2000 Mercedes Benz E Class

DRIVING VEHICLE AT APPROXIMATELY 50 MPH AND ENGINE SUDDENLY STOPPED. PULLED TO SIDE OF ROAD WITHOUT THE USE OF POWER STEERING OR BRAKES. CAR WOULD NOT START FOR APPROXIMATELY 2 MINUTES. FINALLY STARTED AND DID NOT STALL AGAIN. NEXT DAY, SAME THING HAPPENED. WAS TOLD IT WAS A FAILURE OF THE CRANK POSITION SENSOR AND THAT THEY ARE A COMMON FAILURE ON A MERCEDES. VEHICLE HAS 76K MILES. *TR

DRIVER SIDE ENGINE MOUNT BROKE WHILE DRIVING AND AS A RESULT, THE HEAT SHIELD AROUND THE STEERING COLUMN BENT FROM THE ENGINE ROTATING. THIS RESULTED IN THE ALUMINUM SHIELD JAMMING THE STEERING COLUMN FROM TURNING. THIS OCCURRED DURING A SHARP CORNER AND STEERING INPUTS TO STRAIGHTEN THE VEHICLE DID NOT PRODUCE ANY RESULTS. VEHICLE NEARLY CRASHED INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC. NEW HEAT SHIELD AND MOTOR MOUNTS ARE BEING REPLACED. OLD MOUNT WAS KEPT. THIS IS A WELL DOCUMENTED FAILURE ON MERCEDES BENZ E55 MOTORS. *TR

MY 2000 MERCEDES E320 HAS INOPERABLE DISPLAYS FOR THE GEAR, TEMPERATURE, AND TIME. I AM VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS BECAUSE THIS IS MY WIFE'S VEHICLE. WITH THE DISPLAY BEING DEFECTIVE, IT IS POSSIBLE FOR AN INEXPERIENCED DRIVER TO PUT THE VEHICLE IN THE WRONG GEAR BECAUSE THERE IS NO VISUAL VERIFICATION AT EYE LEVEL, AS IS REQUIRED ON ALL CARS. I HAVE EVEN BEEN IN THE CAR WITH HER AND WITNESSED HER PUTTING THE CAR IN THE WRONG GEAR BECAUSE SHE WASN'T ABLE TO SEE THE GEAR WITHOUT LOOKING DOWN AT THE CENTER CONSOLE. MERCEDES IS AWARE OF THIS DESIGN DEFECT IN THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER, BUT REFUSES TO REPAIR IT WITHOUT CHARGING THE CUSTOMER. THIS DEFECT HS BEEN KNOWN FOR YEARS AND THEY EVEN CONTINUED TO INSTALL THEM AFTER CUSTOMERS REPORTED THE DEFECT TO THEM BY THE HUNDREDS. I CONSIDER THIS A SAFETY ISSUE THAT SHOULD BE PAID FOR BY MERCEDES AS THEY ARE AWARE THAT IT IS A DEFECT IN THE DESIGN OF THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. ALL CARS THAT I HAVE DRIVEN HAVE THE GEAR CLEARLY DISPLAYED ON OR NEAR THE STEERING COLUMN. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THERE IS A FEDERAL REQUIREMENT FOR THIS FUNCTION TO WORK AT ALL TIMES. THANK YOU.

THERE ARE MANY OWNERS OF W210 2000 MERCEDES-BENZ E320 OWNERS THAT ARE HAVING INSTRUMENT CLUSTER MALFUNCTIONS. THE WIDESPREAD PROBLEMS WITH THE CLUSTER ARE WITH THE GEAR SELECTED, CLOCK, AND TEMPERATURE DISPLAY. THE DISPLAYS EITHER HAVE MISSING PIXELS OR ARE COMPLETELY NOT VISIBLE. ON MY VEHICLE, THE GEAR SELECTED AND CLOCK PIXELS ARE COMPLETELY OUT AND SEVERAL ON THE TEMPERATURE DISPLAY. HTTP://WWW.MERCEDESFORUM.COM/M_11418/MPAGE_2/KEY_/TM.HTM. *NM

DT*: THE CONTACT STATED WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY, THERE WAS A LOSS OF ALL VEHICLE POWER, AND THE ENGINE STALLED WITHOUT WARNING. THE CONTACT MANEUVERED THE VEHICLE TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. THE ENGINE WOULD NOT RESTART. THE VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO THE DEALER, WHO DETERMINED THE ME CONTROL MODULE OF THE ENGINE FAILED AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS ALERTED.

I WANT TO BRING THIS MATTER TO YOU REGARDING THE MERCEDES BENZ MODEL W210 1997/2002 THEY ARE PRONE TO RUST ON THE DOOR/TRUNKS AND THE FRONT UPPER SPRING MOUNTS.. AS THE SPRING MOUNTS SEPARATED ON MY CAR AND CAUSED LOSS OF STEERING THE SPOT WELDS RUSTED OUT ON A SIX YEAR OLD CAR WITH 47,000 MILES THAT IS GARAGED AND DETAILED WEEKLY I DID A SEARCH AND THIS IS A KNOWN PROBLEM AND THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL FROM MBUSA I CONTACTED MBUSA AND WAS TOLD THE PROBLEM IS NOT COVERED SINCE ITS OUT OF WARRANTY..BTW EURO MBS HAVE A 10 YEAR RUST WARRANTY AND USA MBS HAVE A 4 YEAR WARRANTY FROM RUST... THIS SHOULD BE A RECALL BEFORE IT KILLS A DRIVER AND PASSENGERS! *JB

SPILLED SMALL AMOUNT (2 OZ MAXIMUM) OF LIQUID FROM CUP HOLDER ONTO SHIFTER CONSOLE WHILE BRAKING. CAR WAS IMMEDIATELY DISABLED. IT WAS STUCK IN 2ND GEAR. DEALER TELLS ME AND I HAVE SUBSEQUENTLY VERIFIED ON VARIOUS MERCEDES OWNER FORUMS THAT THIS IS A SIGNIFICANT DESIGN FLAW WITH THIS CAR THAT SHOULD BE COVERED AS WARRANTY. REPAIR COST WAS OVER $1000. MOST EXPENSIVE TWO OUNCES OF FLUID I HAVE EVER SEEN. I REPORT THIS BECAUSE IT IS A VERY WIDESPREAD PROBLEM THAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE ENCOUNTERED. MB IS DELIBERATELY TRYING TO KEEP THIS QUIET. *JB

2000 MERCEDES BENZ E320. WITH 118,000 MILES, HAVING BEEN WELL-MAINTAINED, AND NEVER IN A MAJOR ACCIDENT, THE FRONT SUBFRAME OF THE CAR BROKE ALL THE WAY THROUGH, NEAR THE UPPER CONTROL ARM. THE FRONT END IMMEDIATELY MADE LOUD SCRAPING NOISES. UPON TAKING IT TO A DEALER, WE WERE TOLD IT WAS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE. WE WERE FIRST GIVEN AN ESTIMATE OF $9500 FOR THE REPAIR, AND TOLD IT WOULD TAKE FIVE WEEKS TO GET A REPLACEMENT SUBFRAME. THE MECHANIC WOULD NOT EXPRESS AN OPINION AS TO WHETHER IT WAS DEFECTIVE, ONLY THAT IT WAS VERY RUSTY, AND THAT IT WAS BROKEN. WE CONTACTED M-B USA. THEY OPENED A CASE, SENT OUT AN INVESTIGATOR. M-B USA WOULD NOT ADMIT THAT THE PREMATURE RUST, AND FAILURE, OF THAT SUBFRAME WAS THE RESULT OF A FACTORY DEFECT, BUT THEY AGREED TO PAY $3000 OUT OF THE FINAL PRICE QUOTE OF $7500. THEY MADE IT CLEAR THAT, IF WE EXPECTED TO GET MORE, WE WOULD HAVE TO SUE THEM. TO RECEIVE THE $3000, WE HAD TO SIGN A RELEASE. WE THEN FILED AN INSURANCE CLAIM WITH AAA, ON THE THEORY THAT THE DAMAGE MIGHT HAVE BEEN CAUSED BY SOME SORT OF ROAD INCIDENT (POTHOLE, ETC). HOWEVER, THE INSURANCE INVESTIGATOR INSPECTED THE CAR (AND TOOK PHOTOGRAPHS), AND THEN DENIED THE CLAIM, NOTING EXTENSIVE RUST THROUGHOUT THE UNDERBODY OF THE CAR, AND ON THE FRONT AND REAR SUBFRAME COMPONENTS. MY LATER RESEARCH DISCOVERED, MERCEDES-BENZ USED A TYPE OF STEEL ON STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS OF THEIR CARS CALLED HSLA (HIGH STRENGTH, LOW ALLOY). THEY USED THIS HSLA STEEL OSTENSIBLY BECAUSE OF ITS GREATER STRENGTH, AND CRASH RESISTANCE. IN THEORY, HSLA STEEL SHOULD HAVE HIGHER-THAN-NORMAL CORROSION RESISTANCE, SO IT'S MY BELIEF THAT MERCEDES-BENZ EITHER GOT BAD BATCHES OF THIS HSLA STEEL, OR THEY SUBSTITUTED AN INFERIOR GRADE OF STEEL. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY CARS WERE PRODUCED HAVING THIS PROBLEM, BUT IT WORRIES ME. PEOPLE MAY BE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD RIGHT NOW, UNAWARE THAT IMPORTANT STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS OF THEIR CARS MAY BE READY TO FAIL. *NM