Today my college age daughter's 2008 ML 320 (purchased 03/2008) completely shut down on her while driving. The car completely shut down, all power systems went dead along with all instrumentation. She was barely able to stop the car as there were no power brakes and no power steering. She was driving home from the summer camp where she works and was in the mountains when this occurred and was barely able to get the car safely off the road without hitting a tree.
Aside from this dangerous situation this is the 2nd ML she has had. The first (2007) had to be replaced by the dealer as it had recurring transmission problems in the "vaunted" 7 speed transmission including valve body replacement that did not cure the problems that the car had which included stalling at stoplights and lack of acceleration.
The car is being towed to a dealer but with the many problems we experienced with the 2007 the dealer computer showed no faults until there was a complete transmission failure. I am afraid that whatever problem this is will also show "no fault codes" but my daughter is scared to drive the car period which I cannot blame her given her experience. There seem to be major mechanical and electrical issues in the 2007/2008 ML 320 that people need to be aware of as it could result in serious injury.
I am sorry to hear about your daughters bad experience.
I have been driving a 08 ML 320 since Feb 2008 and I absolutely have no issues.I have heard some horror stories about 06/07 W164's and this is the first time I am hearing about an 08 with issues
I am sure it is not a widespread issue and it is very verry isolated case
Please share your expericnes with dealer on the resolution part
Also I would like to bring it to your notice that Mecedes Benz ranks 4 th in JD Power initial in 2008 survey up from 5 in 2007
I am sorry to hear about your daughters bad experience.
I have been driving a 08 ML 320 since Feb 2008 and I absolutely have no issues.I have heard some horror stories about 06/07 W164's and this is the first time I am hearing about an 08 with issues
I am sure it is not a widespread issue and it is very verry isolated case
Please share your expericnes with dealer on the resolution part
Also I would like to bring it to your notice that Mecedes Benz ranks 4 th in JD Power initial in 2008 survey up from 5 in 2007
Sorry about your problem and I'm glad nobody was hurt. I have read about Crankshaft Positioning Sensors (CPS) going bad and killing the engine but I can't recall a total power failure. I'm guessing that it would not re-start? Do you have the Tele-Aid and did it work? Did you have Mercedes pick up the car? I was told when I bought mine that you should not ever tow the car and that Mercedes would provide or pick up the car with a roll back if it was ever needed. I appreciate the info and please pass along the repair results. Good luck!
The car does have Teleaid and it did work even in a remote area. The car has been towed to the nearest dealer who states that there are no fault codes and that it runs just fine. This is the same trouble pattern that her 2007 car took before complete failure of the transmission occurred. My home dealership is getting the car back home at it's expense and we are negotiating to replace the car with anything other than an ML 320. My daughter is not strong enough to steer the car or stop it when all power is lost and this incident took place at highway speed. She did have a friend with her who can verify her experience.
I understand this might be an isolated incident to some and is puzzling to me as I own a GL 320 and have had no problems but she is scared to drive any MB at this point and I cannot blame her.
Vehicle: 1999 ML320, 100K+ miles, Silver, Sunroof, Leather etc.
Location: SoCal
Posts: 22
I do remember that W163's (older M class) had a mysterious stalling/engine-turning-off problem that was finally attributed to people having too many keys on a keyring and the weight of it jiggling the ignition whilst driving.
Just an idea - no idea if its even still possible with the new ML.
I do remember that W163's (older M class) had a mysterious stalling/engine-turning-off problem that was finally attributed to people having too many keys on a keyring and the weight of it jiggling the ignition whilst driving.
Just an idea - no idea if its even still possible with the new ML.
This is one of the things I checked first. I have more keys on my GL320 keys than she does. I also questioned her driving position as she sits close to the wheel but the shutoff occurred with other drivers as well. I tried to dislodge the key from my GL320 and at least on my car you would have to almost break the key off from the switch to dislodge the key from the ignition. She has had two days of driver training at the BMW Performance Driving school and that training has probably made her more aware of anything she might do that would have caused the problem.
We had the exact same surprise total shutdown of our ML 320 about a month ago. Ours did start up after several tries, but the check engine light stayed on. In our case, the fuel pump was replaced under warranty.
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