5.6

fairly significant
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
15,718 miles

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problem #4

Apr 022010

E320

  • 59,870 miles
My 2003 Mercedes E320 engine stalled momentarily as I sped up to enter I-95 near fredericksburg, va. I eased up on the gas and it restarted with no apparent immediate after effects. Fortunately, there was no traffic close behind me, or there might have been a collision. There were no warning lights showing on the dashboard before or after the stalling. I continued South on I-95 with no further problems until I exited at ashland, va. At the interchange with US1, when I stopped at the traffic light, the engine stalled out and would not restart, blocking traffic. A policeman arrived and called for a tow. Again there were no apparent trouble lights. The car was carried to the richmond va dealer, which replaced the air mass sensor. This corrected the problem. I reported this problem to Mercedes customer care in NJ. I emphasized the seriousness of having the engine stall out, but they were not planning to perform any new fix. They said it was "operating as designed", making reference to a "limp home" feature that stalls the engine and warns the driver to get off the road. I looked in the car's manual, and the term "limp home" appears only once concerning the engine. However, there is no description of how this works or what the driver is supposed to do. In my car, the engine did not "limp", but ran at full power after the stall and restart. In my opinion, a sensor failure should not disable the engine, and any serious problem should be warned through a blinking check engine light. Mercedes needs to remedy these problems through a recall. At the very least, owners of these cars should be warned about the potential problem, and how to deal with it if it occurs.

- Potomac, MD, USA

problem #3

Jan 022003

E320 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 500 miles
I own a 2003 E-class Mercedes Benz purchased this year from ralley motors, roslyn, New York. Since I took the title to the vehicle, there has been uncontrolled mild acceleration at low speeds, the car bucks and shakes upon de-acceleration resulting in my having lost control of the vehicle and consequently requiring my jamming abruptly on the brakes to avoid hitting another vehicles and pedestrians. In addition, the car had significantly steered to the right at all times, requiring my constantly having to steer to the left in order to drive straight ahead. The dealership has admitted that it can not repair the transmission problem, ie; the uncontrolled change of speed, bucking and acceleration of the motor vehicle. They have also replaced the instrument cluster which I believe is an important vehicle computer which controls many systems of the car, and the vehicle now has the third instrument cluster, all in one year of ownership, all due to product defects! the service manager has admitted to me that there is a design defect in the transmission which there allegedly is no fix to correct the problem. I was informed that due to horrible gas mileage, the torque converter of the transmission is specifically designed to lock up at low speeds, and this is the reason why the 2003 and 2004 E-class automobiles have this transmission problem. The service manager had advised me that he know of no fix from the factory. The dealership became frustrated when I expressed my displeasure, and has now informed me that they will no longer service my brand new automobile. The consumer stated the engine stalled, the wiper blades were noisy.

- Lake Success, NY, USA

problem #2

Sep 202003

E320 8-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 2,500 miles
The car has been a disappointments since I got it in January 28,2003. It has had many problems and the dealership said its fix. Autohaus Mercedes Benz in pompano beach, Florida sold me a car that has been to the shop more than 10 times. 1)whippers very loud and don't clean. 2) fuel gauge does not work 3) tire sensors do not work 4)stereo shuts off and on 5)alignment problem car pulls to the right. 6)engine is very loud 7)engine hesitates. 8) sos malfunction 9)Mercedes Benz phone does not work. 10) lowjack system that they installed has not worked properly since they put it on. When they sold me the car they said that they were going to come out with a gps and a voice activate kit for the Mercedes Benz and now they tell me that they were not going to make it for my car so I was lied too. My car has been to the shop more than 10 times and still not fix and the service manager has lied to me because he said that the items are fix and two days later they are bad again. I will not recommend Mercedes Benz to anyone as they are not what they just to be. Also I will not recommend to anyone autohaus in pompano beach, Florida they do not believe in customer service and they service manager jerry odessy only lies to people as it did to me several times and he is also very rude. I have also E-mail the president of autohaus and he has never responded and the corporate office is not to far behind about customer service and rudeness. Do not buy Mercedes there are a lot of better car out there. If you buy a Mercedes make sure you car was not in a flood as I read that a lot of their cars were in a flood and they are selling them like nothing happend.

- Boca Raton, FL, USA

problem #1

Jul 102003

E320 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
My 2003 E 320 has been in the shop 3 times because when I come to a stop at times it will suddenly shut off and all the lights on the instrument cluster will light up. The problem is intermittent and the vehicle has 19,000 miles on it.

- Simi Valley, CA, USA