Front Seat Heater/cooler Problems of Mercedes Benz GL450

The contact owns a 2007 mercedes-benz Gl450. The contact stated that while her husband was driving at an undisclosed speed, he felt a sharp pinch coming from the driver’s side seat. Upon further inspection, the contact’s husband noticed an abnormal hole with smoke coming from the driver’s side seat. There was no visible fire present. No medical attention was sought. No warning light was illuminated. The local dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired due to the cost. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 190,000.

See all problems of the 2007 Mercedes Benz GL450 🔎.

On November 17, 2020, I turned my driver seat heater and suddenly smelled something burning. After several minutes driving I decided to turn of the heater, the burning sensation on my back was intense. Once I parked, I noticed a hole in my seat the size of a quarter! I checked my clothing and noticed it melted the elastic part at the bottom my jacket.

Tl the contact owns a 2007 mercedes-benz Gl450. The contact stated that the driver's seat heater burned through the seat and her coat. An abnormal burning odor was detected and flames appeared. The contact extinguished the fire. There were no injuries. The vehicle was taken to euro motorcars bethesda (7020 arlington rd, bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 986-8800) where it was diagnosed that the seat needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 83,000.

While driving to work this morning, I turned on the drivers side seat warmer. Less than three minutes later, I noticed a strong odor followed by a considerable amount of smoke and heat coming from the side of the seat nearest the door. I felt what I thought was something poking me in the left rear pocket of my pants, and burned the back of my knuckle checking for the source of the heat. I immediately shut off the heater and pulled off at the first safe location. I exited the vehicle (a pall of smoke followed me) and knocked the smoking embers out of the vehicle (a hole larger than a quarter is burned in the seat). I also noticed a hole was burned through my pants. Apparently, I came very close to significant personal injury, not to mention the fact of possible loss of control of the vehicle. We called the dealer and they scheduled the car for next Monday. Researching into the issue, mine is not an isolated case as there are multiple class action lawsuits and complaints with the NHTSA. Obviously, these seats are defective, mercedes is aware, the passenger seat is next and is not safe.

2 complaints -1 I was driving w/out a coat on & turned the drivers seat heater on. Then I started feeling a sharp, stinging pain on my back and started smelling the burning of what turned out to be the seat. I almost had an accident trying to get what I thought was a stinging or biting insect off my back. Once I realized it was the seat heater, I turned the seat heater off, only to find I now have a hole in my seat. If mercedes knows they have this problem, as I have come to read here, they should warn people not to use the heaters to avoid an accident and avoid having a hole in the seat or replace the seat and heater. #2 the front air suspension shock crashed on the front of my car. My car sat in the dealership for over a month waiting for mercedes to reengineer the air shock. Finally, they told us to buy an aftermarket and they would install. Shortly thereafter rear of the car wouldn't level and they said it was the compressor so that was replaced. But still the rear was uneven so they replaced both rear shocks and still the car wouldn't level. Then they had the nerve to tell me it was the front aftermarket and they now needed to be replaced. And the dealer told me the car was a 2007 so what should I expect. I stopped going to the dealer and instead took it to a private shop. They replaced a sensor for a minimal charge and the car has been fine since.

The contact owns a 2007 Mercedes Benz Gl450. While driving at approximately 20 mph, the front driver side seat caught fire and burned a hole in the side of the seat while the heated seat feature was engaged. The contact turned the heated seat feature off and the fire was extinguished. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries reported. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 83,000. The VIN was unavailable.

We had left the home - drove approximately 3 minutes at 20 miles an hour with the seat heater on. All of a sudden the seat started to smoke - it had caught fire. We had a baby in the car, were travelling down a mountain road in aspen. We pulled over to the side of the road and thankfully were able to put the fire out with snow from a snow bank (what would have happened if it was in the summer?). There is a big hole in our car seat now and obviously - we are not able to use the seat heaters. I see from the reports here that this has happened many times with the same vehicle -- there should be a recall done for this issue on this vehicle as someone may be injured severely in the future.

The contact owns a 2007 Mercedes Benz Gl450. While driving approximately 35 mph, the front driver side seat started to smoke and burned through the seat and the contact¿s clothing. There were no injuries. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that there was a shortage in the heated seat element. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.

The contact owns a 2007 Mercedes Benz Gl450. The contact stated that while driving approximately 70 mph, the seat heater was activated and the drivers side seat caught on fire. The contact sustained minor injuries to the lower back and hip which did not require medical attention. A police report was not filed. The dealer was made aware of the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the problem. The failure mileage was 96,000. The VIN was not available. Pam.

I was in my 2007 mercedes Gl450 and had driven approx. 2 miles with my front driver's seat heater on. I started to notice a strange smell and suddenly the cabin was starting to fill up with smoke. I immediately stopped the vehicle and discovered the left side of the back of my front drivers seat was on fire. Snow was on the ground so I scooped up snow to pack in the fire/hot spot which had burned a large hole through the vinyl and inside padding material. I later noticed that my jacket had burn marks and a hole in the exact location of the point of the fire.

Tl-the contact owns a 2007 Mercedes Benz Gl450. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed, the seat heaters over heated causing the driver seat to catch on fire. The contact suffered from burns. The vehicle was taken to a dealer. The technician was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 68,690. Pam.

Driving in new jersey on route 80 west for 1-2 miles there was a strong odor of burnt wires that smell so bad and have noticed that the smoke was coming from underneath the passenger seat. It went on for few minutes where the wires actually caught on fire and milted together. Stopped the car, shot the engine off, with windows open and tried to pull the wires apart to prevent further damage. . . . But could not separate the wires from each other. Called the mb dealer near our location and brought the car in after the mbusa suggested towing it in and later we were told that the vehicle was safe to drive to the dealer. The local mb dealer manager I talked to was very helpful and understandable and he tries to support me the best way he could where he agreed to look at the car at reduced rate to help out to try to figure out the issue. The car is at the mb dealer now. Mbusa sent an expert to inspect the car at the mb dealer and after a week I was told that no one knows what happened. Mbusa ruled out any connections to a previous work done mb dealer on the driver seat heater. I was also told, by mbusa, that the issue is an internal and they can¿t discuss that with me and I should go thru my car insurance since vehicle was out of warranty. The dealer told me that it¿s approx. $12,000 job to replace the main harness which was responsible for this damage. I have spent so much money to purchase this SUV which supposed to be safe and reliable for me and my family and never expect this to ever happen¦. Perhaps we brought a lemon.

Drivers side seat heater burned through seat causing smoke and hole.

Driver's seat turning from gray to yellow to brown. Wife and I noticed burning smell while using seat heater and noticed seat is burned. Notifying Mercedes Benz.

2007 mercedes Gl450- turned on seat heaters and within a couple minutes smelt burning material. Discovered the seat heater was burning a hole in the left side of the driver seat back. Turned off the seat heater but it had already burned a hole about the size of a dime. Took it immediately to the dealer where they stated they have seen the same problem before. They are ordering a replacement seat back, but are not willing to address my concerns about the other seat.

2007 mercedes Gl450 on Dec 11 2009 I noticed the smell of something burning while driving my SUV. Shortly thereafter I felt an intense burning along my left lower back. I immediately pulled over and exited the vehicle. Along the left side back of the drivers seat was a 1. 5 x 0. 5inch hole burnt through the fabric. I was using the seat heater at the time. The incident damaged my pants and leather jacket.

2007 mercedes gl . Turned on seat warmer, minutes later, both people in car started coughing because of fumes. Driver felt something burning, seat heater burned a hole in leather seat, driver's shirt and on body.