2000 Mercedes Benz C230

THE VEHICLE'S EXHAUST SYSTEM RATTLED, THERE WERE NUMEROUS ELECTRICAL PROBLEMS, THE CHECK ENGINE LIGHT HAD COME ON INTERMITTENTLY AND WAS RESET BECAUSE THERE WAS NO PROBLEM FOUND, THERE HAD BEEN A POSSIBILITY OF PROBLEMS WITH THE SEAL ON THE FUEL INJECTION AND AIR INJECTION VALVES, THE CLIMATE CONTROL UNIT WAS FAULTY, THE HEATED DRIVER SIDE SEAT DID NOT WORK PROPERLY, AND THE MIDDLE CONSOLE DID NOT CLOSE. SCC *JB

I HAVE HAD A NUMBER OF ELECTRICAL SYSTEM FAILURES WITH MY 2000 MODEL YEAR C230K MERCEDES. THESE HAVE MOSTLY EFFECTED THE CARS SAFETY SYSTEMS WHICH IS A MAJOR CONCERN TO ME. THE FIRST FAILURE WAS A COMPLETE DRAIN OF THE BATTERY CHARGE FOR NO APPARENT REASON AND THE BATTERY WAS REPLACED. SHORTLY AFTERWARDS THE SENSORS OF THE ABS SYSTEM FAILED AND THE TRANSMISSION WAS THEN AUTOMATICALLY LOCKED IN PARKING POSITION AFTER THE NEXT STOP AS A SAFETY FEATURE. MORE RECENTLY FAILURES IN THE SRS SYSTEM HAVE RESULTED IN MERCEDES REPLACING SECTIONS OF MY STEERING COLUMN AND THE WHOLE WIRING HARNESS IN THE CAR. I HAVE JUST MOVED FROM THE USA TO BELGIUM FOR A 2-3 YEAR WORK ASSIGNMENT AND THE CAR IS NOW IN TRANSIT TO BELGIUM. I PURCHASED THE CAR NEW IN THE USA. I WAS VERY UPSET WITH THE WAY MERCEDES HANDLED MY CASE AND I STARTED RESEARCHING ON THE WEB TO SEE IF OTHERS HAD SIMILAR EXPERIENCES. I BELIEVE THERE ARE A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF ISSUES WITH THESE CARS ELECTRICAL SYSTEM BEING POSTED BY OWNERS IN VARIOUS WEB SITES. I HAVE READ REPORTS OF OTHER OWNERS HAVING THEIR BATTERY EXPLODE. ANOTHER OWNER HAD A TAILLIGHT ASSEMBLY TOTALLY MELT DUE TO AN ELECTRICAL SHORT. HOWEVER THE MOST SIGNIFICANT AND MOST RECURRING ISSUES BEING POSTED ARE FAILURES OF THE SRS SYSTEM SIMILAR TO THE FAILURE MY CAR SUFFERED AND THESE FAILURES DO NOT SEEM TO BE LIMITED TO A SPECIFIC MODEL. THE MOST NUMEROUS FAILURE BEING REPORTED IS A FAILURE OF AN ELECTRIC CONTACT IN THE STEERING COLUMN WHICH IS PART OF THE SRS CIRCUIT. THEY ARE REFERRED TO AS "CONTACT RINGS". ON MY CAR THESE WERE REPLACED FIRST AS BASED ON THE TECHNICIANS EXPERIENCE THAT IS WHERE THEY BELIEVED THE PROBLEM EXISTED. THAT DIDN'T FIX THE ISSUE FOR MY SPECIFIC CAR AND AFTER A LOT MESSING 4 WEEKS LATER THE TOTAL HARNESS WAS REPLACED. FOR BACKGROUND THE SRS LIGHT CAME ON CONTINUOUSLY RIGHT BEFORE I HAD PLANNED TO SHIP THE CAR TO BELGIUM. I WAS IN BELGIUM AND DEALT WITH BOTH A DEALERSHIP IN BALTIMORE AND MERCEDES USA TO GET THE ISSUE FIXED.*AK

THE CAR HAS 33,000 MILES ON IT. THE PADS ARE LOW BUT NOT DOWN TO THE INDICATORS. MEANWHILE, THE FRONT ROTORS ARE DOWN TO THE MINIMUM SPECIFICATION WITH NO WARNING. I WAS TOLD THAT ALL ROTORS WOULD GENERALLY REQUIRE REPLACEMENT BY 50,000 MILES ON CAR BECAUSE THEY WOULD BE AT MINIMUM SPEC WHICH IS A VERY UNREALISTIC AND UNSAFE CONDITION. *AK

I WAS ROLLING INTO A PARKING SPACE, ALMOST TO A STOP, WHEN THE ACCELERATOR ACTIVATED. I APPLIED BRAKES, BUT THE CAR CONTINUED TO ACCELERATE. SKID MARKS ARE VISIBLE. THE CAR JUMPED A BLOCK WALL & WAS HEADING TOWARD A BUILDING. I MANAGED TO STEER INTO A CHAIN-LINK FENCE & ONTO A BLOCK WALL TO STOP THE VEHICLE. DAMAGE WAS EXTENSIVE - $6,000 THE CAR WAS CHECKED BY FACTORY REP AFTER REPAIRS & NO CAUSE FOR A STICKING ACCELERATOR WAS FOUND. BUT IT DID STICK! *AK