Fuel pump failure on the 2006 Mercedes Benz AMG E55
When fuel pump failure gets reported
Owners of the 2006 Mercedes Benz AMG E55 report fuel pump failure at a median of 60,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles, from 9 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 85,000 miles. It is the 1st most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 35,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 120,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 83,259 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
A spread this wide points at use rather than design. Towing, climate, service history and city mileage all move a failure like this, so the median is a weak guide to any individual car.
11% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 35,280 miles | 42,000 miles | 62,251 miles | 110,204 miles | 118,539 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 $600–$2,600 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 on other years
The same failure is reported on 4 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2005, at a median of 55,000 miles, and latest on the 2004 at 100,000 miles.
By volume the 2005 carries the most reports, with 31; the 2006 has 11. A mode that appears across most years of a model is usually a design choice rather than a bad batch.
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.
I came outside to my car and could not get it to start. The car would crank but would not turn on. Had the car towed to the local mercedes dealership (euro motorcars in germantown, md). I was told that the fuel pump was leaking and that the fuel shorted the connector that turns the fuel pump on. I googled the problem online to see if it was a common issue, and it seems as if many people have this issue and mercedes already performed a recall on these cars to take care of this problem. I confirmed with the dealer that the recall was done to my vehicle and it was. *tr
Please reference existing NHTSA complaint #pe12001. My 2006 mercedes e55 has raw fuel puddling under the rear seat area behind the driver's seat. There appears to be a leak from the housing or tank itself in this area. The fuel leak is substantial and the vapors from this leak are overwhelming inside the car. I have taken numerous detailed photographs of this leak. I also have a video clip that appears to capture a hissing sound of pressurization inside the tank forcing fuel vapor into the interior of the car. I would be happy to share any of this information with you to help with your investigation. My understanding is that you have already received several dozen complaints about this exact problem from other mercedes e55 owners, and perhaps from other mercedes models that use the same gas tank / sender units. Due to the amount of fuel that is puddling up in the back of my car, I am afraid to drive it and the raw fuel smell is giving me a headache even when I keep the windows rolled all the way down. I would appreciate your help in applying pressure on mbusa to provide a valid and complete fix for this issue. *tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2006 mercedes benz e55. The contact stated that after refueling the vehicle, he could smell gasoline inside the cabin of the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for diagnosis and the contact was informed that the fuel tank seals would need to be replaced. In the process of replacing the seals, the mechanic discovered that the fuel pump was also cracked. The fuel pump was not replaced and after the repair, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified but offered no assistance. The failure and current mileage was 32,000.
Also reported on the 2006 Mercedes Benz AMG E55
Fuel leak or fuel odor
Other fuel system problem
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Misfire or rough idle
Air suspension failure
Other suspension problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 11 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 pump failure happen on the 2006 Mercedes Benz AMG E55?
Across 9 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 60,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 40,000 miles and a quarter after 110,000 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is fuel pump failure on the 2006 Mercedes Benz AMG E55?
11 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 2.3 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