Recalls
| Campaign | Manufacturer | Manufacturing date | Type | # of units affected | Date Owner notified Mfg | Recall Initiated by | Manufacturers of recalled vehicles/products | Report Recieved Date | Record Creation Date | Regulation Part Number | FMVSS Number | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - BATTERY | ||||||||||||||||
| 02V338000 | MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. | V (Vehicle) | 65000 | 02/14/2003 | MFR | MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. | 12/16/2002 | 01/06/2003 | ||||||||
| Defect Summary | On certain passenger vehicles, excessive static build-up in the trunk floor mats can cause a static discharge when individuals move or remove items from the trunk compartment. | |||||||||||||||
| Consequence Summary | This can damage the electrical system components located in the trunk, including the vehicle | |||||||||||||||
| Corrective Summary | Dealers will install a static insulation panel between the carpet and the vehicle battery which will provide an electrical grounding. owner notification began february 14, 2003. owners who take their vehicles to an authorized dealer on an agreed upon service date and do not receive the free remedy within a reasonable time should contact mercedes-benz at 1-800-367-6372. | |||||||||||||||
| Notes | Mercedes-benz recall no. 2002110014. customers can also contact the national highway traffic safety administration | |||||||||||||||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - FUSES AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS | ||||||||||||||||
| 04V227000 | MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. | from 05/01/1998 to 10/31/2000 | V (Vehicle) | 54454 | 10/18/2004 | MFR | MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. | 05/13/2004 | 05/12/2004 | |||||||
| Defect Summary | On certain passenger vehicles, during the production process of the blower motor fuse holder, the size of the electric conductor of the holder may be below appropriate tolerances. | |||||||||||||||
| Consequence Summary | Consequently, the electric conductor of the blower motor fuse holder may dissipate more heat than the plastic fuse holder was designed to withstand, which could result in overheating of the holder and disabling of the blower motor and the ability to defrost or defog the windshiled in cold or hot and humid weather conditions. depending on the occurrence and weather situation, driver visibility could be reduced, which could result in a crash. | |||||||||||||||
| Corrective Summary | Dealers will install new blower motor fuse holders. the recall began during october 2004. owners should contact mercedes-benz at 1-800-367-6372. | |||||||||||||||
| Notes | Mercedes-benz recall no. 2004 070010.customers can also contact the national highway traffic safety administration | |||||||||||||||
Bulletins
| Bulletin | Bulletin date | Replacement Bulletin | Item no. | Summary | Added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||||
| 805727 | 09/08/2004 | 10010446 | After eis replacement circuit 15x delayed after ignition start. *tt | 11/23/2004 | |
| 076139 | 03/29/2004 | 076139A | 10007612 | Air mass sensors. *mj | 07/06/2004 |
Consumer Complaints
| Fail date | miles | occurences | Purchase date |
|---|---|---|---|
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | |||
| 06/01/2012 | 134000 | ||
| Tl* the contact owns a 2001 mercedes benz s class. the contact was driving 65 mph when he noticed that the lights on the instrument panel failed and smoke was coming from the instrument panel. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the dealer stated that they needed to replace the instrument cluster module. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and advised that the vehicle was included in nhtsa campaign id number: 06v028000 (interior lighting) but the recall had expired. the failure and the current mileage was 134,000. | |||
| 06/01/2012 | 134000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2001 mercedes benz s class. the contact was driving 65 mph when he noticed that the lights on the instrument panel failed and smoke was coming from the instrument panel. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the dealer stated that they needed to replace the instrument cluster module. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacturer was contacted and advised that the vehicle was included in nhtsa campaign id number: 06v028000 (interior lighting) but the recall had expired. the failure and the current mileage was 134,000. kmj | |||
| 06/01/2012 | 134000 | ||
| Tl- the contact owns a 2001 mercedes benz s class. the contact stated while driving 65 mph he notice the lights on the instrument panel went out and smoke was coming out the instrument panel. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the dealer stated that they needed to replace the instrument cluster modules. the vehicle was not repaired. the manufacture was contacted. the manufacture stated that the recall(nhtsa campaign id number: 06v028000)the vehicle was under was expired. the failure and current was mileage was 134,000.jp | |||
| 08/08/2011 | 101000 | ||
| Mercedes bens never informed me that my car an s500 was involved in a recall to change the instrumental pannel lighting, now that it failed the miami mercedes dealership do not want to fix my car alleging that there was not any recall, that it was only a warranty extention beginning in 2001 for 10 years lleaving me out of coverage since my car is 2001. i think this is unfair to the unsuspecting public lack of communication and desire to do litle for the users of their cars my car is within the 10 years and refuse to fix it that is my complaint | |||
| 07/01/2011 | 121987 | ||
| I have a 2001 mercedess430 vin#wdbng70j81a137460 which has a failed instrument cluster. there appears to have been a recall issued in 2006 but it was limited to a certain number of vin# and does not cover the widespread issues i have uncovered via my research. this is a serious defect that could cause a major accident as the lights go out, no gauges work, and you have no idea how fast you are going, what gear you are in e.g. you could accidentally reverse, etc. i called mercedes benz along with several dealers and they indicate that they will not cover this and the cost is exorbitant. this is a fatal error and can not be corrected to work or function at all without full replacement of the entire instrument cluster. | |||
| 06/18/2011 | 102000 | ||
| I was driving and my whole dash board went out..couldn't see anything, called mercedes and was told this wasn't on recall and wasn't under warranty..i think this is very dangerous and someone going to get hurt when this happen.. | |||
| 09/01/2006 | 60100 | 12 | 01/22/2005 |
| Lighting (instrument cluster) on the dashboard of my 2001 mercedes benz s500 vin# wdbng75j31a194593 flickered for a couple of days then went out completely. it affected my automatic door locks and side mirror signal indicators. i cannot view the gauges/speedometer and use the preset buttons on the steering wheel while operating this vehicle. *nm | |||
| 09/22/2006 | 96000 | 1 | 08/26/2005 |
| Dt*: the contact stated the interior lights stopped working suddenly without warning. there was a nhtsa recall, # 06v028000, regarding the interior lighting. the vehicle was not included in the recall due to the vin. updated 10/17/2006 - intermittently the instrument panel lights dimmed then surged to full strength. *nm | |||
| 09/15/2006 | 35 | 1 | 04/04/2006 |
| I own a 2001 mercedes benz s500. i was driving home from work on friday and all of a sudden, the lights in the dashboard went out. it frightened me because i couldn't tell how fast i was going and it hampered me from being as alert as i needed to be by trying to find out what the problem was. these lights need to be functional whenever you are operating the vehicle. because of the time, the dealerships had closed and i couldn't drive it to them when it happened. this could have resulted in my having an accident and hurting and/or possibly killing myself and/or someone else. this is a serious problem that seems to be happening to others. please investigate. *nm | |||
| 07/24/2006 | 77000 | 2 | 05/24/2006 |
| Defect in mercedes benz 2001 s500 with the instrument cluster you loose all your in dash lights, gauges the whole panel goes dead you can't tell how fast your going, how much gas you have ,or if your car is overheated, nothing works, no miles,nothing this is very dangerous and mercedes is doing nothing to correct this problem,there dropping the ball i went in to have it checked and was told it cost 2300.00 to repair this is not acceptable ,this is a safety hazard a recall is very much needed there are thousands of others out there with this problem. i hope mercedes do the right thing and protect it customer from a dealer malfunction, we spend too much money on mercedes cars to have things like this happen. please, please do something for it's to late and someone gets hurt. *jb | |||
| 09/04/2005 | 79500 | 1 | 05/24/2004 |
| Instrument cluster failure 2001 mercedes benz s500. once the instrument cluster fails, the gas gauge, check engine, odometer, inside indicators for turn signals, parking assist lights do not work. everything is linked to the instrument cluster. one day this is going to cause a real serious problem. mercedes charges around $1800 to replace the instrument cluster. phone interview update (september 23, 05): no warnings prior to instrument cluster blackout. the consumer said that he couldn't see the gauges and was told by m-b roadside assistance responder that the gauges were not working. | |||
| 08/01/2005 | 49700 | 3 | 03/01/2001 |
| Vehicle is a 2001 s-500. almost word for word the same issue(s) as odi id number : 10100807. same car, same problems, same sentiment. replacing fuses only results in flickering instrument cluster lighting, and even then the backlight is still non-functional. gauge needles flicker as well, until they too go out completely. fuses last only for a couple of days, whereupon the entire instrument cluster remains entirely black. problem could be remedied simply by replacing faulty transistors, or redesigning an improperly laid-out instrument cluster, ie cooling the transistors much more adequately. this creates a tremendous safety risk by essentially creating an information black hole: the operator does not know his/her own speed, fuel level, if the parking brake is still on, if the directional signals are operational, if the check engine light is on, and other important information that mercedes is so keen on relaying only to the instrument cluster. the faulty instrument cluster has not yet created an accident, but it is only a matter of time until one of the other thousands of s-class owners runs out of gas on the highway, and gets into a collision all because he/she didn't know how much fuel they had. | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - FUSES AND CIRCUIT BREAKERS | |||
| 01/16/2007 | 10 | 11/01/2004 | |
| Tl* - the contact received recall number 04v227000 for his 2001 mercedes s class' electrical system and fuses. the vehicle has approximately 74,000 miles. the contact stated he believes that due to this failure, the navigation system was disabled. therefore, if there is an emergency the sos system is inoperable. this is a safety concern for the contact. the dealer has stated to the consumer they will investigate, but at this time they will not repair the navigation system under the recall. *nm updated 02/22/07.*jb | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING | |||
| 11/01/2004 | 50000 | 1 | 01/01/2002 |
| Mercedes s-class w220 (2000 and up)instrument cluster failed including spedometer, flashers, signal control, engine temperature, and other information critical to safe vehicle operation. upon investigating it was determined that this is an extremely common problem caused by a series of defective transistors which the manuafacturer has since discontinued and replaced with a similar model. inadequate heatseaking for the transistors coudl also explain the problem. this is particularly odd because the car has only been in production since 2000 and production is continuing strong. the cluster has 5 of these transistors, 3 of which are in series and go bad causing the described failure. the transistors cost about 50 cents each when purchased in bulk... hardly justifying a $1600 repair. the siemens model: buz102s sipmos power transistor was replaced by the spd50n06s2-14 power transistor. this problem also causes the cars diagnostic computer and dash board controls to stop functioning. this could be dangerous. not knowing car speed couldl also be very dangerous. visitation (september 23, 05) update: the consumer indicated that there were no warnings prior to instrument cluster failure and that he couldn't see the gauges. the dealer indicated that the cluster has been superseded numerous times. | |||
| ELECTRICAL SYSTEM - WIRING - INTERIOR/UNDER DASH | |||
| 05/30/2006 | 49135 | 1 | 04/01/2006 |
| Dt*: the contact stated the instrument cluster malfunctioned. there is a nhtsa recall, # 06v028000, regarding the interior lighting. the vin was not included in the recall.*ak updated 6/19/2006 - the dash lights fade, flicker and go out. *nm | |||
| 01/14/2006 | 60000 | 1 | 10/03/2000 |
| I have a 2001 mecedes s-class. the insturment cluster just failed last week. the entire thing just went dark. nothing works!! i notice you have a open investigation regarding this issue. your # pe 05-062. *nm | |||
| 12/09/2005 | 81450 | 1 | 03/10/2005 |
| Instrument cluster failed (no lights, or gauges operable in instrument cluster) for no apparent reason. speedometer, fuel gauge, lights are out causing a dangerous situation. *jb | |||
| 08/01/2005 | 49700 | 3 | 03/01/2001 |
| Vehicle is a 2001 s-500. almost word for word the same issue(s) as odi id number : 10100807. same car, same problems, same sentiment. replacing fuses only results in flickering instrument cluster lighting, and even then the backlight is still non-functional. gauge needles flicker as well, until they too go out completely. fuses last only for a couple of days, whereupon the entire instrument cluster remains entirely black. problem could be remedied simply by replacing faulty transistors, or redesigning an improperly laid-out instrument cluster, ie cooling the transistors much more adequately. this creates a tremendous safety risk by essentially creating an information black hole: the operator does not know his/her own speed, fuel level, if the parking brake is still on, if the directional signals are operational, if the check engine light is on, and other important information that mercedes is so keen on relaying only to the instrument cluster. the faulty instrument cluster has not yet created an accident, but it is only a matter of time until one of the other thousands of s-class owners runs out of gas on the highway, and gets into a collision all because he/she didn't know how much fuel they had. | |||