[pfsantos]

^ I'm going to agree, but more specifically, the boots are crap. They're more plastic than rubber.

I do recall, however, someone had a stress crack on a driveshaft, I think.

Everyone, keep your eyes out for cracks or evidence of grease around the boot areas.

 

[Mike Ti]

ME! It snapped like a bubblegum bubble pops.

 

[DEVOURS]

So far at ~125,000 Km none of this has happened..No leaks..water, oil or whatever .., no bulbs, no pads or disks and no codes...just always keeping a close eye on the rear disks and keeping the shine on them..

Things should start showing up soon I would expect........

 

[Mike Ti]

Yeah I'd expect when you hit more than double that, things will go sideways. But by then you'll be 100 years old

 

[DEVOURS]

Yeah I'd expect when you hit more than double that, things will go sideways. But by then you'll be 100 years old

I hope that "all or most here" do make it to that grand 100.....but that unfortunately will not be happening in my case...

 

[Mike Ti]

Well... best wishes to you anyway.

 

[bempey]

CV joint boot longevity

^ I'm going to agree, but more specifically, the boots are crap. They're more plastic than rubber.

I do recall, however, someone had a stress crack on a driveshaft, I think.

Everyone, keep your eyes out for cracks or evidence of grease around the boot areas.

Back in the early 70s, my father sold Renault cars. Most were FWD (the R12) and the boots were prone to cracking in the winter. Seems the synthetic rubber of the day wasn't up to northern Ontario's climate.
The solution was to not turn the wheels full-lock until after the car was driven a while so that the boots had time to warm up.
It worked.

If that trick was good enough to preserve the CV joints of French cars 45 years ago, it might work on your B200 now.

 

[pfsantos]

Can't find a pic, but the front drains come out between the front fender/wheelwell liner and the body - one on each side. The front wheel liners are actually two halves, so I'm talking about the rear halves. These drains are a foam tube reinforced by a spring that runs inside, but even with the spring (it ends up skewing), the end of the hose ends up collapsed due being sandwiched. Mine had the ends collapsed and gunk inside and the foam tube had softened near the end, I guess from the moisture being trapped.

 

[Tobin_G]

A suitable retrofit would be the single laminated glass panel from Europe, instead of the opening bits. Glue her in and she's done. But mine's fine for now and drain maintenance is a normal part of car maintenance.

Hi Mike, any chance you know the part number for that roof panel? I would like to order one and do that as seems the best solution. I don’t need a sunroof.

 

[Mike Ti]

I haven't looked further into it yet. Please, if you do this conversion, let us know the costs and part numbers.

 

[Tobin_G]

Will do.

 

[MB•David]

These might help

 

[MB•David]

I meant these, not just one picture

 

[MB•David]

and more ...

 

[DEVOURS]

Tobin,

Can you fill us in on your B..model,..year,..mileage..etc:..(your profile..perhaps..) ?

Looks like an absolutely huge job if repairing or switching to a full panel sunroof. ..and of course it will be quite costly. ..and certainly more costly than the value of the B at this stage.

 

[Tobin_G]

Tobin,

Can you fill us in on your B..model,..year,..mileage..etc:..(your profile..perhaps..) ?

Looks like an absolutely huge job if repairing or switching to a full panel sunroof. ..and of course it will be quite costly. ..and certainly more costly than the value of the B at this stage.

Hi,
Thank you for finding all this great information.
It is a 2007 Mercedes B200 83,000 km, and only worth about $3,500 AUD (Due to panel damage from a hail storm). Fortunately I do not have leak problems, but was told this was an issue, so I started to look into it and was seeing what options I had available to me, with the age of the car getting up.
I am not a very experienced mechanic, just doing small jobs and learning. It is a good little car but I do not think the cost and time is worth it for this modification. I will keep the drains clean and hope I do not encounter issues.