Not sure about the W169, but some Mercs, W210 in particular, that undercover could form a watertight seal at the front cross member and with the baco foil steel Mercs were made with at the time that cross member could rot right through when it filled with salt water, easy fix was to put a couple of washers on the bolts between cover and cross member to allow a drain.

It just might be worth taking the thing off and having a quick poke nose see what's happening, especially these days where so many 'services' are nothing but a brief inspection, ah see its a car under consideration, in that case maybe a mirror on a stick and decent torch to have a poke nose with down in the shadows when inspecting.

Edited by gordonbennet on 03/07/2017 at 13:13