Gas Recirculation Valve (egr Valve) Problems of Mercedes Benz C280

Engine began to make a "buzzsaw" grinding sound that was not initially noticed while driving along on an 85 mile interstate highway trip. While traveling at 60 mph on a 6 lane highway, all the the dashboard lighting began to dim and malfunction, the electrical system then completely failed and shut down causing the engine to stall out, steering and brake function became significantly degraded due to engine failure (including complete stoppage of the windshield wipers during a heavy rain downpour) safely exited roadway by maneuvering around traffic and coasting to road side shoulder at which point smoke started pouring out from under hood and filling the passenger compartment. Car was subsequently towed to a mercedes dealership where they identified the cause of the failure and fire as a severely degraded engine wiring harness. The harness wiring insulation was found to be brittle, cracking and falling apart, leaving individual bare copper wires to make contact with each other. This condition caused an electrical short circuit which started the wires burning, forced the engine starter to be continually engaged which in turn, after 80+ miles of driving, caused the battery to completely drain ultimately resulting in failure of engine and all electrical systems.

Several intermittent issues recently began to occur with my C280. Instrument panel started to intermittently not work and as a result I ran out of gas in several occasions in areas where my personal safety was at question. Car also began to intermittently cease from starting leaving me stranded until the car was able to start. After an investigation by a certified mercedes mechanic, they had determined that the engine wire harness was defective and that the wiring insulation was seriously degrading. During the evaluation the wiring was starting to smoke and system shut down due to safety concerns. It is very possible that continued operation of the vehicle could have caused safety issues to driver, passengers and others as unpredictable and serious actions could have resulted from engine wire harness electrical shorts. I am very surprised and disappointed that Mercedes Benz had not provided any warning or recall for this condition, which they apparently already knew is a common defect for this model and year.