"How reliable is the 2003 Mercedes Benz E500?"

"Based on 143 NHTSA complaints, the 2003 Mercedes Benz E500 has a median complaint mileage of 90378 miles. The most common issue is Service Brakes."

"What are common problems with the 2003 Mercedes Benz E500?"

"The most frequently reported component in NHTSA complaints for the 2003 Mercedes Benz E500 is Service Brakes, accounting for a significant portion of the 143 total complaints filed."

2003 Mercedes Benz E500: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 143 complaints

143

Total Complaints

90,378mi

Median Mileage

Service Brakes

Top Issue

Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

Distribution of NHTSA complaints by vehicle mileage at time of report.

66,501 25th Percentile

90,378 Median Mileage

119,670 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

Service Brakes

Fuel/Propulsion System

Fuel System, Gasoline

Suspension

Service Brakes, Hydraulic

Front

Air Bags

Automatic Transmission

Power Train

Unknown Or Other

Severity Assessment

Crashes

Fires

Injuries

Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"WHILE DRIVING AT VARIOUS SPEEDS A VERY LOUD NOISE CAME M THE ENGINE. WHEN TAKEN VEHICLE TO DEALER FOR SERVICE IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE NOISE WAS DUE TO DEFECTIVE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION. *AK"

"ON MARCH 31,2005 ACCORDING TO THE NATIONAL NEWS,THE CRYSLER COMPANY SAID IT WOULD INSTALL BATTERY CONTROL SOFTWARE ON THE E-CLASS AND CLS-CLASS MODELS BUILT FROM JANUARY 2002-JANUARY 2005. THE COMPANY ALSO SAID THE BRAKING SYSTEM ON THE E, SL AND CLS-CLASS MADE SINCE JUNE 2001 WOULD BE UPDATED. M..."

"DT: THE CONSUMER SAYS THAT ON OCT. 21 2004 HE TOOK HIS VEHICLE IN FOR A SAFETY RECALL TO BE TAKEN CARE OF. THE CAMPAIGN NUMBER IS 2004050014-SBS. THE RECALL WAS REGARDING THE HYDRAULIC CONTROL UNIT. THE LINE FROM THE BRAKE FLUID LOOKS AS THOUGH IT HAS BEEN CUT AND IT LOOKED LIKE ELECTRICAL TAPE HAD..."

Source: NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Names and identifying details omitted.

When Were Complaints Filed?

Number of complaints by the year the issue occurred.

When Does Each Component Fail?

Median mileage at complaint for top components.

Service Brakes 29 complaints

25th: 87,714 mi Median: 111,569 mi 75th: 146,965 mi

Fuel/Propulsion System 27 complaints

25th: 84,050 mi Median: 90,000 mi 75th: 109,000 mi

Fuel System, Gasoline 14 complaints

25th: 88,042 mi Median: 102,350 mi 75th: 141,775 mi

Suspension 13 complaints

25th: 85,656 mi Median: 100,000 mi 75th: 139,000 mi

Service Brakes, Hydraulic 7 complaints

25th: 66,000 mi Median: 81,830 mi 75th: 98,000 mi

Where Are Complaints Coming From?

Top states by complaint count.

CA: 38 FL: 15 GA: 14 TX: 10 VA: 7 AZ: 6 IL: 5 MD: 5 LA: 5 NC: 5

Who Files Complaints?

4.2%

Original Owners

95.8%

Second+ Owners

Mercedes Benz E500 — Other Years

See how this model compares across different model years.

Year	Complaints	Median Mileage	Top Issue	Crashes
2004	172	87,000	Fuel/Propulsion System	3
2005	168	100,000	Fuel/Propulsion System	4
2006	59	80,000	Fuel/Propulsion System	1

Data source: View this vehicle on NHTSA.gov | NHTSA ODI Complaints Database. Public domain.

Methodology: Complaint counts and mileage distributions are computed directly from consumer-reported NHTSA complaints. This data represents reported issues, not failure rates — vehicles without complaints are not represented. Full methodology.

Data through: 2026-03-28