AI Damage1997 Mercedes-Benz E320: common problems
Owners of the 1997 Mercedes-Benz E320 filed 63 complaints with NHTSA, most often about suspension and seat belts. Details by component below, with sources.
Key figures
- Owner complaints
- 63
- involving a crash
- 4
What fails most often
- 1 Suspension 51% of all complaints
- 2 Seat belts 16% of all complaints
- 3 Air bags 11% of all complaints
- 4 Electrical system 8% of all complaints
- 5 Powertrain 8% of all complaints
- 6 Engine and cooling 6% of all complaints
- 7 Structure 6% of all complaints
- 8 Equipment 2% of all complaints
- Suspension: 32 complaints (51% of all), 1 of them with a crash reported by the owner.
- Seat belts: 10 complaints (16% of all).
- Air bags: 7 complaints (11% of all), 2 of them with a crash reported by the owner.
- Electrical system: 5 complaints (8% of all).
- Powertrain: 5 complaints (8% of all), 1 of them with a crash reported by the owner.
Symptoms owners describe
How many of the 63 NHTSA complaints mention each symptom (automatic count from complaint text; one complaint can mention several).
Components owners complain about
| Component | Owner complaints | involving a crash | Technical service bulletins (TSB) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | 32 | 1 | 0 |
| Seat belts | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Air bags | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Electrical system | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Powertrain | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Engine and cooling | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Structure | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Equipment | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Fuel system | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Seats | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Service brakes | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Steering | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Visibility | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Wheels | 1 | 0 | 0 |
What owners report
Short excerpts of NHTSA complaints in the original wording. These are owner statements not verified by NHTSA; personal data removed.
The air bags failed to deploy. There was one injury and a police report was filed. The current and failure mileages were 90,000. Updated 08/14/09. The vehicle was totaled. Updated 08/17/09.
Car began to ride abnormally; vibration in the front suspension and no movement from the front suspension as would normally be observed as a result of shock absorber travel. Brought the car to a body shop to have it looked at.
While driving 60 mph vehicle lost power. This caused the consumer off the road and hit a neighbor's garage consumer had the vehicle towed to the dealership, and mechanic determined that transmission failed.
Upon making a right turn vehicle lost brake power. When this occurred consumer swerved to avoid hitting pedestrians, and crashed into a garage. Upon impact, bags failed to deploy.
* Left front substrate to which the Coil Spring Perch mounts is badly rusted and the spring is about to come off under pressure of the cars weight, thereby endangering myself and the general public.
Driver seatbelt exploded while buckled up as the car was going about 30 mph on a 4 lane street. No warning and was very traumatic. I had to pull over when I smelled something burning. When I released seatbelt to get out of the car it would not buckle up when I tried to get back in the seat.
1997 mercedes benz e-320. Consumer writes in regards to airbags malfunction. Consumer stated that passenger side airbag deployed defectively for no reason while driving at a speed of 5mph.
Was driving slow like 10 mph and preparing to make a right turn and there was a loud explosion as the passenger seat belt retracted with such force that it slammed into the sternum of my 73 year old mother, who almost had an episode of cardiac arrest, both from the impact of the belt pushing on her heart and the…
When owners complained
NHTSA complaints by filing year. The peak shows at what age the problems show up most.
Comparison
By complaint count this model year ranks 4,699 of 36,659 model years in the NHTSA data (top 13% most complained about).
On average one model year of the E320 has 73 complaints (16 years in the data). This year has 63, about average.
What to check before buying
- Suspension. Wheel alignment, control arms, subframe, even tire wear.
- Seat belts. Belt pretensioners after airbag deployment, SRS codes.
- Air bags. Check the SRS light, stored codes and airbag/curtain status after any impact.
- Electrical system. Scan all modules, test the battery and alternator, inspect connectors near the impact zone.
Other years of this model
Questions and answers
What are the most common problems with the 1997 Mercedes-Benz E320?
Owner complaints to NHTSA most often mention: suspension, seat belts, air bags. Total complaints: 63. The most frequent symptoms in complaint texts: rust, corrosion (21%), seat belts (16%), smoke, burning smell, fire (6%).
How many service bulletins (TSB) were issued for the 1997 Mercedes-Benz E320?
NHTSA lists 0 manufacturer service bulletins for this year. A bulletin tells dealers how to diagnose or fix a known issue; it is not a recall.
Should I buy a 1997 Mercedes-Benz E320 from a US auction?
Owner complaints describe defects, not crash damage. Before bidding, check the components listed above and review the lot photos: VinWind builds a report of visible and hidden damage by VIN.
Other 1997 models
Read also
Sources: public NHTSA data (USA): service bulletins and owner complaints; YouTube: links to videos credited to their authors. Complaints are owner statements not verified by NHTSA, and describe defects rather than crash damage. Data updated 2026-11-06.