Table 1 shows one common exterior lighting related problems of the 2008 Mercedes Benz R350.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Exterior Lighting problems |
Electrical wiring around headlamps is crumbling and exposing large lengths of bare wires, with up to about 6" of copper wiring exposed in the engine compartment. I replaced a burned out halogen headlamp in June, the other one in August, and the first one went out again about a week ago (and this rate of headlamp replacement is more or less typical; I keep two spares in my car at all times, as burnouts are so frequent). The bare wires may be contributing to the extremely short bulb life and could also cause arcing and potentially an engine fire. Although an engine fire has not happened yet, the arcing is extremely likely. However, the area where this occurs is so has extremely restricted access and direct vision into and around the headlamp mount is not possible. Only upon inserting my iphone into the available space was I able to see the extent of the wiring insulation deterioration. Virtually all of the segmented insulation on the brown wire flaked off on my fingers when I installed the new headlamp. Although the brown wire was most affected, the yellow wire also shows significant signs of deterioration. I worked in the automotive industry for over ten years as an oem supplier and vehicle manufacturer and such defects as this tend to indicate inferior materials or manufacturing processes. Materials this fragile should have been caught in the qa process and returned to the supplier before installation on the assembly line.