2004 Mercedes Benz E500: Reliability Data

Source: NHTSA — 172 complaints
172
Total Complaints
87,000mi
Median Mileage
FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
Top Issue
3
Crash Reports

When Do Complaints Happen?

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

67,000 25th Percentile
87,000 Median Mileage
124,959 75th Percentile

What Fails?

Most reported component issues from NHTSA complaints.

FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
55
FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE
26
SUSPENSION
20
SERVICE BRAKES
19
ENGINE
7
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
7
SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC
5
POWER TRAIN
4
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
3
POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION
3

Severity Assessment

3
Crashes
2
Fires
3
Injuries
0
Deaths

Sample Complaint Reports

"ENGINE CHECK LIGHT ILLUMINATED. DRIVER PUT VEHICLE INTO DRIVER AND IT WOULD ONLY GO BACKWARDS. TOOK VEHICLE TO DEALER, AND DEALER DETERMINED THE NEED FOR A NEW TRANSMISSION. *AK"
"WHILE DRIVING TRANSMISSION FAILED AT 300 MILES. DEALER STATED TRANSMISSION NEEDED TO BE REPLACED.*AK FAILURE OCCURRED WHEN CONSUMER WAS CROSSING LANES TO AN ON COMING TRAFFIC. AS THE TRANSMISSION FAILED, THE GEAR SHIFTED FROM FIRST GEAR TO NEUTRAL ON ACCELERATION AND VEHICLE WOULDN'T MOVE FO..."
"ELECTRONIC INTERFERENCE FROM AIRCRAFT CAUSED LIGHTS TO COME ON WHEN PARKED AT AIRPORT AND DRAINED BATTERY. CAR PARKED MORNING OF 9/4/04. SINGLE INCIDENT OF CAR ALARM REPORTED EVENING OF 9/6/04. RETURNED TO CAR 9/11/04 AND FOUND LIGHTS IN OFF POSITION AND BATTERY DRAINED. *AK"

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

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