Owners filed 10 complaints about this vehicle with federal regulators, most often about the electrical system › wiring. No safety recall has been issued.
| Component | Reports | Crashes | Fires | Injuries | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Electrical System › Wiring | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Electrical System | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Vehicle Speed Control | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tires | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Service Brakes, Hydraulic › Foundation Components › Disc › Rotor | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Engine and Engine Cooling › Engine › Gasoline | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| Electrical System › Wiring › Front Underhood | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
THE WIRING HARNESS ON MY 1993 MERCEDES 400SEL IS DEFECTIVE. AFTER TALKING WITH A MERCEDES MECHANIC, HE INFORMS ME HOW IMPORTANT THIS HARNESS IS AND WHAT COULD HAPPEN WHEN IT FAILS. THE WIRES ARE CRACKING AND SPLITTING AND ARE DRIED OUT. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS CONDITION. AFTER DOING THE RESEARCH, IT WAS DISCOVERED THAT MERCEDES KNOWS THE HARNESSES WERE DEFECTIVE AND HAS CHOSEN TO IGNORE THE PROBLEM. NO INJURIES OR DEATH AT THIS TIME. *TR
I HAVE A 1993 400 SEL MERCEDES BENZ THAT HAS HAD PROBLEMS FOR YEARS AND NOW TURNS OUT TO BE A DEFECTIVE ENGINE WIRING HARNESS. IT HAS LEFT ME STRANDED ON THE SIDE OF A BUSY HIGHWAY RECENTLY WHICH ALMOST GOT ME KILLED WHEN I GOT OUT OF THE CAR. *TR
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 1993 MERCEDES BENZ 400 SEL. THE VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED USED WITH SUMITOMO HTRZ2 TIRES AND TIRE SIZE, 245/35R20. THE CONTACT NOTICED A SPLIT ON THE REAR DRIVER'S SIDE TIRE. FOUR OR FIVE MONTHS LATER, HE NOTICED NUMEROUS SPLITS ON THE TIRE. HE ALREADY REPLACED BOTH FRONT TIRES. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED, BUT THE CONTACT BELIEVES THAT THESE TIRES NEED TO BE RECALLED. WHEN THE FIRST TWO TIRES WERE REPAIRED, THE DEFECTIVE TIRES WERE NOT INSPECTED AT ANY SHOP. THE TIRE SIZE WAS UNKNOWN. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 95,000 AND CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 107,000.
1993 400 SEL WIRING HARNESS # 140 540 1132 ROTTED AWAY. *AK
HELLO, RECENTLY STARTED HAVING PROBLEMS WITH MY ASR SYSTEM ON MY 1993 MB 400E AND THE SERVICE WRITER TOLD ME MY WIRING HARNESS WAS FAULTY,CRACKED AND WAS TURNING TO DUST ! HE SAID IF I DIDN'T FIX IT WOULD CAUSE ME SERIOUS PROBLEMS - EVEN POSSIBLY AN ENGINE FIRE ! HE TOLD ME COST TO REPLACE THE WIRE HARNESS + LABOR WOULD BE ABOUT $ 1080.00. COME TO FIND OUT TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HAVE THIS PROBLEM. WHY DON'T YOU FOLKS GET MERCEDES TO ISSUE A SAFETY RECALL !! HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE OR GET BURNED ALIVE BEFORE YOU HELP THE PUBLIC THAT YOUR SUPPOSED TO PROTECT !! PLEASE HELP US--THANKS FOR YOUR TIME. *JB
ENGINE WIRING HARNESS WAS DETERIORATED COMPLETELY CAUSING ENGINE PROBLEMS,STALLING IN TRAFFIC. IT WAS CORRECTED BY BUYING A NEW WIRING HARNESS. THE OLD PART WAS KEPT. IT IS UNDERSTOOD BY ME THAT THE INSULATION USED WAS BIODEGRADABLE. *JB
THE DESIGN AND LOCATION OF THE SPARK PLUGS CAUSES A VERY SERIOUS SAFETY HAZARD. IN ORDER TO REPLACE OR INSPECT THE PLUGS WIRE HARNESS NEEDED TO BE UNBOLTED AND PUSHED BACKWARDS, WIRE HARNESS SHOULDN'T BE MOVED. WIRE HARNESS SHORTED OUT, CAUSING A SHORT OUT OF ALL COMPONENTS IN THAT CIRCUIT.*AK
THE VEHICLE CAUGHT FIRE AFTER MILDLY REARENDING ANOTHER VEHICLE. *AK
VEHICLE INTERMITTENTLY SURGES AT SPEEDS OF 10-20 MPH. *AW
BRAKE AND ROTOR WEAR OUT AT 4,000 MILES. TT
10 of 10 complaints, reproduced as filed.
No unusual pattern of severe incidents in the complaint record.
Complaint counts track how many cars were sold and how long they have been on the road as much as they track quality. A common model from 2013 has had a decade to accumulate reports; a rare one from last year has not. The signal worth weighing is in the severity columns, in whether the same component keeps appearing, and in whether the manufacturer eventually opened a recall for it.
Most recent recall on file: none. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.