1998 Mercedes-Benz E Class problems
NHTSA has received 31 complaints about the 1998 Mercedes-Benz E Class, and 23% of them involve suspension. After that come engine (16%) and electrical system (13%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 31 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Suspension 23% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 1 and 0
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 95,000 miles 19 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 0 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 4 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 5 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 1 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 1 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 4 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Among the 19 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 95,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 1 complaint mentions a crash. Its complaints are less severe on average than those of 92% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1998 ranks 5th most-complained-about out of 7 model years of the Mercedes-Benz E Class with enough data (9 complaints in that window).
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
The gear moved on its own with no key. Vehicle was in park a child entered the vehicle, moved the gear from park to neutral, and vehicle rolled back, going through a fence and striking a tree. The child sustained no injuries.
Approximately 10 minutes after first starting the car for the day and driving 5 or 6 miles on rural roads, I stopped at a traffic light for 20 or 30 seconds and then attempted to pull out on to the main highway. At first the car would not move until I had the accelerator pedal half way to the floor, and then it slowly responded with a very low level of power. Once out on the highway, I had to hold the accelerator pedal almost all the way to the floor in order to maintain 50 miles per hour.
The top spring mount broke off the suspension. The vehicle was taken for a check up, and it was found that the other right spring needed repairs as well. The dealer repaired the problem free of charge. The consumer found that this was a common problem.
Automatic transmission failure, stays on 1st. Gear (rough run). Took to authorized mbz repair station, they reset the "computer" and run approximately 450 miles ok and again the same problem. Went back and they flushed the transmission and reset again "computer faults", run again for 75 miles and same problem, and so on.....
1998 mercedes benz e300d 4 door sedan. Driver side spring perch is rusted and peeling off due to manufacturing defect. Car is dangerous to drive the way it is due to this manufacturing defect. This is a known issue on many forums as well as previous [link removed]