2012 Mercedes-Benz E550 problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Air Bags (8) · Steering (4) · Seat Belts (2)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Mercedes-Benz E550 model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
Safety recalls (4)
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2019-01-09 · campaign 19V010000 · 288,779 vehicles
Defect: Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2014 C250, C300 4Matic, C350, C63 AMG, E350 4Matic Coupe, E350 Cabrio, E350 Coupe, SLS AMG Cabrio, SLS AMG Coupe, 2014-2015 C250 Coupe, C350 4Matic Coupe, C350 Coupe, C63 AMG Coupe, GLK 350, GLK250 BlueTec 4Matic, GLK350 RWD, 2015-2017 E400 4Matic Coupe, E400 Cabrio, E400 Coupe, 2014-2017 E550 Cabrio, and 2014-2016 E550 Coupe vehicles sold, or ever registered, in the states of AL, CA, FL, GA, HI, LA, MS, SC, TX, PR, AS, GU, the MP, and VI or "Z
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the passenger or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag module, free of charge. The recall began March 29, 2019. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372.
Air Bags:frontal 2017-10-06 · campaign 17V627000 · 495,290 vehicles
Defect: Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. (MBUSA) is recalling these vehicles: 2014-2018 CLA250, CLA250 4Matic, CLA45 AMG 4Matic, 2015-2018 GLA250, GLA250 4Matic, GLA45 AMG 4Matic, C300 4Matic, C63S AMG, 2012-2014 C250, C350, C300 4Matic, E550 4Matic, 2013-2014 C63 AMG, 2012-2015 C250 Coupe, C350 Coupe, C63 AMG Coupe, 2013-2015 C350 4Matic Coupe, GLK250 4Matic BlueTec, GLK350, GLK350 4Matic, 2016-2017 C350e, C43 AMG, 2015 C400 4Matic, 2016-2018 C63 AMG, GLC300, GLC300 4Matic, 2017-2018 C300 Coupe, C300 4Matic Cou
Risk: If the driver air bag inadvertently deploys, it can increase the risk of injury and a crash.
Fix: MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will add sufficient grounding to the steering components, free of charge. The recall began in December 6, 2017. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-877-496-3691.
Air Bags:frontal:passenger Side:inflator Module 2017-01-10 · campaign 17V017000 · 104,119 vehicles
Defect: Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2012 C300 4Matic, C250, C250 Coupe, C350, C350 Coupe 4Matic, C350 Coupe, C63 AMG, C63 AMG Coupe, E350 Coupe 4Matic, E350 Cabrio, E350 Coupe, E550 Cabrio, E550 Coupe, GLK350 4Matic, GLK350, SLS AMG Cabrio, and SLS AMG Coupe vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the
Risk: An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
Fix: MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag modules, free of charge. Owners were sent an interim notification in March 2017. Second notices started going out in October 2018 and continue to be mailed as parts become available. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-877-496-3691
Air Bags:side/Window 2012-10-09 · campaign 12V492000 · 499 vehicles
Defect: Mercedes-Benz is recalling certain model year 2012 E350 and E550 Coupe vehicles, manufactured April 2, 2012, through June 29, 2012. Improper stitching of the right side window curtain air bag may cause it to not deploy as intended in the affected vehicles.
Risk: In the event of an accident necessitating the deployment of the right window curtain air bag, the improper stitching may cause it to deflate more quickly than intended, reducing the protection it may provide, resulting in an increased risk of injury to vehicle occupants.
Fix: Mercedes-Benz will notify owners, and dealers will replace the right side window curtain air bag. The recall began on December 21, 2012. Owners may contact Mercedes-Benz at 1-800-367-6372.
Service bulletins (142)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Service Brakes 2026-09-22 · LI42.10-P-078779 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
complaint repeat workshop visit for vehicle vibration while braking from 60mph. note: although the symptom is similar to a tire or wheel vibration, it is usually readily noticeable that it is distinctly different if it happens at all times or only while braking. cause although the cause of the vibra
Structure:body 2026-09-14 · LI82.62-P-078631 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
complaint clanking noise from the area of the speakers in the doors. cause under analysis. remedy to narrow down the cause, first of all remove the door trim. • if the noise continues to occur even with the door trim removed, then continue the diagnosis working towards the speaker and if necessary,
Electrical System 2026-08-06 · LI82.85-P-079087 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
complaint a popup is seen on the hu with the message "data connection temporarily not available". potentially affected functionalities in ntg4.5, ntg5 1.weather 2.local search 3.ip radio 4.send2car 5.speech detection service 6.navigation 7.iheartradio 8.traffic cams cause mb apps is sundowned for al
Structure:body 2026-08-06 · LI82.62-P-078631 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
complaint clanking noise from the area of the speakers in the doors. cause under analysis. remedy to narrow down the cause, first of all remove the door trim. • if the noise continues to occur even with the door trim removed, then continue the diagnosis working towards the speaker and if necessary,
Power Train 2026-07-14 · LI35.30-P-058566 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
single throttle lift-off clunking noise from the side shaft when moving off (audible at the outboard end). the noise is heard once in each instance when changing direction of travel. note: sound file in attachment cause if the complaint is eliminated by experimentally loosening the outboard collar n
Electrical System 2026-05-26 · LI82.85-P-080507 · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
complaint after successful commissioning of the hermes control unit (n112/9) with xentry diagnosis dvd 03/2026, the message "sos - service not activated" appears on the instrument cluster. in addition, the following two conditions are also met: • hermes (n112/9) control unit: event code b15ce00 is a
Showing the 6 most recent of 142 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2025-06-12 · Steering · 69,000 mi“the contact owns a 2012 mercedes-benz e550. the contact stated that while occupying the vehicle while the vehicle was parked, the ignition switch failed to detect the key fob. the vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the electric steering rack had failed and needed to be replaced or reprogrammed. the vehicle was…”
2024-12-05 · Service Brakes, Hydraulic · 💥 crash“the contact owned a 2012 mercedes-benz e550. the contact stated while her husband was driving 20-25 mph and making a right turn, the brake pedal was depressed but traveled down to the floorboard, and the vehicle failed to respond. the contact's husband stood on the brake pedal; however, the vehicle failed to respond and crashed into a small ditch. …”
2024-02-08 · Steering“the electronic steering lock (esl) will fail and cause the vehicle to become disabled. the failure of this part will leave the owner strained and unable to use any functions of the car. you can’t even put the vehicle into neutral to move the vehicle. everything is locked. there have been numerous reports of this failure on various mercedes benz for…”
2023-08-28 · Fuel System, Gasoline · 80,000 mi“the contact owns a 2012 mercedes-benz e550. the contact stated while driving 55 mph, there was an abnormal fuel odor inside the vehicle. there was no warning light illuminated. the vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the fuel sender unit was cracked, and that fuel was leaking into the rear seats of the vehicle. the con…”
2023-05-14 · Steering“my car will not start and i get a message stating "remove key from ignition" every time i insert the key to try to start the car. it appears that the esl has failed. i have visited several mb forums and it appears that this is a common issue, regardless of car mileage. this is a factory defect that really needs to be recalled and fixed.…”
2020-08-12 · Steering · 113,000 mi“i was backing the car when the steering became stiff and a message stating 'power steering malfunction see owners manual' appeared. i turned the car off and restarted an hour later and the same message appeared. steering was very difficult. thankfully, it didn't happen at a high speed or turning.…”
2020-07-07 · Air Bags“tl* takata recall. the contact owns a 2012 mercedes-benz e550. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 19v010000 (air bags) however, the part needed for the repair was not available. the contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. mercedes-benz of alexandria (200 s pickett st,…”
2019-08-07 · Air Bags“tl* takata recall. the contact owns a 2012 mercedes-benz e550. the contact received a recall notification for nhtsa campaign number: 19v010000 (air bags). the part needed for the repair was not available. the contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. the contact called mercedes-benz of union ra…”
2019-05-01 · Wheels · 110,000 mi“i am now officially on my 3rd set of wheels, 16 flat tires, and now had to replace every single component in the air suspension almost 8k into the repairs…”
2019-04-12 · Air Bags“tl* takata recall. the contact owns a 2012 mercedes-benz e550. the contact received notification of nhtsa campaign number: 17v017000 (air bags). the contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. mercedes-benz of ft. pierce (4500 s us-1, fort pierce, fl 34982, (772) 617-0819) was contacted and confi…”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.