Tank Mounting Problems of Mercedes Benz SL500

The baffle inside the gas tank has come loose and is hitting the inside of the tank. The only time it isn't noisy is when the tank is full. After contacting mercedes of utah, they advised they haven't heard of the problem. I don't know if there is a safety issue with the baffle being loose but it is a great concern to me.

See all problems of the 2003 Mercedes Benz SL500 🔎.

Mercedes-benz built baffles inside the fuel tank to prevent fuel sloshing noise during stop and go motion. These baffles were poorly designed and weakly welded into place resulting in them coming loose and banging around inside the fuel tank. Being a small convertible and given that fuel tank is immediately behind passenger compartment, end result is a very loud banging noise making driving a slow torture. Aside from irritating loud banging noise there is also a potential of explosion since this is a moving metal part inside a metal fuel tank containing gasoline as both liquid and fumes. There are also many reported instances of this design flaw with some dealers reporting 10 fuel tanks replaced in 1 week. . Read more...

1. Events leading up to failure. Driver started noticing "sloshing" sound coming from gas tank area. Next day, a rattling noise starting coming from gas tank area each time the car would come to a stop. The noise was consistent with something floating around and hitting something mental inside. The sound comes from the gas tank area, consistent with a loose piece of metal floating in the gas tank. 2. Upon inspection, the baffle within the gas tank had broken off and was loose, floating in the gas tank. Each time the driver comes to a stop, the baffle will float around and bang on the inside of the gas tank. Preliminary inspection reveals that subsequent model year gas tanks are differently designed to prevent such failure. Consequences of having a loose piece of metal floating around the gas take are extremely serious. If not taken care of promptly, there is a potential that the metal piece may damage the gas tank and cause a fire or other harm. 3. The entire gas tank must be removed -- a $3000 procedure. Because of the nature of the defect, many repairs will fall outside of the warranty period. The dealer pretends as though this is an uncommon issue. Independent mercedes shops confirm this is a widespread issue.