Hard braking suddenly activated without driver input, smoke coming from front wheels. YAW SENSOR malfunction indicated by OBD scanner (checked after incident)
Mercedes Benz ML320 fire or smoke problems
24 of the 741 owner complaints about the Mercedes Benz ML320 describe fire, smoke or burning smell, most of them for the 2002 model year.
- owner complaints
- 24
- worst model year
- 2002
- typical mileage
- 89,000
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
Our vehicle caught fire. My wife and I had just gotten off of the interstate when we started to smell an odd smell. We pulled into a hotel parking lot where we started to see smoke coming from the front of the vehicle. I stopped the vehicle in a hotel driveway, put the vehicle in park. We got out of the vehicle and saw flames underneath the vehicle. We called 911 and hotel staff tried to extinguish the fire but it continued to grow. The fire dept. Arrived and put out the fire. Photos are attached.
Went to start my car seat belt blew up ,smoke coming out now will not work will not retract .how can mercedes make such a dangerous product and not be be sued for such a crappy dangerous product.this not a isolated or freak occurance have read numerous similar on line.
Suddenly I could not gain or get any more speed. I was just coasting along, I then arrived at my destination and got out and smelled burning smell from front wheels. I could not get out of the gear I was in.
The braking system failed and worked again after some pumping and coasting to avoid collision. The car then caught on fire.
My ml320 vehicle was driven for approximately five hours round trip then parked for the evening. I attempted to start the vehicle the following morning and the vehicle would not start. After doing an exhaustive diagnostic on the vehicle. I removed the fuel pump from inside the fuel tank. I saw that the wiring harness/connector for the hot lead was black and brown in color and the plastic around the harness had melted. I took pictures and stored the pump. I emailed mercedes and asked them to get back with me since my wife and children had been in the vehicle and this is the family vehicle. I also read several forums and complaints on the internet reference mercedes fuel pumps including my specific model. I read how they have caught on fire. I also saw a picture of a fuel pump out of a ml 320 in 2006 that had caught fire and almost looked identical to my fuel pump I had removed. I have looked for recalls and still have not heard back from mercedes. I am at a loss on what to do or if there is anything I can do. I was told that mercedes knows about this problem but that hey are unlikely to do anything because of the cost. I want to report this in case something does happen to me and my family. It will be on record. Thank you for your time.
Tl* the contact owns a 2000 mercedes benz ml320. While parked, the contact noticed flames coming from under the hood. The fire department was called and arrived at the scene to assist. The fire department advised that the fire originated from under the hood on the front driver side of the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and deemed as having been destroyed. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 99,000. Updated 04/19/12*lj updated 04/25/12
Tl* the contact owns a 2001 mercedes benz ml320. The contact stated that the vehicle was parked when it caught on fire. The fire started from under the dashboard on the passenger side. The fire department appeared on the scene after the fire was extinguished. The vehicle was examined by the fire department and towed to a dealer. There were no injuries. The dealer inspected the vehicle and stated that the origin of the fire was due to an electrical shortage. The vehicle was destroyed and an insurance company was notified. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was 150,000.
After parking the car a smell of smoke was noted. The car had been driving very well and was recently serviced by a mercedes dealership which included a new battery among other things. Black smoke was noted coming out of the hood. As it was attempted to pop open the hood, flames darted into the compartment through a created hole just under the glove compartment. Flames were noted coming out of the hood, around the tires and soon engulfing the entire front of the car. The flames were put out by the fire dept. The car is a total loss. The entire engine and it's components completely disintegrated, the interior filled with black soot and odor. This was a huge shock and surprise to the owner since the vehicle was driving so well and never had a serious problem before.
After being on for about five minutes the driver's seat heater overheated resulting in a strong burning smell, burn mark on the car seat and a red burn mark on my bottom. The seat continued to be very hot even when turned off.
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Mercedes Benz ML320 fire or smoke
Which Mercedes Benz ML320 years have fire, smoke or burning smell problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2002 (7 complaints), 1998 (5 complaints) and 2001 (4 complaints).
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