so....
i've had a bit of wet in the driver floor area recently so i've been investigating. not sure if this is the cause of this or not but looking in the engine are there is a large bolt on the left and right of the car - suspension spring linked i think.
the one on th right looks ok, the one on the left is wet and rusty. it looks like that when it rains that area is getting dripped on. i can't really see how it couldnt do - it comes in from straight above. i did have the wipers changed on my last mot, they clashed so the mot centre 'adjusted' them somehow.
i'm wondering if their doing that caused rust? i've attached the photos of both to show the difference. has anyone ever seen this? - and could that possibly be the cause of water getting in the driver area? please note that the rust one was actually brimming with water - i dried a little out

This issue has been known about pretty much since the launch of the 500. Read this thread for more information. It's a design fault, as rainwater collects in the cups. Application of grease and fabricating suitable covers is the generally accepted solution - IIRC later cars have covers fitted as standard, though how effective they are I cannot say.

Collecting water in the footwells is also a common 500 issue, but it's not directly related to this.

thanks. fingers crossed that my previous solution to the wet - making sure the window seal was snug worked and i'm simply drying it out now. will get the grease out!

Gareth, it's worth taking time to clean up the strut tops before greasing. When they are dry, spend a few minutes with a small wire brush removing as much rust as you can. The remainder can be neutralised using Kurust or similar. I applied Waxoyl to mine to stop the rusting, with a wipe and re-application every couple of years.

It's not the top cups you should worry about its the struts underneath?