Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEATS - MID/REAR ASSEMBLY | |||||
| LI91-22-P-048771 | 02/05/2010 | 10034608 | Mercedes: the electrically folding 3rd seat row makes noises while folding up and down, or the folding function does not work at all. a warning message about locking the 3rd seat row may also appear in the display. *pe | 12/10/2010 | |
Investigations
| NHTSA ID | Manufacturer | Date open | Date close | Subject | Recall campaign | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SEATS - FRONT ASSEMBLY - SEAT HEATER/COOLER | ||||||
| PE08030 | MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. | 04/25/2008 | 09/09/2008 | SEAT BACK WARMER OVERHEATS/BURNS | ||
| This preliminary evaluation investigation concerns the seat back warmer installed in the subject vehicles built through may 2007, equipped with the ctx' carbotex seat warmer design.the data disclose few complaints and warranty reports concerning this issue.none of the fire reports involved open flame, but were thermal incidents in which the seat cushion sustained discoloration or a hole burned in the seat cover.the reported injury appeared to be minor.the subject seat warmer design was also installed in my 2006 m-class vehicles and those data also show few incidents.a safety defect trend has not been identified.this investigation has been closed. | ||||||
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEATS | |||
| 01/20/2013 | 59837 | 1 | |
| As i was traveling in chicago proper the temperature was approximately 18 degrees outdoors so we turned on the city warmers against the chill... my passenger noted a smell of smoke in the car which at the time i did not... subsequently the smell became more prevalent, the drivers side seat became hot and began to smoke, my clothes caught fire burning wholes in my outer coat, my pullover sweater and my tee shirt finally reaching my flesh... we were able to turn the seat warmer off, i was able to pull the vehicle to the side of the road and get out and remove the clothing that was damaged... a whole about the size of a 1/2 dollar was burned in the leather of the drivers seat... *tr | |||
| 01/20/2013 | 59837 | ||
| As i was traveling in chicago proper the temperature was approximately 18o outdoors so we turned on the city warmers against the chill... my passenger noted a smell of smoke in the car which at the time i did not... subsequently the smell became more prevalent, the drivers side seat became hot and began to smoke, my clothes caught fire burning wholes in my outer coat, my pullover sweater and my tee shirt finally reaching my flesh... we were able to turn the seat warmer off, i was able to pull the vehicle to the side of the road and get out and remove the clothing that was damaged... a whole about the size of a 1/2 dollar was burned in the leather of the drivers seat... | |||
| 09/29/2012 | 104000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns 2007 mercedes benz ml350. the contact stated the seat warmer under the driver's seat had a shortage and burned a hole in the seat. the dealer was notified and stated to bring the vehicle in for inspection. there were no recalls related to the failure. the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was 104,000. | |||
| 09/29/2012 | 104000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns 2007 mercedes benz ml350. the contact stated the seat warmer under the driver's seat had a shortage and burned a hole in the seat. the dealer was notified and stated to bring the vehicle in for inspection. there were no recalls related to the failure. the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was 104,000. rvk | |||
| 09/29/2012 | 104000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns 2007 mercedes benz ml350. the contact stated the seat warmer under the driver's seat had a shortage and burnt a hole in the seat. the dealer was notified who stated to bring the vehicle in and they will inspect the problem. there was no recall for this failure. the manufacturer was not notified. the failure mileage was 104,000. mw | |||
| 09/11/2012 | 68000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2007 mercedes benz ml350. the contact stated that approximately two minutes after starting the vehicle, burning fumes were emitted into the vehicle. the contact noticed a red glow coming from driver seat, and a hole burnt through the leather seats. the hole was approximately 2-3 inches in diameter. the contact was able to turn off the seat warmer. the contact stated that the fumes triggered an asthma flare and caused a slight burn on the back. the vehicle was taken to dealer for inspection. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vin was unavailable. the failure and current mileage was 68,000.pmb | |||
| 09/11/2012 | 68000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2007 mercedes benz ml350. the contact stated that approximately two minutes after started vehicle and began driving, the driver seat warmer was turned on. the contact began smelling strong fumes that came from inside vehicle. the contact noticed a red glow coming from driver seat, and a hole burnt through leather. the hole was approximately 2-3 inches in diameter. the contact then made a stop and turned off the seat warmer. the contact stated the fumes triggered a asthma flare and caused a slight burn on the back. the vehicle was taken to dealer for inspection; contact had not received response yet. the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. the vin was unavailable. the failure and current mileage was 68,000.yn | |||
| 01/04/2012 | 75000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2007 mercedes ml350. while driving with the heated seat function activated, the contact smelled something burning when she noticed that her back had become excessively hot. the heated seat function burned a hole in her shirt from the excessive heat. she let the vehicle cool down before she continued to drive. the dealer advised the contact that the seat warmer malfunctioned. the manufacturer was notified on the contact's behalf. the vehicle was not repaired. the current and the failure mileages were 75,000. the vin was unavailable. kmj | |||
| 01/04/2012 | 75000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2007 mercedes ml350. while driving with the heated seat function activated, the contact smelled something burning when she noticed that her back became excessively hot. she touched her back when she noticed that there was a hole due to the excessive heat. she let the vehcile cool down before she continued to drive it. the dealer advised the contact that the seat malfunctioned. the manufacturer was notified on the contacts behalf. the current and the failure mileages were 75,000. the vin was unavailable. bw | |||
| 12/19/2011 | 45000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2007 mercedes benz ml350. the contact was driving approximately 35 mph with the driver's side seat warmer activated when the temperatures became extremely hot. the defect resulted in a burn hole in the cushion and the contact's clothing. the contact sustained minor burns to the back. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who informed the contact that the seat back warmer was faulty and planned to perform further investigations to determine the cause of failure. the manufacturer was notified of the malfunction. the contact referenced a concurrent investigation under nhtsa action number: pe08030 (seats: front assembly: seat heater/cooler) however, the investigation was closed september 9, 2008. the approximate failure mileage was 45,000. | |||
| 01/04/2012 | 75000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2007 mercedes ml350. while driving with the heated seat function activated, the contact smelled something burning when she noticed that her back became excessively hot. she touched her back when she noticed that there was a hole due to the excessive heat. she let the vehcile cool down before she continued to drive it. the dealer advised the contact that the seat malfunctioned. the manufacturer was notified on the contacts behalf. the current and the failure mileages were 75,000. the vin was unavailable. bw | |||
| 12/19/2011 | 45000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2007 mercedes benz ml350. the contact was driving approximately 35 mph with the driver's side seat warmer activated when the temperatures became extremely hot. the defect resulted in a burn hole in the cushion and the contact's clothing. the contact sustained minor burns to the back. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who informed the contact that the seat back warmer was faulty and planned to perform further investigations to determine the cause of failure. the manufacturer was notified of the malfunction. the contact referenced a concurrent investigation under nhtsa action number: pe08030 (seats: front assembly: seat heater/cooler) however, the investigation was closed september 9, 2008. the approximate failure mileage was 45,000. kmj | |||
| 12/19/2011 | 45000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2007 mercedes benz ml350. while the contact was driving approximately 35 mph, a substantial amount of high temperatures penetrated from the front driver's seat back warmer. the defect resulted to a burnt hole in the cushion and clothing. the contact sustained minor burns to the back area. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who informed the seat back warner was faulty and planned to perform further investigations to determine the cause of failure. the manufacturer was notified of the malfunction. there was an open investigation under nhtsa action number pe08030 (seats: front assembly: seat heater/cooler); however the investigation closed september 9, 2008. the approximate failure mileage was 45,000. js | |||
| 10/19/2011 | 50000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2007 mercedes benz ml350. the contact stated that the front driver side seat heater began smoking and burned through the leather seat. there was no personal injury. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer for diagnosis. the manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 50,000. kmj | |||
| 10/19/2011 | 50000 | ||
| Tl-the contact owns a 2007 mercedes benz ml350. the contact stated the front driver's side seat heater was activated and suddenly smoke emitted inside the vehicle which resulted to a burn in the leather seat. there was no personal injury. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer and currently being diagnosed. the manufacturer was not made aware of the problem. the approximate failure mileage was 50,000. js | |||
| 06/27/2011 | 94095 | ||
| The driver's side heated seat on my 2007 mercedes ml350 burned through the leather today while driving down the road. first, i smelled something burning and then felt it burn through my shirt and pants in a matter of 10 seconds. i immediate pulled to the shoulder and found the seat smoldering so i turned off the heater and the fire went out. i reported this immediately to mercedes via their mbrace service and they told me to visit the local dealer. | |||
| 12/12/2010 | 95000 | ||
| Hello, today, sunday december 12, 2010 at 10:15 a.m., while i was driving in my vehicle, i had on the heated seats feature. myself and others in the car smelled a bad burning smell, so we thought it was coming from outside, until i felt a burning sensation on my left side of my back and saw smoke coming from the side of my seat! the seat was burning and smoking and it burned my sweater that i had on as well. sincerely, angry mercedes-benz owner. | |||
| 03/27/2010 | 33000 | ||
| 2007 ml350 driver seat heating element causes fire while children in car. | |||
| 12/13/2009 | 51345 | 1 | |
| Turned on seat heater. the lower portion of the back of the seat (left side) failed and caught fire. the leather seat cover was burnt as well as the drivers shirt. when the smell of smoke became evident in the passenger compartment the seat heater was turned off and the burning stopped. burn hole in leather is slightly smaller then a dime, burn hole in drivers shirt smaller then a dime also. no injury to driver. *tr | |||
| 05/22/2008 | 24000 | ||
| Tl*the contact owns a 2007 mercedes ml350. while driving 50mph, she smelled smoke inside the vehicle, saw flames coming from the passenger seat, the smoke distracted her and caused her to lose control on the vehicle and crash into the median. the left side of the vehicle was damaged. the contact was able to exit the vehicle without injury. the fire department and the police arrived. a report was filed and they stated that the failure might be due to the heater. the vehicle was not diagnosed by a dealer. the contact is aware of the safety risk involved. the failure and current mileages were 24,000. | |||
| SEATS - FRONT ASSEMBLY - SEAT HEATER/COOLER | |||
| 12/14/2009 | 35000 | 1 | 01/01/2007 |
| Tl* the contact owns a 2007 mercedes-benz ml350. while driving approximately 35 mph with the driver side heated seat activated, there was a burning odor followed by smoke. after the driver pulled to the side of the road, the driver-side seat ignited into small flames. the driver extinguished the seat cushion. the vehicle was able to resume operation with caution to the residence. there were no personal injuries. the vehicle has not been in operation. the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer. the failure and current mileages were 35,000. updated 01/08/10 *bf updated 01/12/10.*jb | |||
| 12/03/2009 | 27000 | 1 | 05/24/2007 |
| Tl*the contact owns a 2007 mercedes benz ml350. the contact observed smoke coming from the drivers heated seat. prior to turning the heated seat off, the contact suffered minor burns on her left buttock. a road side assistance mechanic towed the vehicle to an authorized dealer and advised the contact not to drive the vehicle. the contact is concerned that the failure could have caused a fire to occur. the current and failure mileage was 27,000. updated 1/25/10 *cn updated 01/26/10 | |||
| 02/23/2008 | 14000 | 1 | 05/20/2007 |
| I had the seat heat on, and waiting to pick up my family in front of a theatre, i smelled burning, i opened the window, to see if something was burning outside, i suddenly felt a pinch in my left lower left back, i opened the door and jumped out of the car, i saw on the lower left side of the driver seat a whole that was glowing bright red, i saw fire was starting, i hit it few times with my hands and put out the glowing fire, the smell was sickening, i turned off the ignition, and started checking myself, i felt a hole in my winter jacket. thank got this happened when i was stopped, if i was on the highway this would have surely caused an accident. it is hard to describe the panic condition when this happened. *tr | |||
| 01/21/2008 | 11976 | 1 | 04/08/2007 |
| While out of state on vacation, we activated both the driver side and the passenger side seat warmers in my car. after about two to three minutes of activating the seat warmers, we began to smell burning leather. all of a sudden we began to see smoke coming from the driver side of the vehicle. after seeing the smoke, we pulled over to the roadside to see where the smoke was coming from. once we exited the vehicle we realized my husbands jacket and shirt had been burned by the malfunction in the driver side seat back warmers. after inspecting the seat back, we saw that the seat had a large burn area. we immediately turned off both seat warmers and the vehicle's engine. the burning finally stopped after tuning off both the seat warmers and the vehicle. this was the worst encounter that i ever had with a vehicle, and the vehicle happens to be a brand new mercedes-benz ml350, 2007 model from downtown la motors. i had always dreamed of owning a mercedes-benz, but i never thought that i would have this kind of experience with such a prestigious vehicle. i thought that i had purchased my dream vehicle, but after this experience i realized that i was mistaken. this experience spoiled our trip, and traumatized my family and i. not only did it spoil our trip, we were inconvenience and devastated by the damage to the vehicle and also to my husband who was almost burned by the incident. my vehicle is now in the process of being repaired by the dealership. upon completion of the repairs, i will be hesitant to use the seat warmers in my vehicle again because the confidence and trust i once had in my vehicle has been diminished. i am afraid that it may happen again. *tr | |||