1995 Mercedes Benz SL500: engine stalls while driving

Filed Dec 20, 2018 · Airbags, Electrical · PA

Car can hardly run--without stalling-hard to start mercedes dealer said to sell it because of wiring problems.

Filed Jun 11, 2015 · Driver assistance, Electrical · FL

Car immediately stalled in the middle of the interstate. Driving vehicle and it began to stall. Was not able to even pull to side of the road. Was later able to jump start vehicle, however still had issues with stalling and no acceleration. Have been informed it is a "harness wiring issue".

Filed May 13, 2013 · Electrical, Engine · 43,890 miles · FL

Was driving car and engine started to misfire, stumble and lose power as I was crossing traffic into a side road. Almost was hit from the passenger side by a large truck that was moving at me at over 50mph. I had left plenty of time/space to do this crossing properly. However, the car almost stalled out mid way across and I could not accelerate properly to get out of the way in a timely manner.. Engine got slight surge just in time to avoid a collision. I managed to get the car to limp home. Started it up a few later and ran fine as I carefully drove it to the dealer for evaluation. Dealer mechanic found the wire insulation on the engine harness and the gas actuator where seriously deteriorated and exposing bare wires inside. Very expensive repairs costing over $3,300.00 parts and labor for these 2 repairs alone.. I think this defect would have show up much sooner on my vehicle except that I only drive the vehicle seasonally and the car has very low mileage at 44k. I collect many old cars and have never seen anything like this insulation defect on a 18 year old vehicle before. I do not think this defect is acceptable on a vehicle that originally cost nearly 100k. As this problem is well known and started showing up many years ago on other cars, mercedes benz should provide at least some relief to owners for the repair costs of their poor engineering.

Filed Oct 12, 2012 · Electrical, Engine · 63,000 miles · IL

Took my car in for service as it wasn't running properly (computer codes, stalling, etc) found out that in 1995 the mercedes benz company put biodegradable wiring. Had to send to germany for a new wiring harness ($1500) may have to purchase the other wiring harness in the near future ($3000). What kind of car company puts biodegradable wiring in their cars?? A mercedes is known to last up to several hundred thousand miles, but not when the wiring starts disintegrating!! I have since found there are hundreds if not thousands of class action suits for this same matter against the mercedes benz company. They refuse to acknowledge the issue or the problem. Had I known of this, I would not have purchased the car in the first place!

Filed May 13, 2012 · Electrical · 102,300 miles · KS

Mercedes benz engineered their 1995 sl500 with faulty wiring. I have experienced times when the car would not idle at a stop light. There have been times when I have crossed an intersection and the car stalled, had not power and just would not run. This has almost been the cause of more than one accident. Several hours has been spent by mechanics working on the car doing research to diagnosis the issues. We became aware of the faulty wiring that mercedes benz used and in turn has caused several components to fail. There has been $1,000.00's of dollars spent on my vehicle for diagnosing the problem,replacing modules, wiring harnesses, mass air flow sensor, fuel pump just to name a few. I have photo's of the faulty wiring used for the engine management harness and of the wiring leading from the eta (throttle body) to the computer. Mercedes benz has not notified registered owners of this known problem, nor released any service bulletins to qualified mechanics. I would have expected a company with a reputation for providing outstanding and dependable vehicles to provide a solution to this and accept responsibility. Instead they have been allowed to ignore the costly mistake and have passed it on to the owners. Fortunately for me, it has only been a monetary. I wonder if or how many have paid the price by injury.

Filed Nov 1, 2006 · Electrical · 119,750 miles · PA · fire

Car stalled in traffic due to wiring harness failure. Started small fire that was extinguished before any significant damage. I replaced the wiring harness and cleaned engine compartment. Wiring harness insulation had turned to powder in many locations shorting fuel injectors, mass sensor and cam magnets.