TL-the contact owns a 2003 Mercedes Benz C230. The contact observed that after exiting the vehicle, the front passenger's side wheel disengaged. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, who informed that the ball joint separated from the control arm. The vehicle was repaired. On a separate occasion the failure recurred with the front driver's side and the vehicle was repaired. The contact stated the defective parts and photographs were available. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage and VIN were unavailalbe.

- Washington, DC, USA

I have a 2003 Mercedes Benz CL55 amg. The abc or active body control system failed and with very little warning, the fluid started to leak, smoke was everywhere and I nearly caused a collision because of the thick smoke and poor visibility. I had to pull over immediately and have the CL55 towed to my mechanic my mechanic, who specializes in high end Mercedes Benz told me that this is a very common issue with the Mercedes cl 55,65,600 models from 2003-2006. Mercedes knew about this particular problem and redesigned the later models. The original sticker price of the cl model is about $120,000. Mercedes knew about this issue with the abc system on the amg models but did not make a factory recall. I have know met several other owners of the same model car, 2003-6 CL55 amg and all of them had to have the entire abc system replaced which is well over $5500. Also, a website dedicated to Mercedes Benz, called benzworld.com, have numerous owners who have had this particular problem with the abc system. There is a campaign of current owners who are planning to file a class action lawsuit. The breakdown of the abc system while drive comes very suddenly and with very little warning. I am very lucky to avoid an accident when it happened to me. The repair is not only very costly ( $5500 ), but will continue to break down again even after being replaced by original Mercedes parts because of the flawed design. Instead of a class action lawsuit, the NHTSA should force Mercedes have a mandatory recall on the 2003-2006 cl amg models to address this potentially dangerous problem.

- La Mesa, CA, USA