Fuel gauge or level sensor failure on the 2007 Mercedes Benz E350
When fuel gauge or level sensor failure gets reported
Owners of the 2007 Mercedes Benz E350 report fuel gauge or level sensor failure at a median of 70,000 miles. A quarter of the reports come in before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 85,000 miles, from 17 reports that carried an odometer reading.
A part like this is normally expected to survive 92,000 miles. It is the 5th most-reported problem on this model year.
The mileage distribution
The reported range runs from 40,000 miles at the tenth percentile to 105,000 miles at the ninetieth, a spread of 64,248 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.
12% of the dated reports were filed under 36,000 miles.
The whole distribution
| 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41,841 miles | 54,179 miles | 70,000 miles | 86,000 miles | 106,089 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 on other years
The same failure is reported on 3 model years of this car. It shows up earliest on the 2007, at a median of 70,000 miles, and latest on the 2008 at 95,000 miles.
By volume the 2007 is the worst of them, which makes this a problem of this specific year rather than of the model as a whole.
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.
Bought a used 2007 mercedes benz e350 mar 14, 2011 drove less than 80 miles before check engine light came on because of code p0456. I have taken vehicle back to the dealership only to find that the fuel sending unit is leaking under rear seat/trunk area and that the vehicle needs front brake pads replaced. These issue was a preexisting problem that I was not told about even though dealer documents say otherwise. There is evidence of that on the emissions report. The check engine light had to have been reset to sell the vehicle with known problems to an unsuspecting buyer. The vehicle was suppose to have been serviced at the end of jan 2011 per document with only minimal miles accrued as the car sat on the lot. I first notified dealership april 5, 2011 it took until the 12th for them to finally tell me to bring it in to verify problem. The vehicle has been in the service department since april 12 2011 and I can not get anyone to call me back as to the status. The service manager apologized for the situation but said his hand are tied until someone approves the repairs. Today is april 15, 2011 I still have not been contacted by…
A strong gas odor appeared outside the left rear wheel. This only happens when the gas tank is full or near full. It was so strong that I had to remove it from my garage due to the pilot light warnings on my house heating unit and hot water heating unit. Dealer replaced left fuel sending unit and it made the odor even stronger; it did not fix the problem. This is reported on the internet by many owners repeatedly trying to fix this unit to no avail. Experts I've talked to say it is a manufacturing defect in the tank and its various components that mb has know about for years originally appearing in the e55 amg's. Of course, since the fuel system is not completely closed, it is constantly releasing gas fumes into the atmosphere.
Tl* the contact owns a 2007 mercedes benz e350. The contact confirmed that while refueling, fuel leaked from the tank abnormally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who confirmed that the fuel tank and the fuel sending unit needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 72,000 and the current mileage was 72,500. Updated 8/30/12 the consumer stated every time the fuel tank was filled, it leaked from the left fuel sending unit under the driver's side back seat. Gas fumed were very noticeable outside the vehicle and somewhat inside the vehicle until the car was driven about 100 miles and the fuel level was down about four gallons. Liquid gas puddles were on top of the sending unit and ran down the side of the tank to the ground. The mercedes factory rep refused to replace the leaking parts. The consumer was informed that if NHTSA or the class action suit lawsuit were to rule in favor of the customer, they would do something about the problem then. Updated 09/05/12
Also reported on the 2007 Mercedes Benz E350
Fuel leak or fuel odor
Other fuel system problem
Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure
Fuel pump failure
Other engine problem
Other powertrain problem
How far this goes
Complaints are voluntary, so 20 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 2007 Mercedes Benz E350?
Across 17 owner reports that included an odometer reading, half were filed by 70,000 miles. A quarter were filed before 55,000 miles and a quarter after 85,000 miles. 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 2007 Mercedes Benz E350?
20 reports have been filed with NHTSA, about 4.2 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