2000 MERCEDES-BENZ S CLASS — Complaint #644678
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:AIR SUSPENSION SYSTEM filed November 2, 2007
NHTSA complaint #644678 (ODI reference 10207741) concerns a 2000 MERCEDES-BENZ S CLASS and was filed on November 2, 2007. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 25, 2007. The vehicle had 76,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Texas based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as suspension:front:springs:air suspension system, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same MERCEDES-BENZ S CLASS cohort independently describe similar suspension:front:springs:air suspension system failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2000 MERCEDES-BENZ S CLASS shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
THE AIRMATIC SUSPENSION SYSTEM IN MY MERCEDES BENZ S500 FINALLY FAILED AFTER ACTING UP FOR SOME TIME. THE WHOLE CAR SUDDENLY SANK TO THE GROUND AND MADE DRIVING UNSAFE AND ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE. MY RESEARCH INTO THIS PROBLEM ON BENSWORLD AND OTHER SITES SHOWED THAT THIS IS A VERY, VERY COMMON PROBLEM AND AN OBVIOUS DEFECT IN THESE CARS. MERCEDES IS SO WELL AWARE OF THIS THAT THEY SELL A REPAIR KITS FOR LEAKS IN THE STRUTS ($126 TIMES 2!) AS WELL AS STOCKING MANY AIR COMPRESSORS ($360) TO REPLACE THE ONES THAT GO BAD. PLUS MB CHARGES EXORBITANTLY HIGH PRICES FOR THE PARTS -- A SIMPLE ELECTRICAL RELAY FOR THE SUSPENSION WAS $75. THE PARTS COST ME OVER $700, AND I DID THE WORK MYSELF TO KEEP FROM BEING FURTHER RAPED BY MB TO FIX THIS DEFECT JUST SO I COULD DRIVE MY CAR. *TR
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 644678 |
| ODI Number | 10207741 |
| Date Filed | November 2, 2007 |
| Failure Date | October 25, 2007 |
| VIN | WDBNG75J5YA |
Similar SUSPENSION:FRONT:SPRINGS:AIR SUSPENSION SYSTEM Complaints for 2000 MERCEDES-BENZ S CLASS
I WAS DRIVING ON 95 NORTH LEAVING FLORIDA AND THE FRONT END OF MY CAR DROPPED. I WAS DRIVING ABOUT 65 MPH. FEARING FOR MY LIFE I ATTEMPTED TO PULL TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD BUT IT WAS VERY HARD TO EVE
AS I WAS DRIVING THE AIRMATIC SYSTEM FAILED AND CAUSE THE CAR TO LOWER TO AN UNDRIVABLE HEIGHT, I CHECKED AND FOUND THAT THIS IS A MAJOR PROBLEM FOR THIS MODEL. *TR
I OWN A 2000 MERCEDES BENZ S500 SEDAN. WHILE PULLING INTO MY PARKING SPACE AT HOME, THE REAR OF MY VEHICLE DROPPED TO APPROXIMATELY 3" FROM THE GROUND WITHOUT WARNING, I HAD NO IDEA WHY THIS HAPPENED.
TL*THE CONTACT OWNS A 2000 MERCEDES BENZ S430. WHILE DRIVING 35 MPH, THE AIR RIDE SUSPENSION FAILURE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE DROPPED APPROXIMATELY FOUR INCHES, WHICH MADE IT IMPOSSIBL
HAD 2000 MERCEDES S500, CAR IN GARAGE FOR A WEEK, NOTICED THE CAR IS VERY LOW, TIRES ALMOST RUBBING THE INSIDE OF THE FENDERS, TURNED CAR ON AND WARNING MASSAGE SAID " CAR IS TOO LOW, STOP AERONAUTIC
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.