| Issue ID | 568699 |
| Internal NHTSA # | 10142387 |
| Manufacurer | MERCEDES-BENZ USA, LLC. |
| Brand | MERCEDES BENZ |
| Model | E500 |
| Model Year | 2004 |
| File date | 10/08/05 |
| Component | WHEELS:RIM |
| Product type code | VEHICLE |
| Description of the problem | My car picked up a nail on the highway and it blew a round hole about the size of a quarter in the tire rim. These are aluminum alloy low profile rims that came with my e500 2004 mercedes benz as standard equipment. Two months later i had a new set of tires put on the car and the dealer told me that two more rims were bent. I am an experienced driver (over 1. 5 million miles of driving experience) and i have never had a rim go bad. Suddenly i have three rims go bad. I did not hit any pot holes or curbs or any thing other than normal bumpy roads. The dealer said i would have to pay for new rims and mounting. I complained to m b and their answer has been that the problem was caused by road hazard. I said that i know that the road had something to do with it but that this is not an excuse for using materials that obviously cannot take the strain of reasonable driving. Anecdotally i can tell you that a close friend is driving an s500 with the same low profile tire and he too has had to replace three wheels over a period of two years. I feel certain that it is the composition of the rim which is at fault since it cannot stand up to the road surface problems as well as a rim of the same material that is not of the low profile design. *nm |
| Vehicle Mileage at Failure | |
| Number of Occurences | 3 |
| Source of the issue | NHTSA WEB SITE |
| City and State | LINCOLN, MA |
| VIN pattern | XXXXXX |
| Was vehicle invloved in a crash? | N |
| Was vehicle involved in a fire? | N |
| Was incedent reported to police? | N |
| Was medical attention required? | |
| Was part original equipment? | |
| No. of injured persons | 0 |
| No. of fatalities | 0 |
| Date of purchase | 07/08/26 |
| Was original owner? | Y |
| Anti-lock brakes | Y |
| Cruise control | N |
| Number of cylinders | |
| Drive train type | |
| Transmission type | |
| Vehicle speed | |
| DoT tire identifier | |
| Tire size | |
| Location of tire code | |
| Type of tire failure code | |
| Was defective tire repaired? | |
| Date of manufacture | |
| Type of child seat code | |
| Type of restraint | |
| Dealer's name | FOREIGN MOTORS WEST |
| Dealer's telephone number | (508) 655-5350 |
| Dealer's city | FRAMINGHAM |
| Dealer's state code | MA |
| Dealer's ZIP code | 01760 |