Mercedes BENZ S Class Reliability by YearBest & worst years, problems & recalls — NHTSA data

I purchased this car as a certified pre-owned vehicle from Mercedes Benz in December 2024 with 14,000 miles on the odometer. This vehicle has factory 21-inch AMG rims. Since that time, I have had to replace 5 tires on this vehicle, all from Mercedes Benz dealerships. I purchased an additional $2,000 tire insurance policy from Mercedes Benz due to this recurrent issue. Due to the size of this rim, these tires are extremely prone to blowing and flats. Furthermore, this vehicle does not come with a spare tire or even with a storage compartment which can accommodate a spare tire. I was under the impression that this is because Mercedes Benz equips these vehicles with run-flat tires, however I recently learned that Mercedes does not offer run-flat tires on the 21 inch rim, leaving customers with no choice to but have the vehicle towed each time a flat tire occurs. I have been stranded on the side of the road 3 times within the past 3 weeks alone. Other customers have experienced and reported similar issues with this vehicle.

I purchased this vehicle used at a dealer in Virginia. I drove it home to Chelsea Alabama, outside Birmingham. After a couple of days, my front right tire went flat. I took it to the dealer and they said the flat tire was caused by a cracked rim and required both to be replaced. Almost $3,000 for tire and rim. I continued to drive the car, maybe 4,000-5,000 miles and I had another tire go flat. This was the drivers side rear tire. This was a Pirelli 285/35 R20 run flat tire. Again when I took it to the dealer, this rim was cracked and also needed to be replaced along with the tire. $2,790. The car has 55,000 miles and is meticulously maintained. And I do not drive on rough roads. The dealer consistently states it was due to “hitting a pot hole” which a) is not the case in both these incidents, and b) a rim should not break from running into regular small imperfections in the road. I’ve been in the auto manufacturing business for 38 years and have never, ever had a rim fail, not once but twice in 4 months on the same vehicle. After investigating, this is happening all over. My feeling is the rim has not been sufficiently designed to support the weight of this vehicle. And now, every time I take the car out, I fear for my life and my families life. Frankly, the car is not safe because the rims can and will crack and split under regular driving conditions! This can cause a blowout and possible injury or death. This cost and the cost of my safety should be covered by Mercedes. They should replace these rims with stronger, more properly designed rims to ensure my families future safety!

I’ve had to replace six tires due to blowouts from hitting small potholes, something I’ve never experienced in the past 40 years of driving other vehicles! This seems to be a manufacturing defect in the vehicle, as the tires can’t support the weight of the car, and any pressure on them causes them to blow out. I’m now hesitant to drive long distances, fearing that one or more tires could blow out at any time. Without a spare tire in the trunk, I’m left stranded. Below are answers to your question: 1. The tires failed, yes they are available for inspection. Also have photos of the damaged tires. 2. The safety of myself and my passengers is at risk, as a tire blowout while driving at 55 mph could potentially cause the vehicle to lose control and result in a serious accident.. 3. The problem has been confirmed by an independent service center. 4. The vehicles tires have been inspected by an insurance representative and independent service center 5. NO

While on the freeway, going approximately 70 mph, the vehicles onboard cameras all failed and I got a warning that said “camera dirty/unavailable/traffic sign assist currently unavailable”. Because of this failure, I almost crashed the car in Front of me. I cleaned all the cameras. The message continues to appear. The dealer said “it’s a known malfunction with this particular model, based on the chip shortage, during Covid”. My car has 57000 miles and apparently several owners of this model, are experiencing the same issue. Dealer wants to charge $1,800.00 to fix a vehicle safety feature, that shouldn’t fail this soon.

The contact owns a 2021 Mercedes-Benz S580. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V704000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

The contact owns a 2021 Mercedes-Benz. The contact stated while driving at 10 MPH, the vehicle stalls until the contact engages the vehicle in sport mode. The vehicle was not taken to an independent mechanic or dealer for diagnosis or repairs. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure and a case was opened. The contact was relating the failure to  NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V704000 (ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING). The failure mileage was 20,700.

The contact owns a 2021 Mercedes-Benz S 580. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V704000(Engine and Engine Cooling); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the engine made an abnormal ticking sound. There was no warning light illuminated. The local dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 38,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

Every Mercedes Benz manufactured in 2021 has a defective hood lens which prevents the adaptive driver assistance system from working properly. You can have it on and it will work intermittently which can easily cause a major crash. Mercedes Benz says the part is not available in USA or Germany. Every Mercedes is affected. I’ve been waiting over 2 months for the part. My brother, who owns the same car, has been waiting over one month. It’s a major problem because the car is suppose to self drive on the highway and it’s not staying in lane because of this defective hood lens. Hey [XXX] , I apologize for the inconvenience. There have been a few S classes with a similar message to yours. We have to order the camera lens hoods for your vehicle, but they are in back order. We don't have one in stock in the USA or Germany. I could have you stop by the dealership and clean the camera lens hood to temporarily remove the message on the dashboard. I can also order the part while the vehicle is here, and we would have to wait a few months for the part to arrive. When do you have time to stop by the dealership for a few hours? --Karen Hubschmitt - Mercedes-Benz of Brooklyn Sent from my iPhone INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2021 Mercedes-Benz S580. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the "Camera System Unavailable" and "Camera Dirty" messages were displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was initially taken to a dealer where the contact was informed that the failure was caused by a bumper guard placed on the front license plate, rendering the driving assist sensor inoperable. Despite the removal of the bumper guard, the failure persisted. Recently, the contact received text from the dealer that stated that several other owners of the model year vehicle had experienced the same failure. The letter stated that a defective camera lens hood had caused the failure; however, the parts for the repair were on backorder. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000.

The contact owns a 2021 Mercedes-Benz S580. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V445000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

The contact owns a 2021 Mercedes-Benz S580. The contact stated that while driving at 50 MPH and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle inadvertently activated the Forward Collision Avoidance feature and briefly applied the brakes hard enough for the ABS to be activated. The contact stated that there were no objects near or around the vehicle. The vehicle returned to normal functionality but had since become a regular failure. The Forward Collision Avoidance warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 23,500.

Similar to recall campagn #2017020018 or 17V-078. My car may have a damaged steering column-mounted shift lever module. If the internal circuit board is damaged, moving the shift lever will not select a transmission gear. Both the auto-P function and automatic parking brake will continue to operate as intended and prevent the vehicle from moving forward or rearward. The problem could also be the Mercedes Benz Intelligent Servo Module(ISM) module installed on the transmission side. Brought my car to dealer to fix, the 1st time on 4/14/2023 they simply replaced 48V battery. Today 6/19/2023, the same issue happens again.

I have had one tire blow out after traveling over a moderate pot hole, and 3 other tires that have been damaged with "bubbles" due to excessive stress from normal driving. In addition to the damaged tires, I have had 3 bent wheels all due to normal driving because the 21 inch wheels/tires on this vehicle cannot tolerate the loads during normal driving. This is a well-known defect by Mercedes and I believe it is a design defect and that it is dangerous.

Driving on highway at about 50 mph when the brakes suddenly slammed on and brought car to a sudden, near stop. The stop was so sudden our seatbelts engaged and we thought we were struck in the rear by another car. Electrical module issues that cause battery to drain while vehicle is turned off have been ongoing since I purchased the car in October, 2021. Car has been in for service related to this problem 6 times and for over 60 days.