2000 MERCEDES-BENZ M CLASS Complaints

THIS FAILURE IS BEST DESCRIBED IN THIS INVESTIGATION HTTP://WWW-ODI.NHTSA.DOT.GOV/CARS/PROBLEMS/DEFECT/RESULTS.CFM?ACTION_NUMBER=PE07007&SEARCHTYPE=QUICKSEARCH&SUMMARY=TRUE I HAVE THIS EXACT PROBLEM AND MERCEDES BENZ DOESN'T ACKNOWLEDGE THIS AS A KNOWN PROBLEM. NO PARTICULAR EVENTS LED UP TO THIS FAILURE. A COUPLE OF MONTHS AGO THIS INCIDENT HAPPENED TO ME IN A PARKING LOT WHILE PULLING OUT. I TOOK IT INTO THE DEALER AND THEY REPLACED THE BRAKES AND SAID THE PROBLEM WAS FIXED. 2-3 MONTHS LATER, THIS SAME INCIDENT HAPPENED TO ME AGAIN BUT THIS TIME ON THE HIGHWAY WHILE I WAS GOING 60 WITH MY FAMILY IN THE CAR. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED BUT MERCEDES BENZ IS NOT COMPLYING. *TR

ENGINE RUNS ROUGH, IDLES LIKE IT IS GOING TO DIE, CAR SURGES FORWARD WHILE MOVING OR STOPPED, DASH WARNING LIGHTS ON/OFF, ROUGH GEAR SHIFTING OR WON'T SHIFT, ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS, GAS TANK/GAUGE PROBLEMS, LOCK/WINDOWS POWERED WHEN CAR OFF, DASH LIGHTING GOES IN/OUT, HEADLIGHT/BRAKE LIGHTS BURN OUT QUICKLY, ELECTRICAL, STARTING CAR ISSUES. THIS CAR HAS BEEN IN/OUT OF THE DEALERSHIP FOR ALMOST 2 YEARS. I BOUGHT IT USED WITH A "CERTIFIED PRE OWNED WARRANTY", CODES GO OFF AND THEY SIMPLY RESET THEM. THERE HAS BEEN A NEW CONVERTER, WINDOW REPAIR, WORK ON GAS TANK, SPARK PLUGS, AND NUMEROUS OTHER "ATTEMPTS". NOW THE WARRANTY IS GONE AND MY PROBLEMS HAVE WORSENED. I DRIVE IT OUT OF THE DEALERSHIP AND THE WARNING LIGHTS COME RIGHT BACK ON. THEY ARE USING PROCESS OF ELIMINATION AND I'M PAYING FOR ALL THE GUESS WORK! THE OIL MONITOR IS ALWAYS OFF, GET THE OIL CHANGED AND IT GIVES ME SERVICE IS NEEDED CODES WITH -OIL READING? HELP. *TR

WHILE TRAVELING WITH MY FAMILY (WIFE AND 2 KIDS) ON THE FREEWAY RETURNING FROM AN FAMILY OUTING. WE WERE TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY 65 MPH ON THE FREEWAY WHEN ALL THE SUDDEN WITHOUT ANY WARNING THE CARS BRAKES ARE ACTIVATED AND THE CAR PULLS TO THE RIGHT, FORTUNATELY THERE WAS NO CAR ON THE RIGHT LANE NEXT TO ME. THE CAR BRAKING ON ITS OWN DID NOT STOP UNTIL THE CAR CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP. AFTER REMOVING OUR HEARTS FROM OUR THROATS AND CHANGING OUR SOILED UNDERGARMENTS WE DECIDED TO HEAD STRAIGHT HOME 45 MILES AWAY. THIS SAME THING OCCURRED ABOUT 3 TIMES DURING OUR TRIP BACK HOME. I WILL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO ALLOW DOT INSPECTORS TO DRIVE THE CAR TO ASSIST YOUR INVESTIGATION. (I RECOMMEND YOU BRING A CHANGE OF UNDERWEAR.). *TR

MY BIGGEST CONCERN WITH THE ML320 THAT I HAVE OWNED SINCE 2002, BUT NOT THE ONLY CONCERN WOULD BE THE BRAKING SYSTEM. I COMPLAINED FROM A COUPLE OF MONTHS INTO BUYING THIS VEHICLE THAT I DID NOT FEEL SAFE. THE VEHICLE BRAKES GOES INTO A LOCKED POSITION IF YOU DRIVE OVER A BUMP, MAN HOLE, OR IF IT RAINS THE SUV SKIDS AS IF YOU ARE LOSING CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. THE BAS ESP LIGHT COMES ON OFTEN, WHICH WARNS YOU THAT THE BRAKING SYSTEM IS NOT WORKING PROPERLY, IT IS ON AS I AM COMPLAINING NOW. I HAVE TAKING IT TO THE DEALERSHIP ON MORE THAN ONE OCCASION COMPLAINED OVER THE PHONE WITH THIS ISSUE AND MANY MORE. THE DEALERSHIP REPLACE A SWITCH I BELIEVE MAYBE IN 20002. THE EPS HAVE COME ON EVEN AFTER THAT. I AM VERY FEARFUL WHEN IT COMES THE BRAKING ESPECIALLY IN RAIN OR ICE. I HAVE HAD SO MANY ISSUES WITH THIS VEHICLE, I WILL NOT RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE. THIS VEHICLE HAS BEEN A NIGHTMARE! MERCEDES BENZ WOULD NOT PURCHASE VEHICLE BACK BUT OFFER TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT WITH REPAIRS. *JB(... YES THE BRAKES LOCK WHENEVER YOU PRESS THE BRAKES, ALMOST SKID WITHOUT STOPPING VECHICLE...ESPECIALLY SCARY IN RAIN OR RUNNING OVER A MANHOLE COVER. IT VERY WEIRD.....BRAKING SYSTEM LIGHT COME ON OFTEN BAS LIGHT)*SMCH

WHILE DRIVING, SOME TEA SPILLED ONTO MY SHIFTER. MOMENTS LATER WHILE MERGING INTO HIGH SPEED TRAFFIC, MY CAR WOULD NOT SHIFT OUT OF LOW GEAR. I HAD TO SWERVE ONTO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD TO AVOID BEING HIT FROM BEHIND. THIS MINOR SPILLAGE OF HERBAL TEA DISTORTED MY SHIFTER RESULTING IN $788.25 WORTH OF DAMAGE. I WANT TO PETITION NHTSA TO INVESTIGATE WHAT I CONSIDER A SERIOUS DESIGN FLAW IN MY 2000 MERCEDES ML320. WHAT IF I HAD BEEN DRIVING ON A HIGHWAY AND THIS HAPPENED? *NM

RUST HAS FORMED ON BOTH THE LOWER PORTION OF THE UPPER RIGHT AND LEFT SIDE FENDERS WHERE FENDER BOLTS APPARENTLY ARE USED ON THE INSIDE OF THE FENDER TO CONNECT THE LOWER FENDER TO THE UPPER FENDER. THIS DEFECT HAS BEEN NOTICED ON SEVERAL OTHER 2000 AND 2001 ML'S BASED ON MY VISUAL EXAMINATION OF SUCH VEHICLES AT SEVERAL LOCAL MERCEDES BENZ DEALERS. M-B DEALER BODY SHOP MANAGER ALSO ACKNOWLEDGED SEEING THIS PROBLEM ON THIS MAKE AND TYPE OF VEHICLE. *JB

BAS/ESP LIGHT COMES ON, BRAKES ENGAGE, STEERING WHEEL TURNS TO THE RIGHT...HAPPENS AT SPEEDS 60 MPH AND HIGHER; CAR DIFFICULT TO CONTROL, NO WARNING--I HAVE USED TWO CATEGORY OPTIONS ON THE FORM, BUT I REALLY DO NOT KNOW WHICH OPTIONS TO CHOOSE TO DESCRIBE THE ABOVE PROBLEM...SUV HAS DONE THIS ON EXPRESSWAY DRIVING OVER AND OVER FOR THE PAST 6 YEARS....EACH TIME THE DEALER THINKS THEY HAVE FIXED THE PROBLEM....*NM

THE VEHICLE IS A 2000 ML 320 MADE BY MERCEDES. THE ENGINE JUST STOPPED. I WAS ON THE FREEWAY DRIVING 60 MPH WHEN THE ENGINE DIED. LUCKILY, WE WERE ABLE TO MOVE OVER TO A SAFE PLACE AND STOP THE CAR SAFELY. I CONSIDER THIS A VERY DANGEROUS FAILURE MODE. SINCE THE CAR WOULD NOT START, IT WAS TOWED TO SACRAMENTO MERCEDES. THE SECOND, AND PERHAPS MORE IMPORTANT, ISSUE IS THE WAY THE DEALER INSISTED ON DOCUMENTING THE PROBLEM. I TOLD THE DEALER THAT NO WARNING LIGHTS ILLUMINATED, ?THE ENGINE JUST STOPPED?. AFTER READING WHAT THE DEALER WROTE IN THEIR MAINTENANCE SYSTEM I TOLD THE DEALER THEY MUST HAVE MISHEARD ME. I REPEATED THAT NO WARNING LIGHTS WERE ON. THE DEALER THEN SAID THAT WHEN THEY STARTED THE CAR AND THE WARNING LIGHTS WERE ON AT THAT TIME. SINCE I LEFT THE DEALERSHIP, I CANNOT VERIFY WHETHER THEY STARTED THE CAR, OR NOT, AND IF IT STARTED WHETHER THE WARNING LIGHT WAS ON, OR NOT. I TOLD THE DEALER THEY COULD DOCUMENT THAT THEY OBSERVED A WARNING LIGHT, BUT THEY SHOULD NOT ERRONEOUSLY DOCUMENT THAT I STATED THE WARNING LIGHT WAS ON. HOWEVER, WHEN I PICKED UP THE CAR THE DOCUMENTATION CONTAINED BOTH STATEMENTS. I ASKED THEM TO REMOVE THE PORTION THAT I HAD STATED THE WARNING LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED AND THEY REFUSED. I HAVE TO BELIEVE THAT THEY HAVE BEEN ?TRAINED? TO FALSELY REPORT THESE PROBLEMS, PERHAPS TO AVOID PROBLEMS BEING BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF THE NHTSA. I THINK THIS IS POTENTIALLY FRAUDULENT AND SHOULD BE THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED. I WAS TOLD THE PROBLEM WAS A CRANK-ANGLE SENSOR. I WAS TOLD THAT I WAS PAYING 50% OF THE COST AND THE ?FACTORY? WAS TAKING CARE OF THE OTHER 50%. *AK

THIS IS EXPERIENCED BY MOST OF THE ML DRIVERS: WHILE DRIVING THE CAR, THE CAR JUST STOPS AND HERE IS WHAT MERCEDES SAID AND WHAT HAPPENS ACCORDING TO MB RESEARCH: THE GAS INSIDE SOME UNDERGROUND TANKS DISSOLVES THE PROTECTIVE LINER. THE LINER ENDS UP AS A GOOEY SUBSTANCE IN OUR TANKS. AS LONG AS THE PUMP IS RUNNING THERE IS NO PROBLEM. AFTER SHUTTING DOWN, THE SUBSTANCE HARDENS INSIDE THE PUMP AND FREEZES IT. HAVE SOMEONE HIT THE BOTTOM OF THE TANK WITH A BIG HAMMER WHILE SOMEONE ELSE IS STARTING UP AT THE SAME TIME AND MOST LIKELY YOU'LL GET THE VEHICLE RUNNING AGAIN - THEN DRIVE TO THE DEALER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO GET THE PUMP REPLACED. FROZEN PUMPS SENT FOR EVALUATION TO STUTTGART DID WORK WHEN THEY ARRIVED THERE WITHOUT THE PRESENCE OF GAS THE "GLUE" HAD HARDENED TO A POINT THAT IT GOT BRITTLE AND THE PUMPS WORKED AGAIN.*AK

A YEAR AGO I WAS TURNING A CORNER IN MY MERCEDES ML320 WHEN THE STEERING WHEEL "LOCKED." IT HAD LOST THE POWER STEERING FLUID AND FOR ME, THE WHEEL WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO TURN. I WAS TOLD THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE CLAMP. IT WAS UNDER WARRENTY AND REPAIRED AT SIMONSON MERCEDES, 1626 WILSHIRE BLVD, SANTA MONICA , CA 90403. ONE MONTH AND ONE THOUSAND MILES LATER THE SAME THING HAPPENED. THIS TIME I WAS TOLD THAT MERCEDES HAD SENT A MODIFIED CLAMP TO CORRECT A PROBLEM WITH THE ORIGIONAL HOSE CLAMP. APRIL 20, 2003, AT 30,000 MILES THE POWER STEERING FAILED AGAIN. I HAD IT TOWED INTO SIMONSON ON APRIL 21, 2003 AND HAVE REFUSED TO PICK IT UP EVEN THOUGH IT HAS BEEN "REPAIRED." I TOLD THE MANAGER THAT I FELT THIS WAS A LIFE THREATENING DEFECT THAT THEY HAD NOT BEEN ABLE TO FIX TWICE IN THE PAST. I ASKED THEM TO BUY BACK THE VEHICLE AND WAS TOLD SOMEONE FROM MERCEDES HIGHER UP WOULD CONTACT ME.