2004 Mercedes Benz E CLASS: complaints, problems and recalls

WHILE DRIVING AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FAILED. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER, WHO REPAIRED THE TRANSMISSION, BUT DID NOT INFORM THE CONSUMER OF THE PARTS THAT WERE REPAIRED. TWO WEEKS LATER, THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FAILED AGAIN. VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER, WHO REPAIRED THE TRANSMISSION AGAIN, BUT CONSUMER WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE SAFETY, AND DID NOT WANT TO TAKE THE VEHICLE BACK. *AK

Owner-reported narrative. 30 miles reported. Look up ODI 10059197 at NHTSA ↗

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM FAILURE. *AK

Owner-reported narrative. 4,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 10065011 at NHTSA ↗

INTERMITTENT FAILURE OF THE DISTRONIC RADAR-CONTROLLED CRUISE CONTROL. IN EXTREME WET CONDITIONS THE CAR IN FRONT IS INTERMITTENTLY NOT SEEN BY THE SYSTEM CAUSING THE CAR TO ACCELERATE INTO THE BACK OF THE CAR IN FRONT. THIS FAULT PERSISTS FOR SOME DAYS AFTER THE WET CONDITIONS SUBSIDE. THE CAR'S FAULT DETECTION SYSTEM SOMETIMES DETECTS THIS AS A FAULT, BUT RESETS ITSELF AUTOMATICALLY LEADING TO THE DANGEROUS CONDITION RECURRING RANDOMLY. *AK

Owner-reported narrative. 4,900 miles reported. Look up ODI 10067575 at NHTSA ↗

WHILE DRIVING 20 MPH CONSUMER APPLIED THE BRAKES BUT THEY BRAELY FUNCTIONED. THIS CAUSED THE VEHICLE TO HIT A BUS. UPON IMPACT, BOTH FRONTAL AIRBAGS DID NOT DEPLOY. A SIGNAL FLASHED ON THE DASHBOARD INDICATING AIR BAGS MALFUNCTIONED. NO INJURIES REPORTED. CONSUMER HAD THE VEHICLE TOWED TO A REPAIR FACILITY. *AK NOT ONLY DID THE AIR NAG FAIL TO DEPLOY BUT THE DASH INDICATOR ILLUMINATED INDICATING A MALFUNCTION WITH THE RESTRAINT SYSTEM *NM

Owner-reported narrative. 900 miles reported. Look up ODI 10073609 at NHTSA ↗

WHEN BACKING OUT, ONE OF THE FEATURES OF THE VEHICLE IS FOR THE REAR VIEW MIRRORS TILT DOWN. THE MIRRORS DON'T TILT BACK UP UNTIL THE VEHICLE REACHES 8 MPH. *AK

Owner-reported narrative. 120 miles reported. Look up ODI 10087353 at NHTSA ↗

MERCEDES BENZ E320 2004 - VEHICLE LURCHED FORWARD AT HIGH RATE OF SPEED WITHOUT OPERATOR ACCELERATION. STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO HOME, GREAT CONCERN FOR THE POTENTIAL OF INJURY IF EVENT OCCURS AGAIN. VEHICLE SENT TO DEALERSHIP ( MB BLOOMFIELD, MI ) FOR EVALUATION. WEB SEARCH FINDS SIMILAR EVENTS WITH SAME MODEL 2003.*AK

Owner-reported narrative. 3,500 miles reported. Look up ODI 10090684 at NHTSA ↗

WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH BRAKE SENSOR LIGHT CAME ON. AS A RESULT, WHEN CONSUMER ATTEMPTED TO PULL OVER TOTAL BRAKE FAILURE OCCURRED. *AK

Owner-reported narrative. 6,000 miles reported. Look up ODI 10094866 at NHTSA ↗

VEHICLE PURCHASED NEW IN JUNE 2004. SINCE THEN THE VEHICLE HAS BEEN SERVICED FOUR TIMES WITHIN SIX MONTHS OF PURCHASE FOR THE SAME ISSUE - TRANSMISSION OIL LEAK. DEALERSHIP HAS STATED THAT LEAK IS RELATED TO CONNECTOR (?) NOT BEING LONG ENOUGH AND HAS USED ANOTHER NON-MANUFACTURING SPEC'D CONNECTOR TO RESOLVE MATTER. VEHICLE IS ALSO LEAKING ENGINE OIL. ON LAST SERVICE IT WAS NOTED THAT SWEAT STAINS WERE SEEN AND GASKET REPLACED. AS OF TODAY - ENGINE OIL LEAK EVIDENCE CAN STILL BE SEEN. VEHICLE IS IN DANGEROUS STATE SINCE SERIOUS MALFUNCTI…

Owner-reported narrative. 1,700 miles reported. Look up ODI 10106235 at NHTSA ↗

Reported: 2003-12-19 (December 19, 2003)

ON CERTAIN PASSENGER VEHICLES, SOME SEAT BELT BUCKLES MAY HAVE A BURR ON A METAL COMPONENT OF THE LOCKING MECHANISM. THE PRESENCE OF THE BURR COULD PREVENT THE SEAT BELT FROM LOCKING UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES.

Consequence: IN THE EVENT OF A CRASH, THE SEAT OCCUPANT MAY NOT BE PROPERLY RESTRAINED, INCREASING THE RISK OF INJURY.

Remedy: DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE SEAT BELTS. OWNER NOTIFICATION BEGAN ON DECEMBER 22, 2003. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT MERCEDES-BENZ AT 1-800-367-6372.

Reported: 2004-06-22 (June 22, 2004)

ON CERTAIN VEHICLES, THE ELECTRONIC MONITORING SYSTEM OF THE SENSOTRONIC BRAKE CONTROL (SBC) IS DESIGNED TO MONITOR THE PRESSURE GRADIENT WITHIN THE HIGH PRESSURE LINE OF THE BRAKE SYSTEM. IF AN UNACCEPTABLE PRESSURE GRADIENT IS DETECTED, THE SYSTEM WILL SWITCH, AS IT IS DESIGNED TO DO, INTO THE HYDRAULIC FUNCTION MODE.

Consequence: IF VEHICLES ARE NOT ROUTINELY SERVICED AND HAVE EXTREMELY HIGH MILEAGE COMBINED WITH A HIGH NUMBER OF BRAKE ACTUATIONS, OR A HIGH BRAKE ACTUATION FREQUENCY, THE PUMP MOTOR OF THE SBC MAY RUN OUT OF PERMISSIBLE TOLERANCES, THEREBY TRIGGERING THE HYDRAULIC FUNCTION MODE.

Remedy: DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE SBC HYDRAULIC UNIT, REPLACING IT IF NECESSARY. THE RECALL BEGAN ON OCTOBER 21M 2004. OWNERS SHOULD CONTACT MERCEDES-BENZ AT 1-800-367-6372.

Reported: 2005-04-01 (April 1, 2005)

ON CERTAIN VEHICLES, THE SENSOTRONIC BRAKE CONTROL (SBC) SYSTEM MAY PREMATURELY SHIFT TO THE HYDRAULIC BACK-UP FUNCTION MODE, DUE TO DETERIORATION OF THE WIRING HARNESS CONNECTION, OR DUE TO PREMATURE FAILURE OF THE HYDRAULIC PUMP.

Consequence: IN THE HYDRAULIC BACK-UP MODE, THE DRIVER HAS BRAKING POWER SUFFICIENT TO STOP THE VEHICLE, ALTHOUGH GREATER BRAKE PEDAL PRESSURE IS REQUIRED AND THE BRAKE PEDAL TRAVEL WILL BE NOTICEABLY LONGER.

Remedy: DEALERS WILL INSTALL A BRACKET AND REPLACEMENT GROUND WIRE TO THE SBC PUMP UNIT ON ALL VEHICLES FREE OF CHARGE. ADDITIONALLY DEALERS WILL INSPECT AND REPLACE THE SBC PUMP UNIT IN SL VEHICLES PRODUCED DURING A LIMITED PRODUCTION PERIOD. THE RECALL BEGAN ON AUGUST 8, 2005. OWNERS MAY CONTACT MERCEDES-BENZ AT 1-800-367-6372.

Reported: 2008-07-07 (July 7, 2008)

MERCEDES-BENZ IS RECALLING MY 2006-2008 M-CLASS, R-CLASS, MY 2005-2009 SLK-CLASS, MY 2005-2008 C-CLASS, MY 2003-2004 AND 2006-2008 CLK-CLASS, MY 2003-2008 E-CLASS, MY 2004 AND 2008 CL-CLASS, MY 2008 CLS-CLASS, MY 2004 AND 2007-2008 S-CLASS, MY 2003 G-CLASS, AND MY 2003-2004, 2006 AND 2009 SL-CLASS VEHICLES. A SOFTWARE CALIBRATION NUMBER (SCN) CODING RECEIVED ON THE AFFECTED VEHICLES DURING A RECENT WORKSHOP VISIT WAS INCORRECT. DEPENDING ON THE MODEL YEAR AND MODEL AFFECTED, THE RESULTS OF AN INCORRECT SCN CODING CAN AFFECT A NUMBER OF VEHICLE SAFETY AND EMISSION FUNCTIONS INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF FUNCTIONS: (1) THE FUEL GAUGE READINGS MAY BE INCORRECT; (2) A STUCK FUEL-LEVEL SENSOR MAY NOT BE DISPLAYED IN THE INSTRUMENT CLUSTER; (3) THE OBD SYSTEM MAY CAUSE THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT TO ILLUMINATE INCORRECTLY; AND, (4) THE SPEEDOMETER MAY BE OUT OF TOLERANCE.

Consequence: IN THE EVENT OF A VEHICLE CRASH, THE ELECTRICAL FUEL PUMP MAY NOT RECEIVE A CRASH SIGNAL THAT IS REQUIRED FOR THE FUEL PUMP TO DISCONNECT AND PREVENT FUTURE FUEL DELIVERY AS DESIGNED.

Remedy: DEALERS WILL RECODE THE SCN FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON AUGUST 30, 2008. OWNERS MAY CONTACT MERCEDES-BENZ AT 1-800-367-6372.