Wheel Problems of Mercedes Benz E350 - part 2

Subject: forwarded from fmcsa regarding consumers complaint about Mercedes Benz tires. 2011 Mercedes Benz E350. The consumer stated he purchased the sport package vehicle, two years ago. He had chrome put on the wheels; the alloy wheels were original. Just chromed on the exterior. When the weather changed, the tires deflated and the vehicle was taken to the dealer, to have the tires filled with nitrogen. Several months later, the consumer ran over a pot hole and two wheels and two tires had to be replaced. In June 2012, his wife ran over a pot hole and the wheel had to be replaced and the tire re-mounted, while driving home, the re-mounted tire went flat, and the spare tire had to be placed on the vehicle. When the consumer's wife went to the dealer, they informed her she would have to purchase a new tire. On October 19, 2012, the consumer's wife went over a speed bump and the wheels and tires were crushed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The consumer's wife did a search on problems with wheels and tires and found multiple stories from other Mercedes Benz owners. The dealership replaced all the low profile tires as well as the wheels, which were more substantial.

See all problems of the 2011 Mercedes Benz E350 🔎.

While traveling at ordinary speed on even interstate surface (I-64) east bound the rear right tire of my mb E350w4 blewout. I was able stabilize the car and exit the highway as I was just then in front of a an exit. My tires had been recently inspected during a regular service of my car. There is no reason or event which could have caused the sudden tire failure. I have filed a complaint with continental tire customer service, but the company has failed to acknowledge that their product may have manufacturing issues. Now I have observed a blemish developing on the sidewall of another tire. The dealer has suggested that "we watched it" for a time and see what happens. My tires are continental, contiprocontact, 245/40 r18 93v, ms radial. Replacing the tire cost me some $350 sand could have cost me my life or very serious injury had I been traveling at higher speed or ir the front tire had failed rather than the rear. I firmly believe these tires pose an immediate threat to public safety.

See all problems of the 2008 Mercedes Benz E350 🔎.

This vehicle from mercedes-benz, in particular 2011 E350 4matic with 18in wheels does not meet certain standards of quality and durability and poses a serious safety concern. My vehicle has all 4 wheels dented and cracked from roads with normal to minor road surface abnormalities. The wheels on this car is not safe and does not meet the quality standards expected, they cannot support the weight of the car under normal driving conditions. These wheels easily dent and crack and can lead to a driver losing control of there vehicle. I have so far experienced 3 flats over the course of 1. 5 years that could have resulted in an accident. The dealer repaired dented wheels and soon after, the wheels were damaged again. The steering continues to vibrate at highway speeds and pulls slightly to one side because of the severity of the damaged wheels. There are many others customer with this vehicle that have similar complaints about the wheel quality and even the dealer is aware that this is an issue but states its a manufacturer defect and nothing they can do. As of now I have been to the dealer 3 times to inspect the wheels and repair the damages which they are not covering. I drive another vehicle, 2011 Infiniti m, which has larger 20in wheels and it's been driven through the same roads with not one issue at all with the wheels. After driven the car for about 2 years, the Infiniti still drives with no vibrations and wheels that are in excellent condition. If the wheels from mercedes-benz cannot handle the weight and oem tire that comes from the factory, then there is a problem with the quality and reliability of the vehicle.

Bought a cpo car from mb west chester, PA and immediately noticed front tire(s) making thud sound that is more noticeable at 25-30 mps; although at higher speeds the thud sound continues. Dealer says tire treads are only worn 30%, but recommended new tires (which were supposed to be on the car!!). Manufacturer says it sounds like a flat spot on the tire. I even paid for extra warranty and still dealer will not replace tire. Very concerned for safety based on posts of blow-outs, etc. It's amazing that truck tires have been replaced for the same reasons, but not car tires.

See all problems of the 2009 Mercedes Benz E350 🔎.

On two occasions I had loss of tire pressure on front wheels. Examination showed the alloy wheels to be cracked. This has happened two times in approximately 90 days. I have not hit any pot holes. Some typical road bumps maybe but no deep holes. I've had many vehicles since 1958 but never had wheels cracking. Research has shown quite a bit of people with the same low profile tires used on this vehicle are also having cracked wheels and loss of tire pressure. Besides being very costly, this indeed can be a dangerous situation. Loss of tire pressure can result in accidents and can subject vehicle operators to dangerous conditions when changing tires. I wrote to mercedes but they will not admit to their wheels having a problem. It could be poorly designed wheels, the use of low profile tires or a combination of both leading to wheel failures.

4 bent wheels with no major accident or pot hole run over. Cost a lot to fix, put wear on my tires. Should not have such weak wheels on a car. All of them were bent.

See all problems of the 2007 Mercedes Benz E350 🔎.

The contact owns a 2011 Mercedes Benz E350. The contact stated that the front passenger driver's side rim became bent, creating a sharp edge which sliced into the tires. The rims were not replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 7,500 and the current mileage was 10,100.

The vehicle involved was a 2007 Mercedes Benz E350. Premature wear on the inside corner of my tires. This was ultimately discovered on all four tires. This lead to belt separation on all tires and a lost of belting on the left front of the car that caused driver surprise that demanded a dramatic emergency stop. This exposed me to highway traffic and almost caused an accident while pulling over in a shocked and concerned state. These tires were recommended for my car by the retailer and met both the speed rating and performance required. However, I there appear to be a vehicle manufacturer defect with the alignment components. No tires appear to hold up to the challenging demands of this application. This failure is dangerous. Had it happened at night or on a wet surface, the consequences would have been much more severe. Note: this was on a car that was fully in alignment, with factory wheels and suspension. The car was driven only as a commuter. No racing or other extreme driving. I purchased the vehicle around 9/10/11 with fairly new tires. The 1st time this issued occurred to was with the two front tires around 12/15/2011. The 2nd time this issue happened was with the two rear tires around 4/13/12. I just replaced the two front tires (40k warranty tires) again with only 28k miles on them. The 3rd time, the same tire retailer informed me he could not replace my tires free because they were worn improperly on the inside like an alignment issue. I informed him that the car had an alignment about 10 months ago and the tires should not be down to the belts already. On 7/16/13, I had to buy new tires and another 4-wheel alignment. There is something wrong with the design or mechanical suspension issue. This is costly and not right. I think mb should investigate and recall to fix the manfacturer defect.

After normal driving, a slight shake occurred around 80,000 miles. I took it into the shop and they reported 4 bent rims (2 being dangerously bad). I had the wheels straightened, and I found out the previous owner had one wheel welded, so this issue was present before I bought the car. While doing research online, there are hundreds of wheel complaints, particularly on the e-class. Because there are so many variations of the model, I believe that NHTSA is overlooking the issue because of the way complaints are entered by exact model (even though the wheels they use is the same across).

This mb e-350( wdbuf87x98b25394 )of 2008 with 18" diameter rims is very poorly designed which is causing serious road hazard and may lead to deaths as the aluminium alloy rim itself damage the tire thereby developing slow leak /bubbles and ultimately a cause for serious road accident leading to possible deaths timely action is required to ban 18" diameter rims.

Small pothole hit. Rim destroyed along with tire. I have put approximately 12 tires and three rims on this vehicle in two years. After a search I now find out that rim and tire problems are very common on these cars. My wife has driven for over 40 years and never had a tire/rim problem.

The contact owns a 2010 Mercedes Benz E350. While driving approximately 65 mph, the contact heard a loud pop noise. The contact noticed that the rear passenger side tire was torn apart. The contact installed the spare tire and the vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer who stated that there was a large hole in the rear passenger side wheel; the wheel and tire were replaced. The failure mileage was 1,697 and the current mileage was approximately 3,900.

See all problems of the 2010 Mercedes Benz E350 🔎.

Fuel tank seals are leaking causing a safety hazard. When I park in my garage there is a gasoline smell. The catalytic converter operates at a high temp. Making the car unsafe in a closed in place. Dealer mercedes-benz of north palm beach said this is not covered under warranty. The repair cost is $680. Safer a battle they offered $217 credit. I refused to pay for a repair on a car that is under warranty and has a serious safety defect.

See all problems of the 2006 Mercedes Benz E350 🔎.

The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes Benz E350. While driving 30 mph over a pothole the tire exploded. The tire was a continental contipro contact size 245/40r18. 93v. The front passenger tire exploded and the right rear tire developed a blister and the rim was no longer aligned. The failure could have led to a fatality due to the poor design. The wheel rim on the tires was 18 inches and the tire was two to three inches off the ground. These are the original tire and rims that came with the vehicle. There were no injuries and the vehicle was not damaged when the failure occurred. Roadside assistance repaired the tires. The vehicle was driven to the dealer the following day. The dealer stated that they were aware of the problem and the defect; yet, they were unable to offer any assistance. The manufacturer was contacted and informed him that they would give him a free tire which he did not receive. The failure mileage was 20,000.

Mb e-350 2008 is equipped with low profile tires contipro contact 245/40 r 18 the tires contact distance from road surface to bottom of rim is app. 2 inch. The rim diameter is app. 19+ inches. The weight of the vehicle further reduces the contact distance. The momentum of the car at normal speed when comes across a small pot whole or an object the rim of the car itself burst the tire resulting into tire explosion and bending of the rim. This is a serious safety issue and if not corrected in a timely manner may lead to serious accidents including driver and other passers by including road death 2)this happens 2 times. Mbusa road assistance came 2 times and installed dummy tire came with the car. 3) mb USA refused to correct the problem I strongly believe that this is a defective design and must be reviewed as the rim itself may explode the tire and get bent as well. Updated ivoq 01/21/11.

The contact owns a 2008 Mercedes Benz E350. Whenever the vehicle is in motion there was a thumping noise coming from the wheels. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where they found three of the four wheels was bent and cracked. They repaired the wheels per the warranty. After the vehicle was repaired it continued to make noise because the bent wheels caused other problems to occur on the axle and tires. The dealer informed him to change the tires but he fells it is the dealer responsibility to change the tires and repair the axle which was not covered under the warranty. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 33,000.

We bought 2009 mb e-350 w/sport package which has amg wheels on it. Car has currently 3k miles on it. When my wife was driving, suddenly wheel material pop-out from the middle of the base (18" width) and cause sudden loss of air. Please note that there is no damage to tire (like hole, impact on the area where wheel damaged). We believe that wheel has material/design defect because wheel normally very solid hard to pop-out like this. Even dealer or no-one has seen this kind of incident. My wife is pregnant and she was driving this vehicle and now she is scared to drive this vehicle due to incident. We believe that due to safety of us and for others who are using mb w/amg wheels needs to be examine. If require, I can provide pictures of the wheel and tire.

It happened happened that when wheels came in contact with a pot-hole, the rim bent, damaged tire, and dragged the car. First time it happened at 35100 miles on February 15, 2009 to the front passenger side wheel, and second time at 42300 mileage on March 13, 2010 to the front driver-side wheel. Reading complaints on web site, it appears that lot of customers are suffering from this problem. This appears like a poor design which cause unsafe driving situation, and huge financial loss.

The contact owns a 2007 Mercedes Benz E350. While driving 50 mph, the contact felt an unusual vibration in the wheels. He took the vehicle to the dealer and was informed that all four wheels were bent at the inside rim due to driving over potholes and railroad tracks. All four wheels and rims needed to be replaced. The manufacturer refused to assist with any repairs. The powertrain was unknown. The current mileage was 14,000 and failure mileage was 12,789. Updated 04/23/08.