The defect
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2013 C250, C250 Coupe, C350 Coupe 4Matic, C300 4Matic, C350, C350 Coupe, C63 AMG, C63 Coupe, E350 Cabrio, E350 Coupe, E550 Cabrio, E350 Coupe 4Matic, E550 Coupe, GLK350 4Matic, GLK250 Bluetec 4Matic, GLK350, SLS Coupe, SLS AMG GT Coupe, and SLS Roadster vehicles sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands or "Zone A." Additionally, MBUSA is recalling certain 2010 C300, C300 4Matic, C63 AMG, E350 Coupe, E550 Coupe, GLK350, and GLK350 4Matic vehicles ever registered in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia or "Zone B." MBUSA is also recalling certain 2009 C300, C300 4Matic, C63 AMG, and C350 vehicles ever registered in the states of AK, CO, CT, ID, IA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, NH, NY, ND, OR, RI, SD, UT, VT, WA, WI and WY or "Zone C." In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these passenger air bag inflator may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
The risk
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
The remedy
MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag module, free of charge. Mercedes issued an interim notification to owners on February 23, 2018. A second notice will be mailed when remedy parts are available. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-877-496-3691.
NHTSA's own wording · initiated by ODI
Vehicles covered
| Model | Model years |
|---|---|
| Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 | 2010, 2013 |
| Mercedes-Benz C250 | 2013 |
| Mercedes-Benz C300 | 2009, 2010, 2013 |
| Mercedes-Benz C350 | 2009, 2013 |
| Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG | 2009 |
| Mercedes-Benz E350 | 2010, 2013 |
| Mercedes-Benz E550 | 2010, 2013 |
| Mercedes-Benz GLK250 | 2013 |
| Mercedes-Benz GLK350 | 2010, 2013 |
| Mercedes-Benz SLS | 2013 |
Components: AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
Model years in this recall
NHTSA complaints and the number of recall campaigns for each model year this recall covers.
| Model | Year | Complaints | Recalls |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 | 2010 | 1 | 2 |
| Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 | 2013 | 5 | 6 |
| Mercedes-Benz C250 | 2013 | 278 | 7 |
| Mercedes-Benz C300 | 2009 | 576 | 8 |
| Mercedes-Benz C300 | 2010 | 453 | 6 |
| Mercedes-Benz C300 | 2013 | 261 | 6 |
| Mercedes-Benz C350 | 2009 | 65 | 7 |
| Mercedes-Benz C350 | 2013 | 21 | 6 |
| Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG | 2009 | 3 | 1 |
| Mercedes-Benz E350 | 2010 | 184 | 4 |
| Mercedes-Benz E350 | 2013 | 164 | 6 |
| Mercedes-Benz E550 | 2010 | 68 | 3 |
| Mercedes-Benz E550 | 2013 | 16 | 5 |
| Mercedes-Benz GLK250 | 2013 | 6 | 6 |
| Mercedes-Benz GLK350 | 2010 | 241 | 5 |
| Mercedes-Benz GLK350 | 2013 | 137 | 6 |
| Mercedes-Benz SLS | 2013 | 0 | 3 |
Other air bags recalls in 2018
85 of the 912 recall campaigns reported to NHTSA in 2018 concerned the air bags; Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. filed 199 campaigns in all.
| 18V912000 19 Dec 2018 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 18V905000 19 Dec 2018 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 18V887000 13 Dec 2018 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 18V883000 12 Dec 2018 | Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing |
| 18V868000 6 Dec 2018 | General Motors LLC |
| 18V838000 27 Nov 2018 | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| 18V836000 27 Nov 2018 | Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. |
| 18V806000 14 Nov 2018 | Ford Motor Company |
NHTSA recalls (public domain) · all recalls of 2018