04 E55 AMG water leaks into trunk

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kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

04 E55 AMG water leaks into trunk

Post by kevm14 »

Yup, common issue. I guess that's one downside of the previous owner garaging this for 6 years. If it was parked outside, it probably would have been fixed. There are signs that water has been getting into the trunk for a while so it certainly did not just start.

I spent some time with the hose yesterday after doing some research and I think I have it narrowed down. I think all it REALLY needs is just a trunk seal or even the existing trunk seal removed, the lip cleaned, adhesive applied and the seal reinstalled. But I'll do a little more.

Helpful threads:
https://www.benzworld.org/threads/water ... s.2834729/
https://www.benzworld.org/threads/water ... 979/page-2
https://www.benzworld.org/threads/rear- ... k.2739706/

The last one turned out to be a leaky rear window seal. He had a glass shop find the leak and apply the correct sealant to the inside and that fixed it. This is not causing the puddling where I have noted it but I'll keep this in mind if I find water in a different area over time. It would end up in front of the rear battery.

Anyway, there are these plastic pieces called upper trim that are essentially rain gutters for the water that drips down the back window to channel out. All of my previous cars have just been the raw body. This car has fancy plastic. Water may also be getting behind these and I guess there is a seal back there so it is good practice to replace them, clean out behind, apply silicone as needed, etc.

I don't think water is leaking into the actual trunk lid or I'd suspect the third brake light, which is also fairly common. If I get water in the trunk lid I'll attack that.

It is also common to replace the taillight gaskets (2 each). Right now I'll also hold off on that. I can do that later without reversing my initial repair. I tried running the water like into the upper gap between the light and the rear 1/4 and I saw zero evidence of water going anywhere bad. It's really just slipping past the bottom of the trunk seal and that's actually channeling it into the trunk. That's pretty much what I see. Also, I cannot figure out whether the trunk seal lip goes on top of the upper trim pieces, or if it is supposed to be hidden under. Why do I ask? Because the left side is tucked under and the right side is over. Someone, at the very least, has been here before and certainly one side is wrong. I'm just not sure which it is. So either someone attempted to fix this before, or they had these pieces apart for some other reason and reinstalled them incorrectly.

So for my initial repair, here is the parts list:
Trunk seal, $70.30: 211-750-03-98
Upper trim left, $10.73: 211-693-01-33
Upper trim right, $10.73: 211-693-02-33
Rear trim panel rivets (x2), $3.56: 124-990-07-92-9C75
Upper trim rivets (x8), $20.72: 000-991-69-40

Ah, they get you on shipping. So I'll try eBay.

OK, so apparently the parts are artificially cheaper and then they rack up shipping. I found a shipping discount code that saves $25 and so the grand total ends up only being $2 cheaper than if I had piecemealed the order from eBay. Ordering from one place is a benefit, and it's a couple bucks cheaper so...
Total from mboemparts.com: $189.76

Then I just need to get some 3M weatherstrip adhesive and make sure I have some fresh GE type II silicone caulk. I have both but they both may be expired. That 3M weatherstrip adhesive must be at least 10 years old...

I tried to order a trunk seal for my Roadmaster and guess what, I can't find it to save my life. So as far as the B-body analogy, this is better than a B-body - I can actually get parts. OEM parts. And they aren't even that expensive. They made 1.5 million W211s globally and this stuff is generic W211, not AMG, and basically EVERY generic part is cheaper to substantially cheaper than the Cadillac (or even Buick) equivalent, if they are even available. It would be better if the trunk didn't leak but the car is 16 years old and there isn't much that can happen to my car that hasn't already happened to scores of other people, some of whom documented it on forums and/or Youtube.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 04 E55 AMG water leaks into trunk

Post by kevm14 »

Oh good lord.
We are unable to process your order due to supply chain issues and limited staffing as a result of the coronavirus. We have cancelled your order and are returning your payment. We hope to have all of our distribution centers back on line and at full staff when this pandemic is over.
ORDER #35860 - Placed 06/16/2020

Hello Kevin Moore,
This is to confirm that order #35860 has been canceled, and a refund of $189.76 has been processed. It may take 2-5 business days for the refund to reflect on your billing statement.

We appreciate your business, and hope you will shop with us again!


mboemparts.com
888-289-6262 | parts@mboemparts.com
Guess it's plan B. eBay and/or other MB parts sites....
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 04 E55 AMG water leaks into trunk

Post by kevm14 »

Found another one. They all look the same which is odd. And they all play games with the pricing and shipping. But I found one that had a 25% off shipping which helped a little. Actually I guess it helps a lot since the original economy shipping was $91.22 and the coupon discounted it $22.81. What a joke. But like I said, total prices were about the same using eBay and "free shipping." It's all priced in, one way or the other.

www.benzparts.com

New total: $194.67

Hopefully they can fulfill this order....
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 04 E55 AMG water leaks into trunk

Post by kevm14 »

This morning I tackled this. Went fine, no real issues. It was just a bit of a process to make sure everything was clean and all the old adhesive removed.

Made kind of a mess with the 3M weatherstrip adhesive. Oh well. As long as it doesn't leak I'm good. If I does I'll take a very close look at the tail lights and consider just replacing both gaskets on each. Not sure when it is going to rain again....car needs to be washed, too.

Removed seal and upper trim. This is before cleaning.
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After cleaning.
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Seal on. I goobered up the new seal and also put some on the trunk lip area.
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Upper trim, retaining rivets and the one screw each installed.
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I am 95% confident this will fix it but it will take some rain and maybe testing with hose to know for sure. Didn't want to test immediately after putting it together because I wanted to give the weatherstrip adhesive time to cure. Seems like it took around 90 minutes based on the image times.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 04 E55 AMG water leaks into trunk

Post by kevm14 »

I think it's going to rain today. So I guess I'll check after that.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 04 E55 AMG water leaks into trunk

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2020 7:53 am I think it's going to rain today. So I guess I'll check after that.
Or it'll never rain again? Looks like I picked the wrong day to quit watering my lawn....
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 04 E55 AMG water leaks into trunk

Post by kevm14 »

kevm14 wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2020 3:38 pm
kevm14 wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2020 7:53 am I think it's going to rain today. So I guess I'll check after that.
Or it'll never rain again? Looks like I picked the wrong day to quit watering my lawn....
I'll probably end up washing it before it rains again. Whatever. It's black so....it's dirty.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 04 E55 AMG water leaks into trunk

Post by kevm14 »

So last night I soaked it with a hose to at least rinse the crap off the paint (including bird shit). I directed plenty of water to the trunk area.

It was so humid last night that the car still had water on it this morning.

I checked under the trunk stuff around noon and it was completely dry down there. I would have expected to see water still pooled if the outside of the car was still wet and I don't know that it would have had a chance to dry all morning, under all the trunk pieces.

I'll check again when I actually wash it. But this is looking fixed.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 04 E55 AMG water leaks into trunk

Post by kevm14 »

It rained last night. I didn't hear it and I don't know how much but it definitely rained. Cars were wet and the driveway was wet.

I made a point to immediately check the trunk under the panel and stuff. Dry as a bone. Fixed forever!

Actually I need to pull all the trunk stuff apart down to the battery and check back there, too, though what I fixed wouldn't change a leak up there.
kevm14
Posts: 15200
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 10:28 pm

Re: 04 E55 AMG water leaks into trunk

Post by kevm14 »

Thunderstorm last night. Just checked the trunk while I was looking at the rest of it. Zero water in the trunk. Nice.
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