2000 Mercedes Benz E320

ON JULY 5TH ON A BUSY CITY STREET IN CHARLOTTE NC THE BRAKES SUDDENLY LOCKED AND BROUGHT THE CAR TO A STOP. THE CARS BEHIND ME WERE ABLE TO AVOID A REAR END ACCIDENT. THERE WERE NO WARNING LIGHTS ON AT THE TIME BUT ONCE THE BRAKES LOCKED THE BAS/ESP LIGHTS APPEARED. I GOT OFF OF THE STREET AND TURNED THE CAR OFF AND ON THE RESTART ALL LIGHTS WENT OFF. TRIED TO DRIVE THE CAR HOME BUT WITHIN ONE MILE THE SAME THING HAPPENED AGAIN. I WAS SCARED TO DRIVE IT SO I HAD TO BE TOWED. *TR

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 MERCEDES BENZ E320. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEED, THE VEHICLE MADE A SQUEAKING AND SCRAPING NOISE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A PRIVATE MECHANIC WHO INSPECTED THE VEHICLE AND FOUND THAT THE PASSENGER FRONT COILS SPRING HOLDER HAD CORRODED AND CAUSED THE SPRING TO RELEASE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 200,000.

THE "IDIOT" LIGHT MESSAGES CAME ON AS FOLLOWS: BRAKE ASSIST, ESP, VISIT WORKSHOP FOLLOWED BY: ELECT. STABIL. PROG., ESP, VISIT WORKSHOP. THESE MESSAGES THEN WENT AWAY, BUT RETURNED SEVERAL DAYS LATER. NO ISSUES COULD BE DETERMINED AS TO WHAT COULD BE WRONG. THIS PATTERN RE-OCCURRED OVER A COUPLE OF DAYS. IS THERE A RECALL OR A SERVICE BULLETIN RELATED TO THIS MAKE, YEAR, AND MODEL, RELATED TO THE MESSAGE THAT COMES UP PERIODICALLY? *TR

ON TURNING THE KEY IN THE IGNITION WITH FOOT ON BRAKE PEDAL, CAR STARTED, IMMEDIATELY RED-LINED, AND STARTED SHAKING AS THE RPM LIMITER KICKED IN. THE BRAKE PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED, NOT THE ACCELERATOR. REMOVED FOOT FROM BRAKE AND VISUALLY CONFIRMED CORRECT FOOT PLACEMENT BEFORE REAPPLYING PRESSURE TO THE BRAKE PEDAL. DURING REMOVAL OF FOOT FROM BRAKE PEDAL TO VISUALLY CONFIRM, CAR CONTINUED TO REDLINE. TURNED ENGINE OFF VIA KEY WITHIN 5-10 SECONDS OF OCCURRENCE. VERIFIED THAT FLOOR MAT WAS NOT BETWEEN THE FLOOR AND THE ACCELERATOR. ENGINE RESTARTED WITHOUT INCIDENT. MENTIONED THE OCCURRENCE TO LOCAL MB DEALERSHIP BUT NO CODES WERE FOUND WHEN CAR WAS TAKEN IN FOR ROUTINE SERVICE A FEW MONTHS LATER. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THE ACCELERATOR WAS ACTUATED SLIGHTLY VIA THE ALL WEATHER MB FLOORMATS THAT HAD RECENTLY BEEN INSTALLED IN CAR MIGRATING FORWARD AND GETTING WEDGED BETWEEN THE FLOOR OF THE CAR AND THE BOTTOM EDGE OF THE ACCELERATOR. THE INCLUDED ALLIGATOR CLIPS HAD NOT BEEN INSTALLED WITH THE FLOOR MATS. HOWEVER, WITH THE ENGINE ON AND CAR IN PARK, MANUALLY WEDGING THE FLOOR MAT BETWEEN THE FLOOR AND THE PEDAL DID NOT DUPLICATE THE ENGINE REDLINING. REGARDLESS, THE CLIPS WERE PROMPTLY INSTALLED AFTER THIS OCCURRENCE AND THE FLOOR MAT HAS NOT MIGRATED FORWARD UNDER THE GAS PEDAL SINCE. IT IS UNCLEAR IF THE UNINTENDED REDLINING ON STARTING THE ENGINE WAS DUE TO THE PRESSURE OF THE FLOOR MAT BETWEEN THE FLOOR AND THE ACCELERATOR OR SOME OTHER ISSUE. EITHER WAY, THE UNINTENDED REDLINING HAS NOT RECURRED SINCE. NOTE: THE WEB INTERFACE INSISTS ON OFFERING "HEADLIGHT LENS" AS THE ONLY OPTION UNDER EQUIPMENT. THE ABOVE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE HEADLIGHT LENS. *TR

THE EVENT INVOLVED MY 2000 E320 SEDAN. I HAD DRIVEN TO ALBUQUERQUE AND USED MY CRUISE CONTROL AS USUAL - IT WAS STILL ON BUT NOT ENGAGED. I ENTERED KIRTLAND AFB, WHERE I STOPPED AT THE GUARD SHACK TO PRESENT MY ID AND THEN STARTED DOWN WYOMING STREET AT 25 MPH. SUDDENLY, THE ACCELERATOR WAS DRAWN DOWN TO THE FLOOR AND THE CAR ACCELERATED LIKE A ROCKET! I GRABBED THE WHEEL WITH BOTH HAND AND STOOD ON THE BRAKE PEDAL WITH BOTH FEET, ALMOST STOPPING BEFORE I OVERTOOK AND HIT A PICKUP TRUCK THAT HAD BEEN THREE BLOCKS AHEAD OF ME. NO INJURIES. ABOUT $5000 DAMAGE TO MY CAR FROM ENGULFING THE HUGE TOWBAR ON THE TRUCK (GRILL, HOOD, RADIATOR, POWER STEERING CONTROL, ETC. - ACTUALLY NO MAJOR DAMAGE). MERCEDES SERVICE PEOPLE STATED THAT THEY COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG WITH THE CAR TO EXPLAIN THE SPONTANEOUS ACCELERATION. *TR

1) NO INDICATION PRIOR TO EVENT 2) ALL 3 PASSENGER SIDE AIRBAGS DEPLOYED SIMULTANEOUSLY AT 70 MPH WITH NO PROVOCATION. NO EXTERIOR DAMAGE TO VEHICLE. NO DISRUPTION IN THE ROAD SURFACE. NO PERSONAL INJURIES RESULTED. CAR HAS BEEN UNUSABLE WHILE WAITING FOR RESPONSE FROM MANUFACTURER. 3) VEHICLE WAS TOWED TO A DEALER AND INSPECTED BY: INSURER, DEALER, REGIONAL OFFICE OF MANUFACTURER. NO CAUSE HAS BEEN DETERMINED. NO ACTION HAS OCCURRED FOR REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT. MANUFACTURER HAS BEEN UNFORTHCOMING IN DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION ON PROGRESS OF CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE CARE (CAC) FILE. *TR