Total Complaints
2 filings
MERCEDES-BENZ E300 · model year
2 NHTSA complaints for this specific cohort.
NHTSA overall rating
Not crash-tested
New Car Assessment Program
The 2001MERCEDES-BENZE300 carries 2 consumer safety complaints in NHTSA's Office of Defects Investigation database for this specific model-year cohort. Within that volume, owners reported 0 crashes, 0 fires, 0 injuries, and 0 fatalities. No NCAP 5-star crash-test rating is available for this model year in the federal database.
Component-level analysis is where model-year complaints become actionable: the top complaint category for the 2001 E300 is air bags:side/window with 1 filings, followed by exterior lighting:brake lights (1). Concentration in one or two component groups is the classic signature of a systemic defect; a flat distribution usually reflects normal aging, warranty complaints, or isolated build-plant variability.
NHTSA currently has 15 investigation files overlapping the 2001 E300. Owners comparing this cohort against neighboring years should pair the counters above with the complaint-by-year trend on the parent model page — a spike in a single year often tracks to a platform refresh, a new transmission supplier, or an updated ECU calibration. Use the related-complaint feed below to read raw owner narratives before deciding whether any pattern here affects your specific use case.
Total Complaints
2 filings
Crashes Reported
0 reports
Source
NHTSA ODI
Federal complaints database
At or below the fleet median complaint volume.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| AIR BAGS:SIDE/WINDOW | 1 |
| EXTERIOR LIGHTING:BRAKE LIGHTS | 1 |
I HAVE A 2001 325I BMW. THE REAR BRAKE LIGHTS GET SO HOT THAT THEY MELT THE TAIL LIGHT BULB HOLDER AND WIRING. THIS CAUSES A BRAKE LIGHT FAILURE.*AK ON THE NEXT PAGES OF THIS FORM IT ASK FOR A VEHICLE MANUF - I COULD NOT FIND BMW TO CLICK ON SO I CLICKED ON THE MERCEDES . IT WOULD NOT LET ME GO ON UNTIL I CLICKED ON A MAKERS NAME.
Mileage: 85,000
WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE HIWAY MY PASSENGER SIDE CURTAIN AND REAR SIDE DOOR AIR BAGS DEPLOYED FOR NO REASON AT ALL. THERE WAS NO REASON WHY THEY DEPLOYED BUT THE SCARED THE HELL OUT OF ME AND NEARLY CAUSE ME TO CRASH THE CAR INTO OTHER VEHICALS. THIS IS A REAL HAZARD THAT MUST BE FURTHER INVESTIGATED. PLEASE HELP!!!*AK
Data as of 2025. Sources: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) complaints database, NHTSA recall campaign API, NHTSA NCAP crash-test ratings, and NHTSA FARS for fatality cross-reference.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.