Mercedes announced yesterday they settled their "dieselgate" litigation in the USA for $2.2 billion. GL350 owners are impacted.

According to the articles I read, Mercedes is supposed to apply a "fix" to our GL350s. I fear this means reduced fuel economy and/or performance, and it's not clear if it's a software or a hardware fix.
Owners of GL350's will also receive a one-time payment of $3,290 as part of a separate class-action settlement.

Of course, the folks who make out the best are the lawyers and the state of California - each who gets hundreds of millions. Audi Q7 TDI owners got closer to $10k - so this doesn't seem like a great deal to me.

Mercedes also celebrated that the settlement means they don't have to buy back the vehicles.

Here is a news story about both settlements
https://www.sfchronicle.com/business...5-15566275.php

Here is a press release from the class action law firm about how to register for the fix and for your $3,290.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/ho...ails-Announced

Here is the website, currently under construction, where you will register for both the fix and your piece of the settlement
https://www.mbbluetecsettlement.com/

The OM642 diesel motor has been a complete disaster for me - not just these emissions issues but also just terrible reliability with expensive fixes - about $30k worth, all covered under factory, extended and 3rd party warranties in my case, so far for my GL350. Oil cooler seals twice, timing chain, turbo, DEF heater, oil pump, etc etc etc etc.

 

They got off really easy. Should have to buy the diesels back like VW.

 

Having owned my 2012 GL350 since new with 81,000 miles, I wonder if the effected owners will be contacted by Mercedes directly or from the law firm representing all qualified owners and what paperwork will need to be completed to be reimbursed from the lawsuit?

 

For sure you eventually will be able to register on the class action lawsuit which I linked to above. Assuming the judge approves the settlement, I would expect we will all receive communications from Mercedes-Benz USA explaining that we need to bring our trucks in for service and pointing us to the website to register to get our settlement dollars. I would guess it will look a lot like the takata airbag recall letter, where they will let you know that you eventually will have to come in and then once they have a fix you will be able to schedule it. It's also possible Mercedes will not develop a fix, if this is the case then they will owe you more money than the amount I quoted above...

 

9/16/20: CASE UPDATE -- PRELIMINARY APPROVAL GRANTED
On September 16, 2020, the court entered an order granting preliminary approval of the class action settlement with Mercedes. The final approval hearing will be on January 25, 2021. You should receive a notice of settlement soon via mail and email. The full details of the settlement will also be available at http://www.mbbluetecsettlement.com/.

In the coming weeks, there will be a Settlement Website (www.mbbluetecsettlement.com) with further information about the settlement, as well as updates about the deadline to submit your claim.

To obtain a payment under the settlement, eligible former owners/lessees must submit a complete claim by the later of 75 days after today’s date, or the date the Court finally approves the settlement.

Current owners/lessees must have the AEM installed and submit a claim by October 1, 2022 in order to be eligible to receive money. AEMs will become available on a rolling basis after Mercedes’ separate settlement with U.S. authorities is approved; please continue to check the Settlement Website for updated information. You may also call 1-877-313-0170 toll-free to find out whether an AEM is available for your Subject Vehicle. For more details about the AEMs and Extended Modification Warranty, please visit bluetecupdate.mbusa.com.

 

As of October 15 2020, neither of the websites related to the Mercedes dieselgate settlement are up and running yet. It's not clear whether either will be up before the final hearing on the settlement, scheduled for January 25, 2021.

First is the site at Mercedes USA about the settlement and "fixes" to our GL's ---> bluetecupdate.mbusa.com
First is the settlement website about cash compensation ---> www.mbbluetecsettlement.com

 

Update as of Feb 11, 2021. The promised date of Jan 25, 2021 for the settlement to be approved by the courts appears to have been missed.

Mercedes USA does have an updated website now with minimal information.

https://bluetecupdate.mbusa.com/home

Mercedes-Benz Bluetec Update

Thank you for your interest in the Mercedes-Benz BlueTEC II Emission Modification Program. The settlement providing for the Emission Modification Program has been filed in federal court and is awaiting court approval. Owners and lessees of eligible vehicles will be mailed a notification letter within 15 business days of when the Emission Modification for their vehicle becomes available.

 

I registered with Hagens Berman, who was one of the law firms who brought a lawsuit against Mercedes Benz over falsified emissions. According to the lawsuit, Mercedes joined forces with Bosch to program its BlueTEC vehicles to release illegally high, dangerous levels of emissions via a defeat device that turned off or limited emissions reductions during real-world driving conditions but not during vehicle emissions tests.
I was hoping dispersement of funds would be issued January of 2021 but it appears it may be years before these funds are released.
I have decided to sell my 2012 GL350 and settle for the $825.00 and use the funds for a weekend trip to San Diego. I’m done with Hagens Berman and Mercedes Benz!

 

There is very small chance Biden Administration could influence the final result. Because they hate pollution company's with the passion .The Judge still did not confirm the final approval on the whole settlement from what I hear. I would not hurt for everyone to shoot an email to the senators to request Buyback option for the vehicle owners .

Consumer, environmental groups ask Congress to press DOJ and EPA to expedite ongoing Mercedes diesel emissions investigations

April 3, 2019/inPress releasepress releasepress_releasesPress ReleasesApril 3, 2019

Nearly three years have passed since investigation of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz diesel emissions systems; consumers left without recourse on their vehicles

Media contact: National Consumers League – Carol McKay, carolm@nclnet.org, (412) 945-3242 or Taun Sterling, tauns@nclnet.org, (202) 207-2832

Washington, DC – Leading consumer and environmental groups today sent letters to U.S. House Energy & Commerce and Senate Commerce Committees’ leadership, urging them to inquire about the status of pending Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency investigations into the diesel emissions systems of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz.

Mercedes-Benz marketed its BlueTEC diesel vehicles as “the world’s cleanest and most advanced diesel,” but has been accused of equipping them with cheat devices that result in dangerously high levels of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions, far exceeding what is legal under U.S. federal and state regulations. The DOJ and EPA have held Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler accountable for similar allegations, but there has been no update on their investigation into Mercedes since it reportedly began in 2016.

VW and Fiat have instituted buybacks and repairs to address the pollution, while compensating owners and lessees. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Daimler vehicles are potentially polluting the environment while their owners await the outcome of the DOJ and EPA investigation.

The letter was signed by Center for Auto Safety, Consumer Action, Consumer Federation of America, National Consumers League, Safe Climate Campaign and Sierra Club.

“Compared to the repercussions Volkswagen faced after admitting to strikingly similar allegations, which included severe fines and mandatory buybacks or repairs to tainted diesel vehicles, nothing has been done to hold Mercedes-Benz accountable in the U.S.,” wrote the groups. “Just as Congress played an important oversight role in Volkswagen’s dieselgate, it can do the same in bringing Mercedes-Benz to justice. We urge you to aid U.S. consumers by compelling the DOJ and EPA to provide an update into their nearly three-year-old investigation and, if appropriate, take action against Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz for violating U.S. law.”

The groups also referred to a letter Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) sent to the DOJ in February last year; the groups’ letter noted that no update has been provided and no action has been taken.

A full copy of the letter can be found here.

###

About the National Consumers League

The National Consumers League, founded in 1899, is America’s pioneer consumer organization. Our mission is to protect and promote social and economic justice for consumers and workers in the United States and abroad. For more information, visit www.nclnet.org

 

This manufacture is horrible! I got a GL450, 2 months ago. This is why I shouldn't have bought an out of warranty Mercedes. Worst mistake of my life!

upper and lower control arms
rack and pinion
alternator
radiator fan and mod
intake gasket
intake manifold
Now I have a clicking on the driver front wheel when in slower speeds.

I paid cash to not have a car payment, yet have spent $9k in repairs. The vehicle is only 10 years old. Garbage.

 

Mercedes dealers have been informed that if they have any of these vehicles in used car stock, they are not allowed to resell them until they are updated.

of course there are also cars in the hands of idiot owners that have removed emissions equipment ... these vehicles cannot be legally sold.

 

Update - the federal judge approved the settlement today...

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-d...Partner-Google

 

Only in California! The rest of the U.S. still has to wait, maybe until summer.
"The German company has separately agreed to a $700 million settlement with diesel vehicle owners. That settlement has won preliminary approval and is likely to get final approval this summer, said Steve Berman, a lawyer for the owners."

 

I received the following email from the law firm behind the settlement this morning...

From:shelby@hbsslaw.com
Good news! The Consent Decree was entered by the court this week. The entry of the Consent Decree starts the 15 day countdown toward the start of Notice and Claims processes which means notices will be sent on March 23, 2021. The claim form will be available on the Settlement Website (www.mbbluetecsettlement.com) with further information about the settlement, as well as updates about the deadline to submit your claim. We anticipate that the settlement website will be up and running by March 23, 2021. Once the website goes live, you can submit your claim there.

Shelby R. Smith
Attorney
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
hbsslaw.com
portal.hbsslaw.com

 

Hi Greasemonkey - I just emailed the attorney running the settlement about your post, and here is her reply. It's for the whole USA, not California only...

Hi Dan,

We have reached a proposed $700M settlement with Mercedes in the Mercedes BlueTEC litigation. This is a nationwide settlement. The settlement compensates current and former owners and lessees, provides an EPA and CARB emission modification free of charge, and an extended modification warranty. Current owners and lessees can get $3,290 or more from Mercedes and $300 from Bosch.

Owners of affected Mercedes diesel vehicles can receive the following:

• An Approved Emissions Modification (AEM) free of charge and an extended modification warranty. From a separate settlement with federal and California regulators, these benefits are available even if you do not participate in the class action.
• Protection pending the modification’s effects to your vehicle. AEMs installed in affected vehicles will come with additional protection, should the AEM affect your vehicle’s performance. Affected owners are slated to receive compensation depending on whether the AEM affected fuel economy, horsepower, torque and/or other aftereffects of the emissions modification. Owners may also be able to receive payment for transportation costs in the event their installation of an AEM takes more than three hours to complete.
• Payment for Mercedes’ diesel emissions deficiencies. Under the settlement, current owners and lessees can receive $3,290 if no former owner/lessee submits a claim for the same vehicle. If a former owner/lessee does submit a claim for the same vehicle, current owners and lessees can receive $2,467.50. Former owners and lessees can receive $822.50, divided equally among former owners/lessees who submit claims for the same vehicle.
• Additional payment. For current owners and lessees who have an AEM installed, additional payments may be available under various circumstances. Owners may also receive additional payment if an AEM is not available by October 2022.

In September, the court entered an order granting preliminary approval of the class action settlement with Mercedes. You should receive a notice of settlement soon via mail. The full details of the settlement will also be available at http://www.mbbluetecsettlement.com/.

To claim a Class Member Payment under the Class Action Settlement you must submit a valid claim. The claim form will be available on the Settlement Website (www.mbbluetecsettlement.com) with further information about the settlement, as well as updates about the deadline to submit your claim. The website will go live by March 23, 2021. Once the website goes live, you can submit your claim there.

Current owners/lessees must have the AEM installed and submit a claim by October 1, 2022 in order to be eligible to receive money. AEMs will become available on a rolling basis after Mercedes’ separate settlement with U.S. authorities is approved; please continue to check the Settlement Website for updated information.

Expected timeline for repair

Here is the link to the EPA website that lists the expected timeline for repairs: https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/daim...vil-settlement.


Affected Models
Affected BlueTEC vehicles include:

• E250 BlueTEC 2014-2016

• E350 BlueTEC 2011-2013
• GL320 BlueTEC 2009
• GL350 BlueTEC 2010-2016
• GLE300d 2016
• GLE350d 2016
• GLK250 BlueTEC 2013-2015
• ML250 BlueTEC 2015
• ML320 BlueTEC 2009
• ML350 BlueTEC 2010-2014
• R320 BlueTEC 2009
• R350 BlueTEC 2010-2012
• S350 BlueTEC 2012-2013
• Mercedes-Benz or Freightliner Sprinter (4-cylinder) 2014-2016
• Mercedes-Benz or Freightliner Sprinter (6-cylinder) 2010-2016

Let me know if you have additional questions or concerns.

Take care,

Shelby

Shelby Smith (she/her)| Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP | Direct: (206) 268-9370

 

I received the following email this morning...

From: shelby@hbsslaw.com

Good news! The Settlement Website is now accessible at www.mbbluetecsettlement.com.

To claim a Class Member Payment under the Class Action Settlements, you must submit a Valid Claim by the applicable deadline. The claim form is now available on the Settlement Website (www.mbbluetecsettlement.com) with further information about the settlement, as well as updates about the deadline to submit claims.

The deadline for you to submit a claim depends on whether you are an Eligible Current Owner/Lessee or an Eligible Former Owner/Lessee.

The deadline for Eligible Current Owners/Lessees to have the AEM installed in their Registered Subject Vehicle and submit a Valid Claim is October 1, 2022. To ensure that you have adequate time to schedule and complete your AEM and complete the Claim Form, you should not wait until the October 1, 2022 deadline approaches to schedule your AEM installation and submit your Claim Form.

The deadline for Eligible Former Owners/Lessees to submit a Valid Claim is July 12, 2021, or the date the Court finally approves the Mercedes Class Action Settlement (if after July 12, 2021).

Class Members who do not submit a Valid Claim by the applicable deadline will not receive a Class Member Payment.

Take care,
Shelby

Shelby R. Smith
Attorney
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
hbsslaw.com
portal.hbsslaw.com

 

Super annoying. The system in the prior post will not let you register to get your $4,000 settlement payment until you go get the Approved Emission Modifications "AEM" installed on your GL. The problem is that the AEM is not yet available for the X164 GL350.

Going to the Mercedes USA website lawsuit settlement website http://bluetecupdate.mbusa.com/ and entering your VIN shows the following.

4JGBF2FEXBA717892 2011 Mercedes-Benz GL350 4MATIC Status
Vehicle (VIN) Eligible for Emission Modification? Yes
Emission Modification Approved by EPA and CARB? Pending Expected 3rd Quarter 2021

 

Oh man, that stinks for the diesel owners. Could be much longer until you are able to get your car fixed or the money is released. I can't imagine the local dealers will be in a hurry to bump all the other high margin diesel repairs for a low margin warranty repair.

 

So this has been going on for awhile and it appears repairs on my 2012 Mercedes GL350 may not occur until October 2021 with a possible settlement sometime in 2022! Though I’m the original owner and have 83,000 miles on my vehicle, I’m not sure if $4,000 is worth keeping the car. So far any major issues were covered by the Mercedes warranty but I’m on my own now. Just (1) broken part with repairs can easily erase that $4,000 quickly. I enjoy the GL but time is ticking and I wish there was a better settlement procedure.

 

Hi Posted in the other thread about this but 12'GL350 here.
I emailed Shelby and have reached out to the EPA our cars were in EMC4 which by the epa have been stated to begin repair upon acceptance of consent decree.
This may be an oversight but EMC 4 is the ML and GL. The entire category was stated to be ready upon passing. But it seems now only MLs have been flagged to start.
If you can try to reach out to MBUSA and your Dealer and even the EPA on their site to have this issue no one can wait that long.
I have a fully clogged dpf that will be replaced with the recall and I'm not about to spend $$$ again then have it replaced. Car is non-drivable over 20 mph.

 

om6424u Keep us posted on both the ML and GL forum! I’m going in for service A on my GL350 this Friday at Mercedes-Benz of Pleasanton, Ca. I will ask the service manager what information he has on the emission modifications and if there are additional updates I will post them.
This is an awful way by Mercedes to distribute a legal settlement.

 

Curious to know why isn’t the 2008 GL320CDI covered by this, and what recourse those current and prior owners have.

It is just as unreliable as the 2009 and up OM642s.

 

It's only about emissions standards at the time and not reliability. The CDI is considered a gross polluter but was introduced prior to the more stringent diesel emissions regulations.

 

If any of you would like to communicate directly with the folks in charge of executing the settlement, below is an email I just received from them, and you can see their email address... I had sent them an email saying I thought their website process could be improved - that they should let everyone register their claim as step one, and then as step two you can add in the fact you had the repair completed and finalize your claim. Now their process is closer to - go to the site and get told to get on a list for updates and come back later.

From: CA - MBBlueTecSettlement <info@mbbluetecsettlement.com>
Date: Mon, Mar 22, 2021 at 1:23 PM
Subject: RE: You have a new message regarding your case on Hagens Berman.
To: Daniel Druker <ddruker@stanfordalumni.org>, CA - MBBlueTecSettlement <info@mbbluetecsettlement.com>
Cc: shelby@hbsslaw.com <shelby@hbsslaw.com>

Dan,

Thank you for your email. If the AEM is not available for your vehicle and you would like to register to receive updates on the Settlement, you may do so by selecting the “Register to receive Settlement updates” from the dropdown in the menu bar. You may also directly access the registration page here.

You may enter your VIN in the requested field on the registration page, but you do not have to. If you register on our website, you will receive updates regarding the Settlement. In addition, you will also receive a notification when an AEM becomes available for your vehicle.

Regards,

MB Blue Tec Settlement

mbbluetecsettlement.com

Toll-free 1-877-313-0170

[CA]

From: Daniel Druker <ddruker@stanfordalumni.org>
Sent: Monday, March 22, 2021 10:31 AM
To: Shelby Smith <shelby@hbsslaw.com>
Subject: Re: You have a new message regarding your case on Hagens Berman.

It would be MUCH easier for your website to let people register to become a member of the class right away, and then confirm they had the AEM completed before a payment is made.

Your current process won't let folks even register their vehicle until the AEM repair is completed. I just tried - I found it very frustrating your site would not let me register, and then referred me to a Mercedes USA website, which is not exactly information-rich.

For my 2011 GL350, Mercedes USA says the AEM won't be available until perhaps the 3rd quarter of 2021 - and god knows when the dealers will actually get it and make time to put it in.

Net is that your customer experience would be a LOT better if your website made this a two step process - register to be a member of the class first, then come back and finalize your claim when the AEM is available and installed.

Dan

 

It’s like...they don’t want your money.