Chris Buffalo

Hello all, this issue has serious safety concerns and is something that needs immediate attention and action taken. Please read on.

I have a 2007 GL 450 that has begun the notorious 7 speed (722.9 NAG2 (7G-Tronic) Transmission) etc. electronics failure. It will get stuck in a random forward gear with no apparent driver/user solution but to power cycle the vehicle. (Shut it down, and restart.) If you shift to neutral, it will stay there and not engage any other gear (forward or reverse) until you shutdown and restart. This almost sounds like a bad personal computer operating system. Imagine being in the middle of a normally safe three-point-turn to find the vehicle won’t move unless you shut it off and restart! It happened to me today.

This is a load of nonsense – this problem is not due to abuse, misuse, neglect, or even reasonable wear and tear. I have found others that have been told “the valve body is warped”, etc – so it follows restarting the car un-warped it? Do these people (the dealers) really know how to service these vehicles? This is clearly an electronics failure.

This is an absolute design/manufacturing flaw of the "conductor plate and valve body assembly", and my research carries that the Benz 7 speed transmission is notorious across many models and platforms, and there are many TSB’s on it; recently (Date: April 8, 2011 Order No.: S-B-27.00/120 Group: 27 SUBJECT: All Models Equipped with 722.9 NAG2 (7G-Tronic) Transmission) and it is a well documented problem internally within MBUSA.

Beyond warranty? Not a CPO vehicle? Okay - but - ….

Try this - If my wife (or yours) gets off the freeway, comes to a stop, and then attempts to proceed normally with the vehicle now stuck in 5th (or whatever it chooses) gear, - there is a reasonable user presumption that the car would accelerate normally and be able to safely join traffic....instead it crawls forward at a few miles an hour into potential harms way with no way to accelerate the vehicle normally, thereby leaving the driver and our children in danger. I speak from personal experience.

This is not just a defect, it is a safety issue, and MBUSA needs their feet held to the fire on this one.

It is unreasonable for any manufacturer to tout "The best or nothing" and "Engineered like no other car in the world" and then expect the consumer to pay $2000+ to fix a known electronics design/manufacture flaw. There are even rumblings that VDO (speed sensor/electronics manufacturer) and MB are at odds over who is actually to blame, so clearly they both see costs are going to mount when the inevitable recall occurs. I plan to notify the NHTSA among others if I don't get some favorable answers immediately.

To make it worse, Part # 220 270 27 06 88 is what I am told I need, costing $838.00. (wow!) If I wanted to buy this part outright and have my indy shop or myself install it, I STILL have to go to the dealer for "programming" that I nor most indy shops can carry out.
So regardless of who is at fault, you are railroaded into going to the dealer, dealing with their dismissive “here’s the bill” attitude and paying their inflated rates regardless. You as a consumer are left with no other recourse. I wonder if there is a legal challenge with that in and of itself. To the OP, it sounds like they even robbed you on the part alone.

In summary, they build a defective transmission that will certainly leave you in harm’s way, and then they (MBUSA) say “too bad, pay US to fix it or you have no other option.” I question not only the ethics but legality of this position MBUSA has taken.

I am collecting names, vehicle types, and e mail addresses for any that are interested in signing on to force MBUSA into a recall based on safety (or lack thereof) alone.

I do not seek anything more than an email address, name, and year/make/model affected. Your information will not be used for any other purpose but adding strength to my argument with MBUSA. Feel free to PM me, or email aplguys@aol.com.

Understand absolutely clearly that I am not attempting to defame, discredit, or slander MBUSA in any fashion, but I will not have safety compromised in a premium vehicle and then be billed for it, nor will I be lead to believe it’s “normal wear and tear, abuse, misuse, or neglect”. This is a flaw that compromises safety, period.

I bought my GL450 because I love my Mercedes Benz E55 AMG so much. I bought another Benz because of the quality previously displayed and that one would reasonably expect. Maybe I should have kept my Dodge Durango Limited. What’s right is right.

If we stick together, maybe good will prevail. There is strength in numbers.

I want to hear from all of you affected!

Moto One

I agree with you 100%. We went thru this same thing with Land Rover over the front Diff failures on their Mk3 Range Rovers. We started filling complaints to document the failures with NHTSA. The result was that LRNA had to make good for all expenses/losses by owners and the fix (witch BMW who did the original design fix on their X5) on all Mk3 still registered.

To all owners that experience this problem whether you get assistance from MBUSA or not, file a complaint with NHTSA (its fairly easy) to at the least document the failure.

The system dose work, but unfortunately not fast enough to prevent someone from getting injured. By the way: just being stuck on the side of the highway is a major safety issue.

Mark.

clkwork

A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now: should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.

Moto One

We went thru the same process with a headlight problem with Audi (A4s). When complaints started coming in to NHTSA, Audi agree also to fix the bi-xenon headlights (a control module was the cause) not the ballast, not the bulbs. It only took a year once started, and the repairs for cars all the way back to 2005 were fixed under a TSB (not a recall). Still it took care of a very real safety issue.

Mark

sosh

The OP is on the wrong forum. This is the ML not the GL forum. Looks like he is just trying to stir things up. I for one have had 3 ML500 and 550's with the 7 speed and 2 E class with the 7 speed and have experienced no problems. Those that have are a very small minority. Me thinks the OP has too much time on his hands. Why not just fix it and go on with your life. No one was hurt or near being hurt.

aggst1

Could be an ambulance chaser type attorney. !!!

aggst1

True, however thre is a point that too many cars affected means no future business and the legendary MB goes out of business. Considering that this transmission has been used in so many models across the lineup for some 6-7 + years now the number of defects must be very low. If it was a high number then MB would voluntarily do something to save future sales.

AudiA4Turbo22

I agree and disagree.

My 06 ML500 went into the dealership 14 times the first year for transmission problems and it was never truly resolved. The 08 GL450 I had was much better off and it only went in once. The 10 S550 I have went in once as well. My new used 08 ML550 went into the dealership the day after I bought it and was there for over a week and nearly every part inside the transmission was replaced.

My family relative had an 07 ML500 and it went in so many times they ended up lemoning the car.

This is more common than you might think.

Chris Buffalo

@ Audi, thanks. I am learning it is quite common.

@ Sosh, I posted it here because the transmission affected is in the ML too. If you aren't interested in this issue then why reply? Sounds like YOU have too much time on your hands. You took the time to reply with a nonsense remark.

I am trying to get these people to stand behind their product. I a,m not seeking any money at this point, so no ambulance chasing.

Maybe do some homework on the topic before posting. It is quite a common issue and MBUSA hasn't been forced to deal with it yet. The post with the math in it showing it's cheaper to settle the occasional lawsuit vs. recalling them is spot on.

Chris Buffalo

Another individual on a similar thread posted this:

https://mbworld.org/forums/mercedes-...ion-issue.html

So yeah, seems all to common.

This type of group research is what I am going for, not ignorant negativity.

To those that have info to add, post on. To those with nothing else to do but be negative, please move on.

AMGC60-3

By all means, please press on.

Sharkster

I had that issue repaired on my ML a couple of months back. Didn't know so many cars are affected by it. And YES, it DEFINITELY IS A SAFETY ISSUE! I had one or two critical situations with this myself, before I brought the car to the stealership to have the 7G fixed...

However, I think that there are many possible malfunctions that could become a safety issue. So this one is not really anything different from, let's say, a malfunctioning gearbox in general... or, to really give an impression what I'm talking about, a malfunctioning turning signal. A simple bulb blown could become a HUGE safety risk, if not taken care of.

So, the whole argumentation might be wrong.

Nonetheless, I still think it's a shame that MB couldn't get a hold of this in an appropriate way. But I highly doubt that there's anything one (or many) could do against this...

AudiA4Turbo22

That's what people say about everything from politics to bad business practice. If even one person wants this to go forward bad enough, it stands a chance.

Sharkster

Yea... you're probably right.

Chris Buffalo

I intend to press on. I have nothing to lose my collecting information and making a case.

Thanks guys!

All I ask is a quick e mail to be added to the complaint list.

aplguys@aol.com

year/make/model/symptoms and an e mail address are all I ask, additional details as you like.

AMGC60-3

I am knocking on wood while I am writing this,never had a problem with mine until last year I had a Cam position sensor that went bad on me while driving, the motor would die when driving and then after the engine seamed to cool down some what it would start again, I was about 80 miles from home and we were lucky this happened before I got on the Autobahn, I had to call my father inlaw to have it towed back home and parked at the dealership. If I remember right they told me this is a known problem and they had the part on hand and was fixed very quickly.