Table 1 shows one common seat belt related problems of the 1997 Mercedes Benz SL500.
| Problem Category | Number of Problems |
|---|---|
| Seat Belt problems |
Vehicle has approx. 209k miles. Sunday 1/19/20 driving wb on montauk highway (nys 27a?) at quogue NY. Speed approx. 35-40 mph. Slight turn/bend in road to the right. Sunny, dry pavement. No other cars following or ahead, either direction. Very loud bang heard inside cabin, both seatbelts immediately tightened and both driver and passenger felt strong air blast; that each described as being hit in chest. Sound/airblast followed immediately by a burning/gunpowder smell and slight white smoke in cabin. Srs light on dashboard went on. Pulled to side of road and observed no objects in road behind vehicle. Also, no potholes or road defects, only smooth pavement. No damage to front or side of vehicle observed. Passenger side seatbelt retracted but locked. Driver's seatbelt retracted and functioned after incident. Assumed both airbags (driver and passenger ) activated but did not deploy. Car was driven home with srs light and non working passenger seatbelt. Mb dealer service dept. (huntington mb) denies this could have happened (airbag activation and/or no deployment). Says probably seatbelt.