Other fuel system problem on the 2004 Mercedes Benz E320
When other fuel system problem gets reported
Owners of the 2004 Mercedes Benz E320 report other fuel system problem at a median of 100,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 72,500 miles and a quarter after 117,500 miles, from 28 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 90,000 miles. It is the 2nd most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 55,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 132,500 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 77,100 miles across the middle 80% of reports.
When the reports scatter this far, the mileage is telling you about how these cars were driven more than about the part itself.
0% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55,000 miles | 73,000 miles | 100,647 miles | 118,688 miles | 132,100 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–$2,200 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 on other years
The same failure is reported on 4 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2003, at a median of 95,000 miles, and latest on the 2006 at 110,000 miles.
By volume the 2005 carries the most reports, with 32; the 2004 has 31. 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.
We recently purchased a 2004 e320 with 71000 miles in august 2012. Last week, now with 74000 miles, we noticed a strong gas smell in the car. After doing some research online and in mercedes forums we concluded that it may be the fuel unit. We pulled the rear seat and took off the cap and noticed a pool of gas, right under where our 2 yr olds car seat is, about 2 cups that I took out by soaking numerous papertowels.I also took pictures just in case it may be needed it the future. Throughout all my searches online I've noticed that this problem is very common in the e class and numerous people have tried to resolve it through mercedes but nothing has been done. A recall was issued for the e55 trim but no other, which makes us wonder why. We will not drive it until it gets fixed (as of today it has not been ) because we feel it is not safe for our family to have a pool of gas with electrical wires right beneath our seats. *tr
Car started reading SRS airbag malfunction (still needs to be repaired) car is sometimes unable to read how much gas is in the vehicle. Car couldn't pass emissions. Check engine light on.the car smells of a strong gas odor. Unable to park the car in the garage because of the strong smell. Every time the tank is filled with gas the car presents a strong gas odor until it gets below half a tank. Mercedes wanted to charge me $4000.00 to have it fix so I took my car to a foreign car repair shop who charge me $1,300.00. Problem fixed, however I recently took my car to mercedes because my check engine light came back on so they charged me $2,100.00 to fix that along with regular maintenance. *tr
Tl* the contact owns a 2004 mercedes benz e-320. The contact stated that gasoline fuel fumes were emitted into the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that there was a leak in the sending unit. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but did not offer any assistance since the vehicle was not included in any recalls. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileage was 104,000. *tr
Also reported on the 2004 Mercedes Benz E320
Fuel leak or fuel odor
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Other brake problem
Fuel pump failure
Loss of braking
Fuel gauge or level sensor failure
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 31 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 other fuel system problem happen on the 2004 Mercedes Benz E320?
Across 28 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 100,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 72,500 miles and a quarter after 117,500 miles. These are the mileages owners reported when they complained, not a prediction for any individual car.
How common is other fuel system problem on the 2004 Mercedes Benz E320?
31 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 6.6 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