Five problems related to electrical system have been reported for the 2009 Mercedes Benz C350. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
Got home from work parked my car, I would say maybe about 3 hrs later I get on my car to go pick up my son and I wasn't able to turn my car on. My keyfob worked fine when I unlocked and locked the vehicle but when I would insert the keyfob in the ignition I was able to turn the key all the way to the on position. All though it turned in the ignition it wouldn't give the car a crank or any power at all, the radio, windows dashboard, headlights, nothing worked at all, it wouldn't even unlcock my steering coloumn either. Which made it even a bigger hastle to tow the car without being able to turn the steering wheel luckily ii left the wheels straight when I parked my vehicle. I've seen that this issue is common on this mercedes model. If its a common problem mercedes should be able to recall this ignition fault. Theres plenty of reasons why it can be a stressing situation if it happens to anybody, especially not being able to unlock thje steering column. There can be plenty of what if's (what if, u had ur wheels turned, what if your far from home, ur parked in a tight space how are you going to get the car towed, you have an emergency and your car suddenly wont start, at a gas station pumping gas and your car wont start, even after just having dinner at a restaurant) imagine having an issue like this and you are with ypur family its very stressful or everybody. I'm sure its happened to a lot of people but they dont file a complaint or maybe they dont know they can file one. I just hope mercedes can really do something about this issue since is very common on this model 2009 mercedes C350.
I had to replace the steering lock module which cost nearly $1200. The car has approximately 110,000 km. The car started fine in the morning and was parked for about 20 minutes in the grocery store parking lot. When I returned to the car and tried to start it, it would not crank. The alarm turned off fine, radio and lights worked, instrument cluster read the key and good me to remove it before exiting the vehicle. The transmission and steering wheel were locked in park. The car had to be towed to a dealership where they diagnosed and replaced the steering lock module. I read online and found numerous complaints about the same issues.
2009 Mercedes Benz C350 - steering wheel lock / $1400 to repair and replace the module. Common issue with the c-class.
Rear light assembly failure due to a melted electrical connector.
Rear passenger side tail lights no longer functional. Started getting a constant display message to check rear break, fog, and turn signal. First checked for bad fuse. Finally went to check the bulb housing and noticed that one of the wires was frayed. The wire was exposed and the wire harness seem to be damaged as well from the heat. The wires are bad and will need to be replaced.