictures again makes me wonder if it is one of the cars recovered a few months ago from the Tricolore!

It aint good and it aint right. Something has/has not happened to that car for it to be in that state. As everybody has already said, it is almost unbelievable!

I would persist with MB. Sooner or later somebody there is going to come to their senses. I think the thing that worries them is what it is going to cost them!

Good Luck,

Will

 

[jaymanek]

Ive seen a lot of newer mercs in this way... I would consider waxoyling the whole underside to stop this now... Ive waxoyled both my 123 and 107, but neither were quite that bad...

Jay