Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class Complaints

681 consumer complaints on file.

#11708279January 2, 2026
STRUCTURE:BODY, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Sunroof makes loud, high pitched noise when it’s windy or driving high speeds. Sunroof complaints found online for bad seals or components of sunroof being bad or unaligned. Sounds could cause driver not to hear other safety issues with vehicle as well as leaking if water.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11708403January 2, 2026
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I purchased a Certified Mercedes GLE 350 with many advanced safety features. Including a SOS feature that allows I believe detects an accident and reports it to Mercedes as well as allows me to press the SOS button to manually contact Mercedes to report a need for help plus other functions. Thnis is a very important safety feature to me as I am getting order and may need assistance. In addition years ago a family friend was involved in a non fatal accident at night and was injured and traped in the car. Although the initial accident was not fatal, because the car was not located for some time and the friend was injured, bu the time the car was located the friend died due to the length of time traped in the car. One of the basic items listed on my Mercedes sell sheet is item 351eCall-emergency system. As I understand it this eCall device is part of the SOS system and is also a critical part of the advanced EMERGENCY and convience systems included with the car such as car locator, remote start and remote lock and unlock, as well as several other featurs I was sold. Recently I was informed by Mercedes that they would be discontinuing this safety feature as of 1/1/2026 and they have not offered any replacment / solution. I recently was on a road trip and caught in a sevier weather situation and tried to use the system and it did not work, which placed me in a potentially dangerious situation. I believe that people will loose their lives because Mercedes has suspended a important emergency safety feature. I have checked with my local Mercedes dealer who contacted Mercedes USA and they told me Mercedes USA is not offering any solution. I believe NHTSA should get involved to require Mercedes USA to find a solution to help prevent the loss of lives. This is an important "emergency system" that was sold as part of the vehicle. It is important to owners of all ages, but even more important to elderly drivers that choose Mercedes for their safety features.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11707704December 30, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, POWER TRAIN, FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM
After starting my vehicle and placing it into drive, a warning message appeared on the dashboard stating, “Vehicle warning Do not continue to drive,” indicating that the vehicle would be unable to move forward or in reverse. Immediately following the warning, the vehicle lost all ability to move in either direction while other vehicles were approaching, creating a hazardous situation placing my safety at risk. I was required to keep my foot on the brake and ultimately place the vehicle in the park position. The vehicle was subsequently towed to the dealership. Following diagnostic testing, the dealership confirmed a transmission solenoid valve fault in the control unit and recommended replacement of the transmission valve body and park pawl solenoid, along with a transmission service. The condition was confirmed by the dealership, and there were no warning messages, indicator lights, or symptoms prior to the sudden failure.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11707885December 30, 2025
POWER TRAIN
According to the dealer, there are fault codes in the system for Transmission control unit failing. Thats what caused the vehicle to go into "limp" mode... That needs to be replaced. In an instant, the warning lights and reduction in power occurred simultaneously. The car slowed down and had to coast to shoulder of the highway crossing multiple lanes of traffic. The warnings that came on said “car cannot shift”, “battery failure warning” and when stopped; “do not restart the car.” The shoulder was very narrow and we could have easily been hit by the cars passing at high speeds on the beltway. We had to wait 2 hours for Mercedes roadside assistance to arrive. The dealer is saying it will be $6,000 to repair this.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11707431December 29, 2025
ENGINE
Check engine light came on. Called dealership on a Thursday and again on Monday after it stayed on all weekend. Was told to bring in vehicle for diagnostics and to have a ride home. Half way to the dealership the car spuddered and I had to coast to the shoulder of the road. After a few minutes, I restarted the vehicle and drive slowly to the dealership, barely making it it the shop. The service advisor indicated it could be the cylinder head even before running diagnostics because it had happened to numerous other customers. It was a defective cylinder head. The repair bill was over $10,000 but Mercedes offered a $3,500 assistance credit. After doing some research on the internet, this appears to be a widespread issue.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11707529December 29, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM, LANE DEPARTURE: WARNING, LANE DEPARTURE: ASSIST
My 2020 GLE 350 first displayed a problem with left indicator on front left hand head lamp. I took an appointment with my Mercedes dealer for repair. Then it started showing all kinds of safety problems on the screen -like blind spot monitoring, collision warning etc not working. I parked it in my garage, shut off the engine, locked it and in a couple minutes, it started a blower like sound. I called Mercedes service center and described the problem. They sent a tow truck. While waiting for tow truck, the blower would automatically start every 3 to 4 minutes in a standing, switched off car which can be very dangerous. After diagnostics the authorized service center found the root cause to be a worn out seal which let condensation in the lamp assembly and the water entered in the electrical module. I have taken up the issue with Mercedes corporate. While they are investigating, I wanted to file this complaint so that if there are similar complaints in this model, it may be a manufacturing defect that needs a recall to fix the bad sealing
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11707039December 25, 2025
STRUCTURE:BODY
Panel on roof between front windshield and panoramic roof completely shattered
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11706773December 23, 2025
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
When driving on an interstate going 55-70 mph and the cruise in on, the car cruise flashes randomly down to 15 or 20 mph and the car severely brakes. This is NOT because someone is in front of us on the highway. It does it when no one is in front of us. Sometimes there are cars behind us and this type of severe breaking is very dangerous when traveling at 70 mph. Cars behind us have had to slam on their breaks to avoid rear-ending us. I have taken the vehicle to Morgantown Mercedes Benz twice complaining about this issue. They cannot find the problem.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11706556December 22, 2025
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
I am writing to lodge a complaint regarding my brand new vehicle, which has been in the shop for over a 3 months since its purchase on [XXX]. I picked up my 2026 Mercedes GLE 450 from Baker Mercedes Benz in Charleston, and it started malfunctioning about 20 minutes into the trip home. The following day I brought it into my local Mercedes dealership, Myrtle Beach Mercedes Benz, for inspection. The first available appointment was 10 days away, so I was unable to drive the vehicle for that period after the purchase. I brought the car in on October 10th, and a few hours later, I received a call stating that it was ready, and it was just an upgrade that needed to be installed. However, upon returning to the vehicle at the service department, I noticed the engine light was still illuminated. They were unable to diagnose the issue at that time. The dealership contacted me a week later, informing me that Mercedes was opening a case, and there was no estimated timeframe for resolution. In the meantime, I have been provided with a loaner vehicle that does not have a tow package, which was the primary reason for purchasing the vehicle. Consequently, I have been unable to boat or jet ski for the past 3 months. Our summer season has largely ended, and I have missed at least 60 days of pleasant boating weather due to my new Mercedes being inoperable since my delivery date of [XXX]. The vehicle was sent to a local body shop called Darrell's where it has sat for at least 10 weeks. The problem is that the main ground for all the electronics was never tightened or welded. It burnt all the carpet in the back and could have easily caught fire with my family inside . I smelled something burning on the way home but wasn't sure what it was. The auto body place said we were lucky that the vehicle didn't catch fire with my family inside. MBUSA is only willing to compensate me for the price I paid for the car but not for all the additional expenses incurred since inception. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION A
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11705869December 18, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
My vehicle suddenly started shaking and losing power, the check engine light came on and the problem continues to vibrate when idling, it will not shift into gear to go. Very unnerving and unsafe as it happened in a intersection. Sometimes it drives fine and then vibrates and goes into low gear and loses power. I took to a certified Mercedes dealer and they changed the spark plugs and 4 coils as well - After 4 weeks, I am told the CYLINDER HEAD needs to be replaced. It has 68k miles. The mechanic has already had 2 other 2021 GLE 350 with exactly the same issue. There are several similar cases discussed online as well.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11705385December 16, 2025
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
The contact owns a 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLE 350. The contact stated that while driving 60 MPH, the vehicle hesitated and failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. The check engine warning light illuminated. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the vehicle. After waiting a few minutes, the vehicle was restarted; however, the contact noticed an abnormal sound coming from the engine while driving. The check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that a cylinder head had cracked. The vehicle was not repaired. The vehicle remained at the dealer unrepaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 57,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11705424December 16, 2025
SERVICE BRAKES, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING, FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS
I was driving in I75 highway south in Michigan and heading to Ohio. I had around 70 mil/hr ish speed and was trying to pass a commercial truck. I Just turned on rear window wiper to clean it and once it started to work, the vehicle had a very hard brake for a couple seconds which the my seat belt pushed me hard to the seat to avoid of my head to go forward to windshield. Fortunately it was very quick brake and didn’t caused any accident, but I was worried that it was repeated again and had a lot stress until I arrived at the destination. I am guessing probably either park brake was engaged without touching it(software or part issue) or the sensors for front and emergency collisions had the bad function.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11704934December 14, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
I was driving down the interstate at normal speed, normal road conditions, clear weather conditions when my panoramic sunroof suddenly exploded with all of the glass coming down on me and inside my vehicle. The sound was similar to a gunshot
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11704672December 12, 2025
ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING
The contact owns a 2020 Mercedes-Benz GLE350. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while the accelerator pedal was depressed. The check engine warning light was illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that while the vehicle was stopped, the vehicle was idling low. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed with a misfire in cylinder #4. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon further investigation, the contact related the failure to a NHTSA recall; however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11704501December 11, 2025
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
The MPH Sign Recognition mistakes 30mph when the sign reads 70mph.When the Cruise Control is set for 70mph the car begins to brake by itself thinking it is 40mph over the posted limit.This may cause a rear end collision. As a result I have discontinued using the Cruise Control to avoid an accident. This problem may exist on other late model Mercedes-Benz with the Sign Recognition option.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11704589December 11, 2025
ENGINE, POWER TRAIN, UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Original owner of a 2021 GLE, purchased on April 21, 2021. The vehicle is currently 4 years and 6 months and 22 days old with approximately 49,000 miles. Despite meticulous adherence to all scheduled maintenance performed and no warning lights activated the vehicle suddenly shutdown and would not restart. According to MB maintenance department it suffered a catastrophic and complete engine failure. This type of premature and total engine failure in a properly maintained, low-mileage vehicle is clearly a defect in material or workmanship. This is a serious safety defect that rendered the vehicle completely inoperable with no warning. Issues are resulting from valve guide wear issues, camshaft codes, valve openness, and no-compression symptoms, camshaft, timing chain, etc.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11702123November 30, 2025
UNKNOWN OR OTHER
Panoramic sunroof suddenly exploded while driving. It was the rear section of the sunroof. There was a loud boom sound. There were no vehicles nearby kicking up rocks, etc. I jumped and screamed but managed to remain somewhat calm trying to figure out where the sound came from in the vehicle. I then realized it was the panoramic sunroof as sunlight began to trickle into the vehicle. Fortunately, the shade had been pulled closed. Otherwise, more tiny shards of glass would have immediately fallen on me. I handed to situation over to my insurance company for repair.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11701558November 25, 2025
AIR BAGS, VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL
The contact owned a 2017 Mercedes-Benz GLE350. The contact stated that while slowing at approximately 10 MPH and making a right turn to pull into a driveway, the vehicle unintendedly accelerated and crashed into a fence and came to a stop. The contact had not sustained any injuries, and medical attention was not needed. A Police report was not filed. The contact stated that the fence was damaged. The vehicle was not diagnosed for the failure but was taken to be repaired. The contact then stated that approximately a year later while driving approximately 20-30 MPH, the brake pedal was depressed, but the vehicle unintendedly accelerated, into ongoing traffic at a cross street. The contact pumped the brake pedal several times to stop the vehicle, but the vehicle failed to slow down as intended. The contact also attempted to turn off the vehicle however, the vehicle failed to turn off. The contact swerved right, and side swiped a fence, and the vehicle went through a front lawn of a house, striking some plants, and then struck a light post. The contact stated that the air bags did not deploy. The contact had not sustained any injuries, but the passenger of the vehicle sustained injuries to the back, knees, legs, arms, scrapes on the head, and general aches all over the body. The passenger was taken to the Emergency Room and medical attention was provided. The contact stated that a Police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to a tow lot where the vehicle was deemed a total loss by the insurance provider. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 84,541.
Crash:
Yes
Fire:
No
Injuries:
1
Deaths:
0
#11701359November 24, 2025
ENGINE
Cylinder head is defective and needs replacing. It is at the dealer for service at the tune of $7700. The car will not accelerate and sounds like it is in the wrong gear. Upon searching the Internet it seems like there are tons as in 1000’s of 2020, 2021 and 2023 Mercedes GLE 350s all having the same problem. There should be a recall as most cars are seeing this problem at 20,000 to 30,000 miles and at times when it is replaced, it turns around and happens again. Starting misfiring in October and continued to get worse.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0
#11700231November 18, 2025
ENGINE
we own a Mercedes-Benz GLE 350 model 2021. Our vehicles engine has stopped running on two different occasions, resulting in a very scary near miss accident situation. The first time this happened was it 22,000 miles, the engine shut off as a result of a failure in the engine cylinder head valve that burned up, causing the car to shut off in the middle of an intersection. The second incident happened at 56,000 miles where the vehicles engine shut off. This was also in the middle of an intersection, this time turning left in front of traffic. The reason why the engine turned off was because the lower part of the engine lost a rod bearing.this is what the dealership told us which cause the engine to have low compression and turn off. In both incidences, the check engine light did not come on. There was no warning. There are several people that have exactly the same problem with their vehicle and have also had the same two situations with two separate repairs made to their cars. People online are calling these Covid engines because the materials that were used to build the engines were made during Covid and they have defects. The GLA 350 model year 2021 appears to be the only year the GLE 350’s are having these issues. Mercedes-Benz refuses to acknowledge any of these issues and is not willing to help properly fix the engines. The only way to properly fix the engine is to completely replace it because it is full of defective parts and after the engine has failed the engines cannot be repaired.. This leaves us with no alternative to try and repair the vehicle ourselves so we are 100% relying on Mercedes to do the right thing and fix the problems that they caused to this 2021 model year GLE 350.
Crash:
No
Fire:
No
Injuries:
0
Deaths:
0

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