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3.0

definitely annoying
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
46,250 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 engine problems

engine problem

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2012 Mercedes-Benz CLS550 Owner Comments

problem #4

Nov 302020

CLS550

  • 69,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Cam link sensor leaks oil onto engine harness, frying all electric components, causing vehicle to stutter while operating

- Lincoln, CA, USA

problem #3

Feb 202020

CLS550 8-cyl

  • 54,000 miles
Engine started misfiring and would go into limp mode so I brought it to dealership for diagnostic and was told oil was leaking from the camshaft sensors into the engine wiring harness and ECU. All of which needed to be replaced at a cost of over $6033 and the car has only around 50K miles on it. Several previous year Mercedes from 2011 and earlier have a recall on the camshaft sensors due to oil leaking from them into engine wiring harness and ECU however my year car which is 2012 has no recall on these parts even though they use the exact same camshaft sensors and have the same problem as the previous years which is oil leaking from them and destroying expensive parts that need to be replaced.

- Buckeye, AZ, USA

problem #2

Sep 012017

CLS550

  • 1,000 miles
When started and for some period after warm up the engine fuel injectors rattle. The dealer mechanic claims that this is the result of the split rail system installed on the engine. This makes the motor appear to be knocking as the noise is loud. I have reported it several times since 2017.

- Huntsville, AL, USA

problem #1

Aug 182018

CLS550

  • 61,000 miles
Driving on the highway with my 6month old baby and suddenly my car surges and loses power. The check engine light flashes and I move to the side of the road with almost no acceleration. Turn off the engine, wait a while then turn it back on and head back home. The cel stayed on but I still had engine power so I thought it was a fluke. This car just has 60K miles on it and I take it to Mercedes for all the routine checks. So this behaviour was out of nowhere. I drove it to Mercedes and got a diagnostic done and I was told the camshaft position sensor had leaked oil into my engine harness and now I need to fix a laundry list of things amounting to $6000. This came out of nowhere and I questioned euromotorcars in germantown md how this could happen. How can a Mercedes that cost so much and goes through regular maintainable just break so significantly. All I got was a 'it happens'! well I think not. I have done some research and apparently this is a well known flaw with Mercedes vehicles. They even had recalls go the same issue but they stop at the 2011 model. My car is 2012, exhibiting the exact same issue due to the inferior parts used during what I can only classify as a terrible engineering decision. This almost caused an accident and put myself and my baby at risk. Several people have had this complaint about the same flaw and same damage to their Mercedes, on older models. Why does this not apply to the 2012 model when it is built with the same inferior part and exhibits the exact same problem. Now I'm stuck with a $6000 bill that is of no fault of mine. I was never made aware during any of my maintenance visits that this sensor is something I need to service or replace. Had I known, that could have saved me a lot of risk and an expensive repair. It appears this is a well know issue and well kept secret with Mercedes dealerships.

- Germantown, MD, USA

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