So here's the latest on Friday I made contact with the EPA to enforce the AEM for the GL. As we see on the EPA site the ML and GL are in the same group however mbusa pushed us back. Feel free to start emailing. I

Contact: for more information about the settlement

Kellie Ortega
ortega.kellie@epa.gov

Brianna Iddings
iddings.brianna@epa.gov

Gregory Orehowsky
orehowsky.gregory@epa.gov
cant wait to have my car fixed as I have a fully clogged DPF. Anyone dealing with baking or cleaning or even the starla replacement? IF it will be augest I need this car on the road in the meatime

The sad thing about this is that Mercedes submitted their "defeat devices" to EPA and CARB for approval in 2010 - 2015, and they were approved.
For those of you interested, there are essentially two "devices" - and all cars have them.
The first is a warm-up bypass, which is active until the catalyst heats up enough to become effective. As I said, all cars have this, and EPA/CARB approved the time they were in effect, just as they did for all manufacturers.
The second is an emergency condition. I don't know all the parameters, but it protects the engine if it looses coolant or other such abnormal conditions. They are legal and present on all cars, and, again, specifically approved by EPA/CARB.
It sure looks like Political Pressure caused EPA to change their approvals and bow to the Ambulance Chasers, or maybe to Congressional Interference, more likely to protect their donor base than to protect the environment.
Sorry state of affairs.

And yes, I could be part of the Suit, but I just do not endorse the Greed from a set of lawyers.

I got the notice in the mail today and it leads me to a stupid question: Is there any information about what is entailed in the AEM and in what state does the vehicle need to be in order to get the no-charge AEM performed?

I just got my crankshaft back from the machine shop and my bearings are on-order so I can get my OM642 - der Scheßmotor! - rebuilt. But for a little while I was in a "part the berkleyer out" phase and wound up sort of selling my DPF.... Before I heard about this settlement, I planned to just delete the EGR, swirls, and DPF, but the settlement amount just might be enough to cover my rebuilding costs! Especially if the previous owner(s) doesn't/don't submit a claim. (And if any of them are reading right now... don't even think about it!) I'm assuming that if I go in there with a bit of stainless pipe where the DPF used to be and an eastern European tuner's fingerprints all over my ECU, they're going to want to go spelunking in my wallet to bring me back to "spec" before they start applying any sort of free fixes.

This morning I received an email from the law firm managing the Bluetec settlement indicating the AEM is now available for the X164 GL350.

I called the dealer to make an appointment for the update, and predictably they don't show it as available for my truck when they run my VIN on their internal systems. The service advisor is doing some homework to see what's happening on their side.

Has anyone had success scheduling the AEM update with their dealer yet?


United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
In re Mercedes-Benz Emissions Litigation, 16-cv-881 (KM) (ESK) If You Are a Current Owner or Lessee of a Mercedes-Benz or Sprinter BlueTEC II Diesel Vehicle, You May Be Eligible for a CASH PAYMENT of up to $3,515 or more from Class Action Settlements An Approved Emission Modification (“AEM”) is Now Available for Installation You are receiving this Notice because you registered to receive updates relating to the MB BlueTEC Settlements An AEM is available at no charge to you for a Mercedes-Benz or Sprinter diesel vehicle (including both Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner-branded Sprinter diesel vehicles) that you may currently own or lease, as part of Daimler AG’s and Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC’s settlement with federal regulators and the State of California.

AEMs are available now for the Subject Vehicles listed on the Settlement Website, mbbluetecsettlement.com, where you can type in your VIN or review a list of all Subject Vehicle models that are ready for the AEM installation. You may also call 1-877-313-0170 toll-free to find out whether an AEM is available for your Subject Vehicle.

If you install the AEM, you will also receive an extended warranty. The Consumer Emission Modification Disclosure, which is available at mbbluetecsettlement.com, contains more details about the AEM and the extended warranty.

Under related Class Action Settlements,1 you may be entitled to a cash payment of up to $3,515 if you get the AEM installed in your vehicle, or up to $2,636.25 if you get the AEM installed in your vehicle and a former owner or lessee submitted a Valid Claim for the same vehicle. You may also be eligible for additional payments described in more detail at mbbluetecsettlement.com.

To claim the cash payment, you must submit a Valid Claim by the deadline in this Notice. If you are a current owner or lessee of a registered BlueTEC II diesel vehicle listed on mbbluetecsettlement.com, and have not opted-out from the Class, you may be eligible for a payment after the AEM installation is completed. To receive a payment, submit a Claim Form and all required documents by October 1, 2022. Here are the steps to receive a payment:

1. Contact your preferred authorized dealership to schedule an appointment to have the AEM installed. AEMs will be installed at no cost to you. Authorized Mercedes-Benz dealerships can be found at mbusa.com/en/dealers. Authorized Freightliner Sprinter dealerships can be found at freightlinersprinterusa.com/freightliner/shopping-tools/find-a-dealer.

1. Bring your vehicle to your appointment for the installation of the AEM. You must complete the AEM installation before you submit a claim. Make sure to keep your repair order to submit with your claim, as well as receipts for any travel to and from the dealership for the AEM installation. If your appointment takes three hours or more and you are not offered a loaner vehicle, shuttle, or alternative form of transportation, you may be eligible to receive reimbursement up to $35 for travel expenses.

1. Submit a valid Claim Form and all required documents by October 1, 2022 at mbbluetecsettlement.com or mail (postmarked by October 1, 2022) to:
   MB Blue Tec Settlement
   c/o JND Legal Administration
   PO Box 91310
   Seattle, WA 98111

1 The “Class Action Settlements” are the class settlements with the Mercedes Defendants (the “Mercedes Class Action Settlement”) and with the Bosch Defendants (the “Bosch Class Action Settlement”), copies of which are available at mbbluetecsettlement.com. All capitalized terms not defined in this Notice are defined in the Class Action Settlements. You may have previously received a notice of the Class Action Settlements. This is a supplemental notice sent to let you know that an AEM for your vehicle is now available at no charge to you and that you should have the AEM installed and file a claim for a cash payment. United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
In re Mercedes-Benz Emissions Litigation, 16-cv-881 (KM) (ESK) If You Are a Current Owner or Lessee of a Mercedes-Benz or Sprinter BlueTEC II Diesel Vehicle, You May Be Eligible for a CASH PAYMENT of up to $3,515 or more from Class Action Settlements An Approved Emission Modification (“AEM”) is Now Available for Installation You are receiving this Notice because you registered to receive updates relating to the MB BlueTEC Settlements An AEM is available at no charge to you for a Mercedes-Benz or Sprinter diesel vehicle (including both Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner-branded Sprinter diesel vehicles) that you may currently own or lease, as part of Daimler AG’s and Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC’s settlement with federal regulators and the State of California.

AEMs are available now for the Subject Vehicles listed on the Settlement Website, mbbluetecsettlement.com, where you can type in your VIN or review a list of all Subject Vehicle models that are ready for the AEM installation. You may also call 1-877-313-0170 toll-free to find out whether an AEM is available for your Subject Vehicle.

If you install the AEM, you will also receive an extended warranty. The Consumer Emission Modification Disclosure, which is available at mbbluetecsettlement.com, contains more details about the AEM and the extended warranty.

Under related Class Action Settlements,1 you may be entitled to a cash payment of up to $3,515 if you get the AEM installed in your vehicle, or up to $2,636.25 if you get the AEM installed in your vehicle and a former owner or lessee submitted a Valid Claim for the same vehicle. You may also be eligible for additional payments described in more detail at mbbluetecsettlement.com. HOW CAN I GET A PAYMENT? To claim the cash payment, you must submit a Valid Claim by the deadline in this Notice. If you are a current owner or lessee of a registered BlueTEC II diesel vehicle listed on mbbluetecsettlement.com, and have not opted-out from the Class, you may be eligible for a payment after the AEM installation is completed. To receive a payment, submit a Claim Form and all required documents by October 1, 2022. Here are the steps to receive a payment:

I haven’t received my email notice for my 2012 GL350 but I’m hopeful it will be soon. Thank you for the update for Central California!

I spoke with my service advisor. He said to call back in January or February - while they are generally aware of the AEM, they have no parts for most vehicles that were already covered, much less the brand-new-to-the-program X164. He also said to expect it to be a 2 or 3-day procedure once they do have parts. He also said the good news is having this done re-warranties the whole emissions system, including notoriously failure-prone components such as the DEF heater and the diesel particulate filter - and they have already done multiple fixes of said components under the updated warranty for vehicles previously included in the AEM program. The message being, if you are having any problems with any of your emissions-related components, don't fix them, get the AEM, and then get them fixed on Mercedes dime under your new warranty.

If you are wanting to get this done in the immediate future, I would suggest getting your appointment on the books. Aside from the AEM, I had to wait almost 3-months for my 80k service. This was due to lack of appointments and the first availability of a loaner vehicle. I have heard that a lot of the dealers are running into the same situation. I'll be calling in May to make my August appointment for the AEM to be completed.

Has anyone else with X164 gotten this notification email? I’m registered and have been watching my inbox but got nothing?

I see you say you're registered, but it's not clear with who. I had registered my email address with both MBUSA and with the lawfirm that's behind the settlement - the registration with the lawfirm is probably why I got this email. If you mean you had registered only with MBUSA then that would explain why you haven't seen anything yet.

Here is a link to the law firm's settlement page -> https://www.mbbluetecsettlement.com/

Here is the VIN checker on the MBUSA Website -> https://bluetecupdate.mbusa.com/home

Running my VIN through the MBUSA Checker shows that Mercedes has not updated their systems yet to acknowledge the AEM is now available for my truck. I also have not received an email from MBUSA about the AEM.

4JGBF2FEXBA717892 2011 Mercedes-Benz GL350 4MATIC Status
Vehicle (VIN) Eligible for Emissions Modification? Yes
Emissions Modification Approved by EPA and CARB? Pending Expected 4th Quarter 2021

Hello from CenCal.. I too am registered with MBUSA and with the law firm who has settled its lawsuit.
I own a 2012 GL350 and today, 12/24/2021 I entered my vehicle identification number on their website and was advised:
2012 Mercedes-Benz GL350 BLUETEC 4MATIC
Status
Vehicle (VIN) Eligible for Emissions Modification?
Yes
Emissions Modification Approved by EPA and CARB?
Pending Expected 4thQuarter 2021
Im assuming this will now enter into 2022 for repair and check distribution?

yes that's correct.

Small update: I entered my 2009 GL320 VIN into the site yesterday, and the message was updated to say the AEM was approved and expected on 1/13/2022, which is just a few days away. Maybe we're getting closer to this happening for the next batch of vehicles.

I too entered my Vin# and discovered the AEM for my 2012 GL350 is expected 01/13/2022. Hopefully this is accurate and after completion, I hope the compensation payments are swift.
We will see but I won’t hold my breath! One this is completed, I am purchasing a new GLE.

Mercedes Benz of Denver scheduled an appointment for me today, so it looks like this is actually happening. The service advisor said it would take 2 to 3 days to complete the work. I hope mine isn't the first one that they do. I want to get it under the Extended Warranty ASAP. I just hope they don't break something else when they're in there "fixing" it. Wish me (all of us) luck!

Is Mercedes offering you a loaner or rental car for the down time? I was told by my Mercedes dealership they wouldn’t provide for a loaner or rental car and I could submit a receipt for reimbursement fup to $35.00 total.

One dealer (MB of Littleton) refused to offer a loaner. However, MB of Denver did offer a loaner. I guess it's up to the dealer. My opinion is that if it's going to take 2+ days, you should be able to get a loaner, as they're probably billing Mercedes corporate for thousands of dollars for the labor part of the work. You'll probably have to shop around and see. MB of Denver was three weeks out if I wanted a loaner, as they could do it immediately without a loaner. However, I wanted to give them a few weeks time, hoping they could use someone else as a guinea pig.

Was this because you wanted the update performed immediately and didn't wait until a loaner vehicle appointment? If they flat out refused, I would refer them to the MBUSA webpage for the settlement which states...

(6) Can an Owner/Lessee get a loaner vehicle or alternate transportation while the Emission Modification is being performed?

Where loaner vehicles are available, authorized Mercedes-Benz Dealers are requested to offer loaner vehicles to each Eligible Owner/Lessee at no cost where the implementation of the Approved Emission Modification will take 3 hours or longer to complete.
I'm surprised the wait is only 3-weeks. Parts must be coming in more frequently now. I had to wait over a month for both CEL service and then again for Preventative Maintenance. I'd call Mercedes of Littleton out on this or not use them for service going forward. Direct them to MBUSA website which states...

(6) Can an Owner/Lessee get a loaner vehicle or alternate transportation while the Emission Modification is being performed?

Where loaner vehicles are available, authorized Mercedes-Benz Dealers are requested to offer loaner vehicles to each Eligible Owner/Lessee at no cost where the implementation of the Approved Emission Modification will take 3 hours or longer to complete.

92stealthes,
I was advised by my area Mercedes dealership they would not provide a loaner car or a rental car. I called a Bay Area of California service department numerous times (6) and where I bought my 2012 GL350 originally but no call back.
I called the law firm handling this case and I was referred to a statement in the settlement “ Make sure to keep your repair order to submit with your claim, as well as receipts for any travel to and from the dealership for the AEM installation. If your appointment takes three hours or more and you are not offered a loaner vehicle, shuttle, or alternative form of transportation, you may be eligible to receive reimbursement up to $35 for travel expenses”.
Where in any paperwork did you find on the Mercedes settlement site to contact a dealership willing to provide a loaner?
Thank

I doubt that MB of Littleton "refused to offer" a loaner. I use them because of their great service and good communication with Customers. It's more likely that they offered you a loaner if you would make an appoint where they could Guarantee an equivalent loaner car. I think they manage their loaners better than most. As you say, MB Denver offered the same arrangement.

All dealers are stressed for loaner vehicles, since they come from available (almost nonexistent) inventory. It's reasonable (IMO) to ask you to schedule your appointment in order to provide you with a specific loaner car.

I had to wait a couple of weeks to schedule an equivalent loaner car for a B Service, although I could have taken one of their GLB's right away.

I was able to schedule the AEM repair for my 2012 GL350 in February at my Bay Area Mercedes dealership. My question is, what are the repairs that need to be completed during this 2-3 day service?
Thanks

From the MB USA website... https://bluetecupdate.mbusa.com/faq

(6) Can an Owner/Lessee get a loaner vehicle or alternate transportation while the Emission Modification is being performed?

Where loaner vehicles are available, authorized Mercedes-Benz Dealers are requested to offer loaner vehicles to each Eligible Owner/Lessee at no cost where the implementation of the Approved Emission Modification will take 3 hours or longer to complete.


From the settlement website... https://www.mbbluetecsettlement.com/faq#q-22

The Mercedes Class Action Settlement provides that Eligible Current Owners/Lessees may be able to reserve a loaner car, shuttle service, or other alternative transportation through their authorized dealership, free of charge, if the installation of the AEM will take three hours or longer to complete and if loaner cars are available. In the event a loaner car, shuttle service, or other alternative transportation is not made available by the authorized dealership when the AEM installation takes three hours or longer to complete, under the Mercedes Class Action Settlement Eligible Current Owners/Lessees may submit a claim for transportation costs incurred, up to $35 but must submit a receipt detailing such costs (see FAQ 22).

So, if the dealership is going off the settlement website and not MBUSA, it looks like they may be able to force you to rent your own car through the way the phrased it. Looks like that would be a dealer I wouldn't want to do business with going forward; especially if they were a dealer where I had previously paid for service. The verbiage also states that you should get a loaner or other alternative transportation "free of charge," but you can only submit a $35 dollar claim. Where can you get a rental car for 3-days for $35? Where can you get a single day rental car for $35?

From the MBUSA website... https://bluetecupdate.mbusa.com/cont...ED%20(002).pdf

As described above, your authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer will install the emission modification that updates the emission control system software on your vehicle and involves an exchange of certain components— specifically, the Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC), Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF), SCR catalyst, NOx sensors, DEF injector, Crankcase ventilation valve, Charge air distribution lines and transverse tube, Intake port shut-off actuator, Clean air duct with mass air flow sensors, EGR valve, EGR cooler, EGR line/duct, and the Engine Control Unit.

According to EPA Website... https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/daim...#vehiclerepair

• Software Update
• New NOx sensors (TT3)
• New ECU
• New copper catalyst, DOC, DPF
• New DEF Injector
• New Crankcase Ventilation Valve (including line and heating element)
• New Left and Right Charge Air Distribution Line/Intake Manifold (incl. Intake Port Shutoff Linkage)
• New Charge Air Distribution Line Transverse Tube
• New Intake Port Shut-Off Actuator
• New Clean Air Duct with Mass Air Flow Sensors
• New EGR Valve (Actuator), EGR Cooler, and EGR Line(s)
• Lambda sensor

Thank you for the break down of the modifications that will be performed. Not being mechanical by any means does the “AEM” require any tear down of the upper or lower half of the engine?

Oh wow, some how I was under the impression they were just changing the NOx sensors. This is fairly extensive. It’s been a couple years since I did my oil cooler seals, I wonder if I could just make an arrangement for them to redo them while they have everything disassembled on MB dime?

I have my appointment set for the Jan 26, and seeing all the things they will be removing to perform this service; realize I have a provent 200 oil catch can setup installed. I honestly have never dealt with new car dealerships for vehicle service, so asking how do they handle modifications? Do I need to pull it out and install the normal engine crankcase vent valve before bringing it into them?

Yes. Upper.

I reached out to my service advisor at Autobahn Motors yesterday- they slotted an appointment with a loaner vehicle for Feb 14, about 3 weeks out. He thinks the AEM installation will take up to a week!

Given how extensive the repair is, I'm very surprised Mercedes isn't offering a buyout option. $4,000 payment + price of parts + their cost for labor must total up to at least $10k.

I too made an appointment at my Northern California dealership for the AEM repair in early February and was advised a loaner vehicle was on a first come first served basis so I made my appointment at 7:45AM. I am also surprised Mercedes didn’t offer a buy back program on my 2012 GL350 since the cost of the repair is expensive and would be a great incentive to keep loyal customers from jumping ship to Volvo or Lexus.