2001 Mercedes-Benz S500 problems
The 2001 Mercedes-Benz S500 has 55 complaints on file with NHTSA. The largest share (38%) concerns electrical system. After that come lighting (27%) and suspension (11%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 55 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 38% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 2 and 2
- Injuries and deaths
- 0 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 114,000 miles 43 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 | 2 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 0 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 6 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 4 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 12 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 10 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 4 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 3 |
What the data shows
Among the 43 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 114,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 124,000 miles (16 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 2 complaints mention a crash; 2 complaints mention a fire.
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.
My instrument panel lights (dash board) went out on my 2001 s500 mercedes benz car. The lights would flicker on occasionally and go back out. I was able to recover the signal lights by changing the fuses. While on a road trip my kids noticed a smell and smoke coming out of the dash board. We exited the car and flagged down a police officer. We were told to get as much as we could out of the car because it was going to catch fire. Within in seconds my dash board was in flames. I could not believe it.
My wife was unable to stop vehicle to avoid crashing into others, ended in a cornfield. She put the car in neutral and turn the key off. The gas peddle went to extreme RPM. Now we have a vehicle that all of us are afraid to drive because of this safety issue. The vehicle could harm us,or someone else.
I was driving at night and the instrument cluster lighting began flickering, and after a couple of minutes went completely dark. The consequence of this failure is hazardous, the driver has no information as to the status of any of the car's systems. All of the following gauges and displays are disabled and nonfunctional as a result: fuel gauge, vehicle temperature, MPH, rpm's, the gear the vehicle is in, turn signal operation, as well as, all of the warning lights and displays.
While driving on a 400 mile trip home in the dark, the entire cluster lighting turned off and speedometer began to fluctuate. The situation was extremely hazardous and I was forced to pull over on a major highway to find out what is wrong. As no fuses or relays were blown out, I had to use a small flashlight to illuminate the cluster to get home.