AI DamageMercedes-Benz M166: problems, complaints, bulletins
Summary for the Mercedes-Benz M166 across 3 model years: 6 owner complaints and 0 NHTSA service bulletins, plus repair videos. Pick a year for details.
Model years
| Year | Owner complaints | involving a crash | Technical service bulletins (TSB) | YouTube repair videos |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2010 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
What fails most often
- 1 Air bags 33% of all complaints
- 2 Steering 33% of all complaints
- 3 Powertrain 17% of all complaints
- Air bags: 2 complaints (33% of all).
- Steering: 2 complaints (33% of all), 1 of them with a crash reported by the owner.
- Powertrain: 1 complaints (17% of all).
Symptoms owners describe
How many of the 6 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air bags | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Steering | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Powertrain | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 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.
While commuting on a highly congested highway the car lost power causing the steering wheel to become locked this lost of power and disabling caused my car to veer into oncoming traffic and taking my vehicle uncontrollably off the road
35 miles) and then returning after the work day was complete, the vehicle would not start. We spoke with the manufacturers roadside assistance as well as the technician they dispatched to our location. We tried multiple solutions to our problem with no avail.
This model hasn!t a transmission fluid measurement stick, but either not indicate at monitoring screen if needs fluid, also the transmission fluid pan become rusted due to low material quality leaking all fluid and causing serious automatic transmission damages, costing over us$6000.00 in repair.
When owners complained
NHTSA complaints by filing year. The peak shows at what age the problems show up most.
What to check before buying
- Air bags. Check the SRS light, stored codes and airbag/curtain status after any impact.
- Steering. Steering play, power assist, rack and tie rods after a wheel impact.
- Powertrain. Shift quality under load, harsh shifts, transmission codes, CV joints.
Other models of this make
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.