04 E55 AMG water leaks into trunk
Posted: Tue Jun 16, 2020 8:38 am
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.
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.