Wiring Problems of Mercedes Benz E320

Engine wiring harness insulation falling off - copper wires exposed and may result in short and engine failure at highway speeds - could result in injury or death.

The insulation on the wiring harnesses for the headlights has completely disintegrated and is sitting in a pile of bits on the bottom of the headlight assembly, literally leaving completely bare wires leading up to the headlamp sockets. If these wires were to touch and short out it could result in complete loss of headlights at night at highway speed. This defect was discovered when attempting to replace a burned out low beam headlight bulb. Other such wiring in the vehicle might also have deteriorated or disintegrated but not yet been discovered, with attendant risks of damage to other extremely expensive parts of the electrical system, or risk of fire or catastrophic failure of the vehicle while operating at highway speeds.

See all problems of the 2007 Mercedes Benz E320 🔎.

Headlight and engine wiring deteriorating beyond repair! dangerous and may cause sudden crash or fire. ,.

See all problems of the 2005 Mercedes Benz E320 🔎.

The contact owns a 1997 mercedes-benz E320. The contact stated that the vehicle caught fire in the driveway due to a faulty wiring harnesss. The fire department extinguished the fire and filed a report. There were no injuries. The VIN was invalid. The failure mileage was 170,000.

See all problems of the 1997 Mercedes Benz E320 🔎.

The insulation covering the electrical wiring that powers the low beam headlights on both passenger and driver sides has failed and crumbled away exposing the bare copper wire. This circuit powers two halogen 55 watt bulbs (110 watts total or ~10 amps) at 12 volts. The insulation failure will present an immediate vehicle fire hazard if the electrical protection fuse fails to actuate as a result of the short circuit created by potential bare wire contact. If the electrical protection fuse does actuate properly the car will lose forward illumination which is essential for safe vehicle operation at night. In either instance a property and personal hazard can result from this defect. This defect can be traced directly to the wire Mercedes Benz selected for the manufacture of this circuitry. Either the gauge of the wire selected is insufficient to dissipate the heat generated by the current flow the circuit demands or the insulation of the wire selected is inherently defective as evidenced by its crumbling deterioration for a component that should be expected to last the life of the vehicle. In either case this wiring failure constitutes a manufacturing defect which should be subject to recall and correction by the manufacturer at his expense. The defect was discovered while attempting to replace a failed low beam headlight bulb, a maintenance activity that can reasonably be expected to be performed a number of times during the vehicle's lifespan. The defective insulation was immediately evident by visual and tactile observation. It was immediately clear an immediate hazard was present and that the lighting could not be used rendering the vehicle unsafe to operate under condition when the lighting circuit might be operated.

See all problems of the 2006 Mercedes Benz E320 🔎.

Defective insulation on the wiring for the exterior lighting. It appears this problem is catalyzed by heat. Insulation crumbles and leave bare wire exposed, causing shortage and failure/melting of light socket. Obviously, Mercedes Benz of north America realized issue but s not compelled to make repairs!.

See all problems of the 2001 Mercedes Benz E320 🔎.

The contact owns a 1995 Mercedes Benz E320. While driving at 55 mph, there was smoke under the hood of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the wiring harness failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 180,000.

Purchased in late spring 2014. Fire in right door electrical wiring mid June. Stall at red light in mid July. Stall on highway, stop and go traffic in mid September. And stall at a red light Sep. 27, 2014. Bought it, it had 107,000miles.

The plastic coating on the wiring for the headlights is coming off leaving exposed copper wires that short out causing headlights, etc. To fail.

On this 1995 mercedies E320, would not pass emmisions, took to dealer, was told the engine compartmernt wiring harness needed to be replaced, at a cost of $1500. The wiring harness was cerumbling everywhere. I checked online and it is a very common problem with all e20. I checked no recall for this problem. This is totally a manufacturing problem, the coating to the wiring has desintergrated and it is unsafe to drive these cars. I have spent over $2,000 to try to get thgis car to pass emmisions, it fails so bad I cant even get a waiver,.

Recently bought car. Wiring harness had already been replaced, but computer has not acted correctly since the wiring shorted out due to faulty insulation. Throwing faults and no idle. Surges forward or backwards on its own. While backing it out of garage, it surged backwards so fast the brakes would not hold. Hit tractor parked in driveway before getting it stopped. Broke rear bumper cover. I have older vehicles (1974 chevy) (1990 chevy pickup) with absolutely no wiring problems. Now I have a really nice 1994 E320 that is junk because I can't afford the $12 - $1500 to repair it. I can not drive it until I can have it repaired. Good thing I wasn't in traffic behind a cop when it decided to surge forward on it's own, or I would be writing this from inside a jail cell.

Engine wiring harness failed. The wires crumbled. Vehicle no longer runs.

After the vehicle is restored, the owner started to experience signs of electrical mishap. At first, the overvoltage protection relay (ovp) shorted out and thus, the car couldnt be started. After replacing the ovp, $100, the car started fine and ended up being drivable but the owner noticed a very significant loss of power. It appears that there is misfire, in at least one of the cylinders leading from the ecu to the distributor. Owner still ended up going to a virginia state licensed inspection and emission. Where it failed inspection because of malfunctions in the brake light, as it appears that the reverse light doesn't come on. The air conditioning system was also faulty as it wouldnt turn on. Even though the owner failed inspection, the technician still proceeded to test the emissions of the car. Needless to say, the emissions failed because of hc (high carbon) which can be attributed to the misfiring of multiple cylinders, which is then associated to the lack of power the vehicle is experiencing. After the conclusion of the emissions, the technician attempted to start the vehicle and ended up having a small fire that was ignited in the exposed wires of the engine wiring harness that is close to the battery area. After the fire was put out, the car wouldnt be able to be started, assuming that the consumer would need a replacement for the engine wiring harness. Upon further research, this is a very common issue in the w124 chassis, m104 engine based E320. There apparently isn't any recall but action from the mercedes-benz USA should be imperative to create a safe environment for the owners of these particular car.

Wiring harness deterioration due to manufacturer defect. Wiring harness insulation deteriorates leading to to other component failures, and compromised safety, fire hazard, drivability compromised.

The wires in the wiring harness connecting to the coils for the fuel injection system are disintegrating. Currently this is causing the car to loose power, run rough, only 2-4 cylinders are firing. My mechanic said he found on the web that this is happening a lot to mercedes cars made during the time period my car was made but mercedes never issued a recall for this huge problem. My cost to fix this problem was estimated at $3200. 00 or more depending on how much of the wiring system has disintegrated and what other systems are affected. I called mercedes on howe Ave in sacramento and after checking my VIN number said my car has never been recalled for this problem or any other problems.

Due to the defective wiring harness known to exist on many Mercedes Benz vehicles made from 1990 on, I have the excessive expense of repairing and replacing expensive parts (the engine wiring harness) in this vehicle that failed prematurely due to faulty wiring insulation. The wiring insulation is inefficient and was corrected on later models, but considering that it is a poor design on mercedes part, I believe that the consumer should not be held responsible for the wiring issue. These cars do justify their price if maintained properly, and my vehicle is older and aside from the wiring harness, is in good running order; yet me, as a customer who pays the price to maintain my vehicle, I do not feel that it is justified that mercedes originally included in the vehicle price the cost of a supposed quality wiring harness, yet when it fails due to a design flaw, the consumer pays the price to have it replaced with what should have originally been installed. It is understandable that in the recent rough economy that an auto manufacturer would not want to take responsibility for a major design flaw that could result in millions lost, and attempt to maximize profits on the flaw by charging customers for the updated harness, but I feel that it is a major safety hazard in the affected vehicles and should be sorted out for drivers of all vehicles with the faulty harness free of charge on a safety basis, if it has jeopardized the life of the driver, then it should be replaced free of charge (surely that is the least that could be done). My car had a short today in the wiring harness and it caused unintended surge of acceleration when I pulled up to a curb and the car jumped over the curb and broke off a big plastic piece of the bumper. I ask myself what would have happened if I was at a busy intersection and this happened?.

Transmission would not shift out of first gear, the abs lights on and the asr, fuse no 2 on the k40 module was blown and there were also codes indicating that no power was going to the asr hydraulic unit. There was no signal from the left rear wheel speed sensor and there was a malfunction in the transmission gear speed sensor. The technician discovered a wiring harness located underneath the power brake booster had shorted with the body of the vehicle and created a small fire that burned and destroyed the insulating material through approx. 7 inches of the harness. The small fire also burned the insulating material on 2 other wiring harness in the vicinity. The technician has determined the cause of the fire to be related to the location of the wiring harness. The harness was pinned down to the body of the vehicle by the air conditioning hose adjacent to where 2 parts of the body where joined together. The point where the two parts of the body were joined together created a sharp edge. Over time the vibration of the engine and other components of the vehicle causes the sharp edge to cut into the wiring harness eventually wearing it to bare wire. When the bare wire shorted with the body, the fire was created thus burning a section to the wiring harness and thus causing the malfunctions indicated above. Overall, the technician and many other reports claim that this was Mercedes Benz's design flaw and failure that the wiring harness was placed inconveniently underneath the refrigerant line. We can provide the pictures of the damage if necessary.

See all problems of the 1999 Mercedes Benz E320 🔎.

Up until about 6 months ago, the only problems to my vehicle had been due to routine maintenance. About that time, my 1996 Mercedes Benz E320 began running rough. I took my vehicle to a reputable (Mercedes Benz only) shop who replaced 2 coils. Although the vehicle ran good for a few days, it soon began running rough. A follow up visit led c & g mercedes, in houston, texas, to find that the problem was related to it's wiring harness, that resulted from a common problem to this and other models, due to premature corrosion of the insulation of the wires. From what I understand this can cause the problems I have described and can results in fires too. I also understand that this occurs in 1990 -1996 models. The correction is a $1,000. 00 replacement part.

See all problems of the 1996 Mercedes Benz E320 🔎.

The wiring on the car is disintegrating harness wires every wire was a great car wiring causing various problems cost more to fix then its worth help me!.

My 1994 E320 wiring harness has totally dried up and cracked in numerous places. Resulting in electrical problems and money spent on trouble shooting.

Wiring harness defect, needs to be recalled and replaced.

I have a 1996 E320 and the first thing to go was the condenser fan, when you turn the ac on its the fans that help keep your car cool, but then that went out and my car would run hot if I constantly ran ac. Then my ac blower just went out one day. Then I took it to a mercedes specialist and he noticed that the wiring harness was frail and worn. He called my car a time bomb and said it would be a matter of time before it died on me. But I thought that mercedes last a long time. And then, about a month later, my check engine light came on and my car began shaking from time to time and I lost a lot of power to it. Sometimes I would have to pull over and turn the car off and then turn it back on to stop the shaking. He also said that it would cost about $1000 to replace and that it was a bad design by mercedes. And last Saturday night on my way home, I got into my car and tried to start it, but nothing happened, I couldn't even hear a click at all when I turned the key. I tried jump starting it, and still nothing, so I ended up having to tow it home. I called the mercedes specialist again and told him what was wrong and all the steps I took, and he said more than likely its the wiring harness. So now I have a nice looking car just sitting in my drive way doing nothing. Pooler, GA.

Shortly after purchasing my 1997 E320 in 2003 I took the car in to report an odd acceleration and deceleration while driving in cruise control. Dealer at newport beach CA told me that cruise control is not designed to drive in hills, all of oc is full of hills. They did nothing to repair problem, although car was still under warranty. In addition I reported the automatic control opener to not work in temp above 80 degrees. I'm not sure if the problem is related. In 2005 the sensor notice came on to report electronic problem. I took it to the mb in austin texas. The service rep told me it would cost $400 to fix. Since we were on an extremely tight budget I asked him if it went un-repaired if I was worsening a problem or endangering my self or my family if I contiued to drive it that way. He said it would be ok to drive. Now a few months later around January (cold weather) the car started to idle into vibrations and a strong gas scent fills the car. Not trusting the mb I took my car to firestone, they told me it needed a serious tune up. . . Which surprised me because I did one less than a year ago. . . I'm not sure who to trust and now I'm very worried about the harness wiring and the susceptibility to spontaneous fires.