If the car had a Merc badge on it, would something have been done about it over a production run from 2003 to 2008?
I reckon the big issue here is that the location of the trapped water is in the interior of the car (with the doors shut). If water gathers there when the car is hosed down or its out in the rain, that proves that water gets in past the the rubber weather seal that is suppossed to keep it out. In an earlier post I described how I had found the route of the water and how it gathered there in the "chanel" between the weather seal and the door panel. You can replicate this by drying off the area and then running the hose down the side of the car
where the side windows meet. Its design flaw which you won't find on even the cheapest
modern cars. Im going to see my dealer to ask;
a: why is water getting into my car ?
b: is that something that I should expect from this brand ?
c: what are you going to do about it ?
Depending on the outcome, I may have to do my own mod to the car to prevent this happening; this will involve adding a small additional piece of weather seal near the top of the door. I'm lucky that mine has no signs of rust, but we have to keep the water out for the prob to go away. Meanwhile I try to keep the area treated, as I use it as my daily commute and cover around 300 miles per week at the moment.
Steve - UK