URGENT: NHTSA Opens investigation into fuel leaks on the W211 E Class

[AMG903L]

I was at my local dealership getting a part for my front seat ($128 bolt ) and decided to ask about my 04 E55 gas leak. The service manager said that it wasn't under any recall and that I should bring it in to have them see what is leaking. I told him I knew all about the current recall investigation and that only a new tank and both sending units would fix it. He offered to pay for 50% of the $2000 repair. After a few more minutes of talking about lawsuits and the news media he offered to pay for 75%. I might pay 25% just to get my car safe and hope I get my money back from a lawsuit or recall. He said the new orange top sending units they are using now are known to leak too and they might have to re-engineer everything again. I also sent a complaint to the EPA to see if they want to get involved.

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[Matt O'Brien]

As discussed on the forum about my E230 fuel tank leak in Australia, I have had the car into the Dealer and MB have replaced the tank and labour for free, my car is well out of warranty and is one of the very early W211, being built in Oct 2002 and done very high mileage. I would believe that MB have recognised the problem with the tanks and are on the path to rectification.

[AMG903L]

Originally Posted by Matt O'Brien

As discussed on the forum about my E230 fuel tank leak in Australia, I have had the car into the Dealer and MB have replaced the tank and labour for free, my car is well out of warranty and is one of the very early W211, being built in Oct 2002 and done very high mileage. I would believe that MB have recognised the problem with the tanks and are on the path to rectification.

It's only been nine years. They must be on the long path.

[bernard farquar]

My 2003 e320 has the symptoms described. Occasionally upon filling the tank, or after a fast sweeping right turn (on ramp) I will get the fuel smell.

2002 aug. build date. 95k miles.

[Flash Gordon]

Originally Posted by bernard farquar

My 2003 e320 has the symptoms described. Occasionally upon filling the tank, or after a fast sweeping right turn (on ramp) I will get the fuel smell.

2002 aug. build date. 95k miles.

Have you filed a complaint with NHTSA? If not, I'd suggest you filed one and it would make the case stronger. The link to file the complaint is on the first page of this thread

[gaazmon]

interesting thing i noticed. i let the car get below 1/4 tank this weekend and decided to see if the smell comes back when that low and yup today with 3 to 2 bars remaining the car started giving off a gas odor quite badly that someone next to me in a parking lot warned me after he smelled it too.

filled up the tank today and the gas nozzle clicked but the fuel gauge was just above 3/4's as it will not fill up all the way any more the car.

i just wanna this thing

[kensiko]

Has this affected EVERYONE with a W211?

If it hasnt, is it reasonable to expect that it will, that its just a matter of time?

Im thinking about buying a 2007 E350.

[moosejaw]

Update......
http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...01&docType=INV

Hit the link and you will see the new response from MBUSA as of this morning.

As usual MBUSA is denying any wrong doing.
Basically the manufacturer's attorney is claiming the issue is present due to the dealer or independent Mercedes repair centers fixing gas tanks improperly.

Another argument is the small amount of complaints vs. vehicles produced.
Excuse me but one or two cars leaking gas fumes is just too much.

In any event it looks like Mercedes will not be voluntarily issuing a recall.
When i talked the the engineer at NHTSA, he was a tad bit surprised at their response.
But I'm sure he's hear excuses like that before.

If you haven't had filed a complaint, please file right away.
If you need help i will be willing to walk you through it.
One of Mercedes strong arguments is there is not enough complaints registered vs. actual W211 E Class production. It's a low percentage.

[Craftysince86]

so is the claim now closed and it will be re opened upon more claims being filed?

[vettdvr]

Originally Posted by Craftysince86

so is the claim now closed and it will be re opened upon more claims being filed?

Don't hold your breath. Remember the runaway Toyota's. Only after a family called in on cell before crash did anyone pay attention.

MB will have to burn first I guess to get action but only if you call it in first.

[moosejaw]

Case is still open
It has not closed

In my preliminary talks with the NHTSA
They indicated to me that this would not go away

[Kwijibo]

Originally Posted by moosejaw

Case is still open
It has not closed

In my preliminary talks with the NHTSA
They indicated to me that this would not go away

I have also filed a claim. 2007 E550 4matic, I have strong gasoline odor from the driver's-side wheel well after filling the tank. I don't top-off, I always stop at the first click. The odor is very obvious once parked in an enclosed garage.

From reading MB's response, they claimed there is low risk of ignition from any leaked fuel, either because any leaked fuel is contained in a depression on top of the tank, or because any object in the vicinity of leaked fuel is not hot enough to cause ignition. But what about accumulated vapors in an enclosed area? Surely that is a risk.

There is an additional avenue to explore. If this isn't a "safety" issue because of a low probabilty of ignition, can it instead be framed as an evaporative emissions issue?

There are lots of reasons why reported instances are low compared to the population--perhaps owners have been simply fixing the problems out-of-pocket without pursuing manufacturer involvement.

In general, MB's initial response to the NHTSA inquiry is exactly what should be expected--a standard legal response is to deny all allegations and assert that there is no valid claim.

[gaazmon]

Originally Posted by vettdvr

Don't hold your breath. Remember the runaway Toyota's. Only after a family called in on cell before crash did anyone pay attention.

MB will have to burn first I guess to get action but only if you call it in first.

Unfortunately, that means someones car blowing up on the road and being on the news

Originally Posted by moosejaw

Case is still open
It has not closed

In my preliminary talks with the NHTSA
They indicated to me that this would not go away

i would hope not. this is a very serious issue. again, for the first time since this problem showed up i let the fuel drop to about 2 to 3 bars on the fuel gauge and the smell was ridiculous and very very noticeable from outside the car (worse than when the tank is above 3/4's).

i figured they would cover the e55's (and 63's) at first since 1) that's where the bulk of the problems are showing up, 2) they already had a recall for e55's that was not effective, and 3) the volume of e55's/63's out there vs non-amg E-classes is very small.

i wonder if it has anything to do with the fuel consumption of the cars. i mean the e55's/63's do use/burn more fuel (meaning more fuel going through the tank) than say e500's/550's and e320's/350's (maybe that's the reason being you don't hear of as many e500's/550's and barely any e320's/350's (except me of course what else is new lol )). then the ethanol issue would kind of make sense since more amounts of ethanol have gone through the tank and deteriorated it.

[Flash Gordon]

If you are a member of this forum and a E owner, you should file a complaint. Why, I had no issue with gas fume until recently. Your E will experience gas fume and it is just a matter of time due to the design fault of MB.

[moosejaw]

Originally Posted by gaazmon

i wonder if it has anything to do with the fuel consumption of the cars. i mean the e55's/63's do use/burn more fuel (meaning more fuel going through the tank) than say e500's/550's and e320's/350's (maybe that's the reason being you don't hear of as many e500's/550's and barely any e320's/350's (except me of course what else is new lol )). then the ethanol issue would kind of make sense since more amounts of ethanol have gone through the tank and deteriorated it.

I have the opinion the leak is due to the ethanol content in our gasoline.
I have seen reports from other countries such as Australia where the E also has this problem. Australia also has 10% ethanol like us. Now in countries where I have not seen this problem, ie.Germany and Canada (which do not have ethanol in their premium gasoline), they do not have this problem.

This issue has filtered down the C55 as well.

[gaazmon]

Originally Posted by moosejaw

I have the opinion the leak is due to the ethanol content in our gasoline.
I have seen reports from other countries such as Australia where the E also has this problem. Australia also has 10% ethanol like us. Now in countries where I have not seen this problem, ie.Germany and Canada (which do not have ethanol in their premium gasoline), they do not have this problem.

This issue has filtered down the C55 as well.

i agree with you i'm thinking the same thing. ethanol is known to damage plastic and rubber fuel system components.

interesting thing about australia, i was in sydney for about three weeks in march staying with a cousin of mine and his family. i remember when going to some of the gas stations they had E10 91 (instead of regular 91, which is there regular gas, he said). i asked him what E10 meant and he said it's got 10% ethanol and said how he always tells his kids never to use it since it will ruin the cars (he's a mechanic out there) even though they all drive newer cars (MY2007+).

the c55's as well??? jeez this is becoming really bad. at first i thought it was only to the prefacelift E's, now it's even gone further than just the E/CLS platform cars

[03'55AMG]

With my luck, I'll fill up till the pump clicks on a cold night, and park in my garage which is always heated to 80 degrees. Then the gas will expand and the furnace will kick on it's 6 burners, and the fumes will blow up my entire 3 car garage, my MB, and everything within a 100 foot radius. Although it'd be a damn shame, I bet the NHTSA WOULD do something to get a damn recall issued on all the W211s. Why is it so hard for Mercedes to bite the bullet and shell out the damn recall?

[triggr]

I too am having this issue. I noticed a strong gas smell coming from my car after filling the fuel tank starting in the fall of 2011. I did not worry too much about it because the smell would go away after driving the car for about 50 miles. At the urging of my wife, I took it to Mercedes of Denver to have them to investigate. (They tried to charge me $125 to "investigate" the issue, but when I found the NHTSA investigation about this problem, I successfully got them to remove the charge.) They told me I that the car had a crack at the top of the fuel tank and that the repairs would be $2000, or they could "discount" it for $1800. After further discussion with the Service Rep about the issue, he was clear that there was no recall and that that was the best he could do. I delayed repairs due to the large expense, but I am not feeling great about driving an unsafe car!

[willy_manilly]

A W211 exploded in Australia last week killing the driver and the kids he had in the car, they believe it was caused by a problem with the fuel tank or a fuel leakage, maybe this has something to do with this fault?

Don't quote me on this one, i only glanced over the article.

[vettdvr]

Originally Posted by willy_manilly

A W211 exploded in Australia last week killing the driver and the kids he had in the car, they believe it was caused by a problem with the fuel tank or a fuel leakage, maybe this has something to do with this fault?

Don't quote me on this one, i only glanced over the article.

It was a matter of time only with fuel leaking IN the car. NTSA doesn't use out of country data.

Could not possibly be ethanol, all the politicians tell use it works and not a problem. SO there issue solved not ethanol politicians say so!.

Unfortunately engineers don't say the same thing but who listens to an engineer anyway.

[Flash Gordon]

Originally Posted by willy_manilly

A W211 exploded in Australia last week killing the driver and the kids he had in the car, they believe it was caused by a problem with the fuel tank or a fuel leakage, maybe this has something to do with this fault?

Don't quote me on this one, i only glanced over the article.

Can you please furnish us more detail regarding this sad incident. Perhaps Moosejaw can provide the info to his contact at NTSA even though this did not happen in the US, but it certainly would help the case. Many thanks in advance.

[gaazmon]

Originally Posted by willy_manilly

A W211 exploded in Australia last week killing the driver and the kids he had in the car, they believe it was caused by a problem with the fuel tank or a fuel leakage, maybe this has something to do with this fault?

Don't quote me on this one, i only glanced over the article.

HOLY CRAP!!! that's horrible. If the article was online please provide the link for all of us as well. The NHTSA needs to see that.

[AMG903L]

http://www.news.com.au/national/fear...-1226346095934

DailyTelegraph

TOTALLY INCINERATED: Horror car smash victims had no chance

From: DailyTelegraph
May 03, 2012
A FIERY crash has claimed three lives and left investigators baffled at its cause.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/new...-1226346095934

[willy_manilly]

Ahh ok, sorry I was wrong, the car smashed into a pole then exploded due to ruptured fuel tank.

Not a great ad for Mercedes

[gaazmon]

Originally Posted by willy_manilly

Ahh ok, sorry I was wrong, the car smashed into a pole then exploded due to ruptured fuel tank.

Not a great ad for Mercedes

Still says "It is believed the power line ignited a ruptured fuel tank" so ya if the fuel tank didn't have a leak it wouldn't have caught fire the way it did.