IGB

USE THE LINK PROVIDED BELOW TO CHECK YOUR VIN NUMBER TO ESTABLISH WHETHER YOUR VEHICLE IS INCLUDED IN THIS RECALL OR NOT


Your vehicle may be involved in a safety recall and may create a safety risk for you or your passengers. Safety defects must be repaired by a dealer at no cost to you. However, if left unrepaired, a potential safety defect in your vehicle could lead to injury or even death. Read this entire email to find out more and learn what you should do next.

What is a recall?
When a manufacturer or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) determines that a car or item of motor vehicle equipment creates an unreasonable risk to safety or fails to meet minimum safety standards, the manufacturer is required to fix that car or equipment at no cost to the consumer. That can be done by repairing it, replacing it, offering a refund (for equipment) or, in rare cases, repurchasing the car.

Why am I getting this email?
You are receiving this message because you requested to be notified by NHTSA if there is a safety recall that may affect your vehicle.

The following recall may apply to one or more of your vehicles if your vehicle is listed below. Click on the NHTSA Campaign ID number below to read more about the safety issue and the reason for the recall.

To find out if your vehicle is included in the recall, use our VIN Look-up Tool.

NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 15V711
Manufacturer : Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC.
Make / Model Years : MERCEDES BENZ / 2008-2010
Subject : Air Bag Control Unit may Corrode and Malfunction

What should I do if my vehicle is included in this recall?
If your vehicle is included in this recall, it is very important that you get it fixed as soon as possible given the potential danger to you and your passengers if it is not addressed. You should receive a separate letter in the mail from the vehicle manufacturer, notifying you of the recall and explaining when the remedy will be available, whom to contact to repair your vehicle or equipment, and to remind you that the repair will be done at no charge to you. If you believe your vehicle is included in the recall, but you do not receive a letter in the mail from the vehicle manufacturer, please call NHTSA's Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236 or contact your vehicle manufacturer or dealership.

Thank you for your attention to this important safety matter and for your commitment to helping save lives on America's roadways.

Plutoe

Thank's

durandal

08 C350 here, but safecar shows no open recalls on my vin. I wonder if its in the system yet. Anyone show an open recall on their vin?

tivoboy

Neither this nor the mercedes benz USA site show mine for the recall. probably need a few extra days

Rodpwnz

No open recalls for my vehicle either

ibcrusn

Nothing shown yet for our 4/08 C350 either. I suspect the effected vehicles will be published within the 60 notice time period stated in the recall info.

C300Sport

Just got my recall notice in the mail but the necessary parts are not available yet for repair. There is a concern about corrosion on the SRS control unit so considering my car spends most of its life in a climate controlled garage, I hope mine is in good shape for now.

StrelingA

got mine today

vipsa

Got my letter today. What exactly are they replacing? The whole airbag unit? Both driver and passenger? What about the fact I have an AMG steering wheel, with the shorter airbag?

Carsy

Australian recall?

steven1888

got mines in the mail last week. waiting for another letter tell me to go in to get it replace when they have the parts ready

IGB

"Climate controlled" typically means some sort of temperature control keeping it within a particular range. This would have little to no effect on electrical terminal corroding or deteriorating. Instead, corrosion is typically caused by the contact between two type of metals. Often enough these two metals are copper and alloy.

In fact it is my understanding that this is the exact same thing that caused the taillight connectors to fail resulting in bulb out warnings on the dash and requiring that the connectors as well as the bulb carriers to be replaced.

The SRS system in its entirety performs a self test each and every time the vehicle is started. If any of its components were to corrode and not allow current to pass through as it should, you will get a warning to appear on your dash notifying of an SRS malfunction.

This is from the recall notice itself:

Carsy

Salt, pollution & moisture laden air can increase likelihood of corroding terminals.

A car being garaged is protected from these whilst there.

ickdeep

Got my letter in the mail a few days. Ran my VIN through the website its showing the active recall. Going to call my dealer tomorrow to see when they can do the recall service.

tivoboy

I went to dealer recently and they said they only were putting people on the list to contact when they got more info and parts.. so I think this is the awareness part of the campaign and not the remediation part?

Moore108

This is definitely a serious issue. My 09 c63 was totaled March 2014 going around 45mph when someone ran a light in front of me. 4 people in the car and air bags did not deploy.

C300Sport

Climate control has an effect on both humidity(summer/cooling) and evaporation rates(wetness or dampness during heating months). Considering this, a vehicle stored in a climate controlled environment will have less overall corrosion than one stored either outside or in a standard garage...unless of course auto collectors worldwide have been wrong for the better part of a century?

The taillight recall has to do with undersized wiring not being able to handle the electrical load and is not, at all, the same as the SRS Corrosion issue.

IGB

Actually, that is incorrect. The taillight recall had little to do with “undersized wiring” and everything to do with EXACTLY what I described...

Corroded terminals ---> increased resistance ---> generating excessive heat ---> causing the connector (which is part of the bulb holder to melt)!

From the recall notice described on page 3 of this NHTSA document: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...13008-8422.PDF

According to Mercedes, oxidation due to the use of dissimilar metals on the harness and bulb carrier electrical connectors can result in increased resistance and a subsequent dimming or loss of lighting function. The heat caused by the increased resistance/oxidation can also lead to the melting of the surrounding plastic, or in some cases, present a fire hazard.

If in any case, the wiring itself was replaced, this was due to the likelihood that the shielding on the ground wire had melted or became brittle, but NOT because of “undersized wiring” but due to corroded electrical connectors between the wiring harness and the bulb holder.

As for the air bag recall, and while the cause is different: a defect in the manufacturing of the metal used as contacts between air bag control unit/power supply and other SRS control components... The end result is the same: corroded electrical connectors and as a result, possible SRS/Air bag system failure.

But don't take my word for it, here… Quoting Mercedes Benz investigation results (which you can read about here: http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/acms/cs...5V711-9027.PDF (Quoting the bottom of page and continuing through to the next page):

Due to insufficient passivization in the production process of the power supply component of the control unit (ASIC), corrosion in the semiconductor material could lead to swelling of the separation layer in the semiconductor. Subsequently, electrical connections might be interrupted, which could lead to a failure of the ASIC component.

And so the main contributing factor is a defect in the materials used, lacking a sufficient amount of coating to protect them from not only extreme climate elements, but mainly from an element that is naturally abundant even in what you are describing as “climate controlled”. This element is oxygen which when it comes in contact with these unprotected terminals, will in turn get “oxidized”, resulting in a build up on the metal connector that not only causes them to swell, but it also reduces the conductivity of the connection, which may result in one or more parts of the airbag system failing its own self test (when the ignition is turned on), rendering that part of the system as inoperable.

No, no... auto collectors have been right all along.... But “auto collectors worldwide” do not keep their autos in climate control environments because those cars have defective electrical connectors. They do so to keep them away from temperature fluctuations, from harmful UV rays, from high humidity, from dust and debris that can scratch and cause swirling on paint… etc.

IGB

They can contribute... But in this case, it is the lack of protective coating, resulting in exposure to "oxygen", which in turn, causes "oxidization" which has been deemed as the main contributing factor!

IGB

The way the issue is described in the notice, and before it ends up causing the failure of air bags from being deployed, the notice is warning owners/drivers and if they happen to notice that the SRS light came on as a result of the system failing its own self test upon starting the ignition, they would be well advised to ensure the system is checked by a dealer for possible corroded terminals.

So when you had this accident, was your SRS light illuminated providing you with a warning that Ar Bags may not deploy?

If it was not illuminated, then that makes it a completely different matter than what this recall is about, and as such, you should report the case to Mercedes Benz and to the NHTSA (although my guess is that it is highly likely that your insurer noted and reported the lack of air bag deployment and at least looked into why).

Moore108

I don't believe the SRS light was illuminated at the time of the collision. But I do know the airbags should definitely have gone off. I'm working with someone now to figure out what went wrong.

IGB

I pray that everybody made it through OK.

In the likelihood that there were any medical payments that your insurer paid, it is quite possible they know whether the SRS light was on or not. May be even, possibly why the air bags did not deploy. It would be as simple as connecting to a code reader and reading SRS codes and when they were set. Because this would be an integral part in determining liability for injuries.

Your insurer would be a good place to start. They have a duty to keep you, their insured, informed of any developments and any results of their investigation, anything that relates to liability.

MaineSailor

I have an appointment to have the SRS control unit recall done next Tuesday. Can anybody tell me where exactly in the car this control unit is located? Anyone have a photo of what this thing looks like? Just like to have a better handle on where they will be working. Thanks!

JohnnyC300

I am currently suddenly seeing TWO open recalls for my 09 C300 4matic.

Recall Date: February 11, 2016
NHTSA Recall Number:16V081
Manufacturer Recall Number: 2016020003

is a new addition to Recall NHTSA Campaign ID Number : 15V711
mentioned in this post.

MaineSailor

Yes, there are two open recalls for our cars. Supposedly the second recall for the airbag itself is out of "an abundance of caution". We have not yet received "official" notification of the second recall from MB.