Other Fuel System Pump problems of the 2004 Mercedes Benz E500

While driving home I smelt smoke. I stopped the car to investigate the smell of smoke that was overpowering the now normal scent of gas which filled my vehicle cabin due to a fuel pump leak. When I exited my vehicle I opened up the drivers side rear passenger door to find smoke emitting from that area. I quickly left the immediate vicinity of the smoldering car and when I turned to look back, I saw flames under my car. I proceeded towards the overpass while moving away from the vehicle attempting to find cellular phone signal, I saw my car now being engulfed in flames. (odi number) 10628900.

Tl-the contact owns a 2004 mercedes-benz E500. The contact stated when he refueled the vehicle to the fuel capacity there was a smell of fuel inside and outside of the vehicle. The problem has occurred numerous of times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer mechanic and the mechanic recommended the replacement of the gasket fuel and fuel pump. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified about the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 106,000. Lb.

Fuel pumps leaking fuel underneath the back seat.

Very strong smell of fuel, exterior rear left side. Found fuel leak, left rear of vehicle, dripping heavy underneath. Took vehicle to a european car shop, mechanic replaced fuel seal of fuel pump under rear seat. Mechanic removed large amount of fuel from the affected area (leak under rear seat).

There is a smell of gas fumes inside and outside of the car. When the tank is full, liquid gas can be seen running from the topside of the tank, to the driver's side fuel pump.

A strong gas smell in the passenger cabin as well as outside driver side passenger door and the check engine light prompted me to take the car to a local dealer. After diagnostic test, dealer indicated there was a leaking fuel purge valve and shut off valve. After a $1,600 quote, I requested they not do the work so I could take it for a second opinion. Was called back later that day and informed of a "miscommunication" and that the car was fixed with a $1,600 bill awaiting me. I worked out a payment agreement with the dealer and never took the car back despite intermittent gas smells in and outside the car and check engine light going on and off. The check engine light came back on for good less than 12 months later. Took car to another local shop where I was told one of the fuel pumps needed to be replaced. $600 later, and 4 more trips back to the shop, the check engine light and strong gas fumes still permeate the car. Took it to shop #3 today and was told there is a crack in the fuel tank. The quote is $1,700. I don't trust the dealer, and believe that the fuel pump replace by shop #2 was not the issue. It appears as if it's been the fuel tank all along. This is clearly a defect in the part as the car has never been in an accident and has less than 70k miles on it currently. It's a safety hazard and with two children, I don't have a choice but to fix the problem. Please let me know if there is anything additional necessary to help conclude this investigation. I'm hoping there will be recourse with mbusa to reimburse it's customers for the faulty part replacement and labor costs. Thank you.

I starting smelling a gassy smell seeping into my house at night and after a few days concluded in had to be coming from the attached garage and subsequently after eliminating all other variables I narrowed it down to the car. I parked it outside for a couple of nights and the smell ceased in the house and garage. I then took the vehicle to pompano mercedes to have them check it out and was informed my seals were bad/leaking at the fuel line connections, so without a choice I had them repaired at a cost of $968. 21 on 9/13/2010. This resolved the problem for about 2 months, then the gassy smell returned. I took the car back to pompano mercedes again and explained that I had the car had the same symptoms of a gassy smell. They checked out the vehicle and informed me at this time I had a different fuel leak and that would require them to replace the entire gas tank and internal fuel pumps and seals at a cost of $3000 this time. Quite unhappy with this diagnosis considering I was just there 2 months prior and thought they had repaired the problem only to find out now it was more encompassing than their first attempt at a fix and it was going to cost a boatload of money to re-repair the problem as I was just over the 50k warranty to boot. With the news of the extended warranty settlement at this time I strongly feel my vehicle issues are as described in the class action suit and I should be entitled to reimbursement for the $968. 21 I spent at mercedes discretion.

There has been a strong gasoline smell following a tank fill that fills the garage with gasoline fumes. This problem has been occuring for at least the last 5 years. I entered 1/1/2009 on the form data as an approximate begin date. The fuel smell can be detected in the vehicle at times, but is extremely strong immediately after fill-up. An internet search has revealed that this is a common problem on all mercedes e class models from 2003-2009. I have asked continually about this problem at the mercedes dealer, now mercedes of natick, formerly foreign motors west in natick, massachusetts. Service personnel have denied that there was/is any pattern or problem and indicated that this problem seemed to affect my car only. Only recently have they indicated that at times they have had to replace the fuel tank and both sending units at an out of pocket cost of $850 -$2000. All this for a problem that current research indicates that mercedes has known about for more than 7 years. A class action lawsuit was filed in texas in 2012 for this exact problem. The dealer has offered no financial assistance in this repair, but did indicate that after I paid for the repair, that they would try to contact Mercedes Benz for assistance. While nice, this still puts the entire financial burden on me with only a hope that assistance would come later. So far I have declined the repair. While some vehicles were included under a voluntary recall in 2008, my vehicle was not one of them. In fact, I have never been contacted by Mercedes Benz for this problem. I asked about this issue only 2 weeks ago, late June 2014, and was told that there is no factory repair campaign or recall at this time. This morning I removed the bench portion of the rear seat, folded back the insulating pad and removed the metal access plate for the left side fuel sending/fuel pump unit. Gas was visible.