Fuel gauge or level sensor failure on the 2004 Mercedes Benz AMG E55
Only 7 reports for this mode came with an odometer reading, which is too few for percentiles to mean anything. The page is here because someone linked to it; treat the figures as anecdotes, and see the full report for this year instead.
When fuel gauge or level sensor failure gets reported
There are 8 reports of fuel gauge or level sensor failure on the 2004 Mercedes Benz AMG E55, 7 with a mileage attached. That is too few to place the failure on the odometer with any confidence.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 5th most-reported problem on this model year.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | 92,000 miles | — | — |
Read the 10th percentile as “one report in ten arrived this early”. Exact figures are shown in this table because it is the table of record; everywhere else on the site they are rounded to the precision the sample can carry.
What a percentile can and cannot tell you here
These five numbers describe the readings owners gave, in order. The median is the middle one: half the reports arrived below it. The 10th and 90th are the edges of the bulk of the distribution, and the distance between them is the part worth reading. A tight spread — say 70,000 to 95,000 miles — points at something that wears out on a schedule, and the schedule is knowable. A wide one, 20,000 to 190,000, points at a fault that hits some cars and never troubles others, which means the mileage on the listing in front of you tells you very little about your odds.
What these figures are not is a survival curve. Every reading here comes from a car whose owner filed a complaint, so the sample contains only failures: it cannot say what share of the fleet made it past 150,000 miles untouched, because those owners had nothing to report. Nor is the mileage the moment of failure — it is the odometer reading as recalled at the time of filing, which may be weeks later and is sometimes rounded to the nearest ten thousand by the person typing it.
Percentiles are shown at all only once 8 readings exist for the vehicle and mode. Below that the middle of a handful of numbers is noise wearing a decimal point, so the figures are withheld rather than dressed up.
What happens, and what it costs
Putting it right typically runs $300–$1,200 at an independent US shop. That range is an editorial estimate held in this site's failure-mode catalogue, not a figure from NHTSA, and it is a repair cost rather than a diagnosis cost.
The same failure, every year of the Mercedes Benz AMG E55
If one year stands out to the left, that is the year to avoid; if the whole line sits at a similar mileage, this is wear rather than a defect in one production run.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The mileage is the one the owner gave.
When filling up my vehicle with fuel I have noticed that for the first few days there is a strong fuel smell coming from inside and outside the car. I work in the automotive field by trade and upon short investigation I have noticed that raw fuel is leaking from the top of the fuel sending unit and pooling up under the back seats where the access panels are located. This raw fuel can and will drip onto a hot exhaust pipe creating a not only dangerous but potentially fatal scenario. I have been forced to keep the fuel level at half full to prevent any spill over outside the car and into the cabin. What I have read on enthusiast sites I am one of hundreds that have claimed this same issue. *tr
I walked in my garage and smelt a bad fuel smell coming from my car. After review, I determined it was my fuel sending unit that was leaking from the top and fuel was rolling down the outside of the gas tank. After looking online to see if others with the same vehicle have had this problem and to my findings, this is a normal thing that happens with these vehicles. I know this is not safe for the environment, so I thought I should file this complaint. They should take better precautions for this not to happen. Now we are stuck having to pay a lot of money to get this replaced or fixed, when this is not a normal wear and tear item on the car. I believe they should have a recall on this item, because it is unsafe and hazardous. *tr
2004 e55. Fuel sending unit is leaking visible gas under rear seat. Vivid gas smell in interior. 2004 e55. I understand there have been many many complaints about this specific problem yet it still to be recalled. I don't feel safe on long road trips or the car burning down. Reference NHTSA action number: pe12001. *tr
Also reported on the 2004 Mercedes Benz AMG E55
Other fuel system problem
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Fuel leak or fuel odor
Fuel pump failure
CV axle or driveshaft failure
Seat belt or retractor failure
How far this goes
This page is kept out of search results because 8 reports is not enough to publish percentiles from. It stays reachable because somebody looking at this exact car would rather see the reports than be told there are none.
Complaints are voluntary, so 8 is a floor and not a count of affected cars. Mileages are typed in by owners and cluster on round numbers. And the mode itself is assigned by software reading the complaint text, which is reliable in bulk and fallible one report at a time.
Questions this page answers
At what mileage does fuel gauge or level sensor failure happen on the 2004 Mercedes Benz AMG E55?
Across 7 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 90,000 miles. A quarter were filed before — and a quarter after —. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is fuel gauge or level sensor failure on the 2004 Mercedes Benz AMG E55?
8 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 1.7 per 1,000 vehicles. Complaints are voluntary, so this is a floor rather than a count of affected cars.
What this is and is not. These are the mileages at which owners chose to complain to a federal agency, which is not the same as the mileage at which the part fails on every car. It skews toward failures that happened outside warranty, cost real money, or frightened someone. It is still the only public dataset that carries failure mileage at all, and the shape of a few hundred readings is informative even when a single one is not. Methodology · JSON · this failure on other cars
Source Owner complaints and recall records published by the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, model years 1996–2027 Figures rebuilt Published by AtWhatMileage How every figure is computed