ML 320 (W163) Rust Problems
Discussion
My wife has owned her ML320 since new (2000 on an X) and still done less than 57,000 miles in it, with full main dealer service history. Even though we may not clean it that often (once a month at best), it comes up beautifully when we do as I quite often polish it at the same time if the weather is good.
I was cleaning my wife's ML 2 weeks ago and noticed rust appearing on the leading inner edges of the 2 rear wheel arches. It turned out that even though I hadn't noticed it, mud had built up down in the bottom corners for obviously a long time and kept a faily permanent dampness in that area, hence the rust would have been inevitable. Realizing that there really wouldn't be a case for the body warranty (based on exposure to stone chips and such, I decided to deal with it myself before it got too bad. In dealing with this I put the car up on axle stands and removed the rear wheels and also took out the wheel arch liner, to make access to the lip of the arch easier. Under the liner I saw that rust blistering was spreading around each screw that is used to attach the liner to the car. I have taken photos that I will upload later, but I need to get you thoughts on 2 things.
1 - Is this something that you would expect to find on an ML and if so could they all be like it? (I wouldn't have been any the wiser if I hadn't removed the liner and I am sure Mercedes wouldn't sheck that in the annual check it has)
2 - Do you think I have a claim here and if so should I get them to check the front arches too?
Many thanks in advance,
Chris
I was cleaning my wife's ML 2 weeks ago and noticed rust appearing on the leading inner edges of the 2 rear wheel arches. It turned out that even though I hadn't noticed it, mud had built up down in the bottom corners for obviously a long time and kept a faily permanent dampness in that area, hence the rust would have been inevitable. Realizing that there really wouldn't be a case for the body warranty (based on exposure to stone chips and such, I decided to deal with it myself before it got too bad. In dealing with this I put the car up on axle stands and removed the rear wheels and also took out the wheel arch liner, to make access to the lip of the arch easier. Under the liner I saw that rust blistering was spreading around each screw that is used to attach the liner to the car. I have taken photos that I will upload later, but I need to get you thoughts on 2 things.
1 - Is this something that you would expect to find on an ML and if so could they all be like it? (I wouldn't have been any the wiser if I hadn't removed the liner and I am sure Mercedes wouldn't sheck that in the annual check it has)
2 - Do you think I have a claim here and if so should I get them to check the front arches too?
Many thanks in advance,
Chris
plasticpig said:
Rust on modern Mercedes is quite a common occurrence according to a bloke who works at a Mercedes dealer in the body shop.
Indeed it is. Quite alarming really as I thought it was just the cars from the beginning of this decade! Apparently, for example, R-classes have problems with the tailgate as MB outsourced their manufacture and painting! 
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