2011 Mercedes Benz E550: what breaks, and at what mileage
What breaks on the 2011 Mercedes Benz E550
On the 2011 Mercedes Benz E550, the failure owners report most often is airbag inflator rupture, with 25 reports on file. Across every failure mode on this year, half the dated reports were filed before 70,000 miles. Overall it scores 71 out of 100, high risk for a 2011.
High risk for a 2011 — 145th riskiest of the 283 2011 vehicles we can rate. 66 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork.
The failures owners actually file about
Owners have reported 15 named failure modes on the 2011 Mercedes Benz E550, and the three most-reported carry 61% of everything filed, so the trouble here is concentrated rather than scattered.
Airbag inflator rupture leads with 25 reports and about 3.5 per 1,000 vehicles.
Other suspension problem follows with 8 reports, median 65,000 miles.
Air suspension failure follows with 7 reports, median 90,000 miles.
By system, the reports fall mostly into airbag (25), suspension (17) and brakes (2).
The mileage the reports cluster at
23 of the reports on the 2011 Mercedes Benz E550 came with an odometer reading, and half of those were filed before 70,000 miles.
Cumulatively, 35% by 50,000 miles and 91% by 100,000 miles of the dated reports had been filed.
The busiest stretch is between 20,000 and 30,000 miles, which alone holds 17% of the dated reports.
26% of the dated reports were filed below 36,000 miles.
Tick median reported mileage Solid middle half of reports Faint 10th to 90th percentile Colour how bad the failure is when it happens
Showing the 12 most-reported failure modes of 15. The full list is in the table below.
How reports accumulate
Every report with an odometer reading, cumulative, from 0 to 200,000 miles. A curve that climbs early is a car with early problems, whatever its total.
- Line share of reports filed by that mileage
- Dashed the median reported mileage
How bad it is when it goes
Across the named modes, 3 mention a crash, 2 a fire and 1 an injury. Those are the words owners used in their own complaints, and NHTSA does not verify them, but they are the closest thing in this data to a measure of what a failure actually did.
The average severity weight across every report on this year is 5.08, where a stalled engine or a failed airbag weighs many times more than a rattling trim panel, and a figure this high means the reports are dominated by failures with safety consequences rather than annoyances. The weighting is set out in full on the methodology page.
What the top failures cost to put right, as editorial estimates for an independent US shop rather than figures from NHTSA: airbag inflator rupture at $0–$0, other suspension problem at $350–$2,000, air suspension failure at $900–$4,500 and brake line, hose or caliper failure at $250–$1,600. Dealer labour, a seized bolt or a part that is no longer made can push any of these past the top of its range.
6% of the reports on this year sit in the engine, transmission, drivetrain or cooling systems — the four where a repair bill is usually four figures.
Every reported failure mode
| Failure mode | System | Reports | With reading | 25th | Median | 75th | Per 1,000 | Typical repair | Severity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbag inflator rupture | airbag | 25 | 5 | — | 69k | — | 3.5 | $0–$0 | Critical |
| Other suspension problem | suspension | 8 | 6 | — | 67k | — | 1.1 | $350–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Air suspension failure | suspension | 7 | 6 | — | 90k | — | 1.0 | $900–$4,500 | High |
| Brake line, hose or caliper failure | brakes | 2 | 2 | — | 25k | — | 0.3 | $250–$1,600 | Critical |
| Strut, shock or spring failure | suspension | 2 | 1 | — | 71k | — | 0.3 | $500–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other engine problem | engine | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.3 | $300–$4,000 | High |
| Radiator or coolant leak | cooling | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $350–$1,900 | High |
| Overheating | cooling | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $400–$3,500 | High |
| Fuel tank, filler or EVAP failure | fuel | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,800 | Moderate |
| Lane keep or steering assist fault | adas | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $200–$1,600 | High |
| Door latch or handle failure | body | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$1,200 | High |
| Sunroof failure or glass breakage | body | 1 | 1 | — | 132k | — | 0.1 | $700–$4,500 | High |
| Other electrical problem | electrical | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $250–$2,000 | Moderate |
| Other fuel system problem | fuel | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 0.1 | $300–$2,200 | High |
| Other visibility problem | glass | 1 | 1 | — | 83k | — | 0.1 | $150–$1,400 | Moderate |
| Unclassified problem | other | 11 | 1 | — | 40k | — | 1.5 | — | Moderate |
Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound. Repair costs are typical independent-shop ranges for the failure, not figures from these reports.
How often, against how many were built
Scaled by an estimate of how many of these cars exist, the 2011 Mercedes Benz E550 draws about 9.2 per 1,000 vehicles, which puts it in the 91st percentile of complaint rates among 2011 vehicles we can rate.
That denominator is the weakest number on the page and it is fair to say so plainly. Rate per 1,000 uses a fleet-size estimate derived from recall paperwork for this exact model year. It is a lower bound.
The working figure is 7,171 vehicles. If the true number is twice that, every rate on this page is half what it says; the ranking against other 2011 vehicles, which is what the risk score uses, is far more robust than the rate itself.
What owners wrote
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint narratives, trimmed for length. The odometer reading is the one the owner gave.
Airbag inflator rupture
Takata recall - I've contacted two dealerships (mercedes benz of san jose and mercdes benz of stevens creek) both continue to say that there are no parts. I don't want to get injured by the airbag if there is an accident.
Takata recall. I bought the car new, received recall notices from mbusa in may and august 2016, stating that my driver's and front-passenger airbags have a defect related to safety. I have made four specific visits to the dealership in santa monica, simonson's mercedes-benz, asking that my airbags be replaced. Each time I've been told that there are no replacement airbags available.
Other suspension problem
I bought 2011 e550 base sedan last year. It had 25k miles on it, and 2 months later my rear suspension began leaking and cost me 2k in repairs. The car would leak out air from suspension over couple hours. Dealer or my aftermarket warranty wouldn't cover this problem because it's not on the contract, but I'm not the first one with this issue. We shouldn't be buying new airbag suspension on a car that haven't had the original tires replaced yet.
Suspension. On vehicle is lopsided also not able to raise or drive comfortable be the suspension is not level. Vehicle is not drivable in my opinion. Every time I'm come outside the car is either leaning to one side or on the floor.
Air suspension failure
I have owned a 2003, 2005, 2009 and now a 2011 e550 and every one of these cars came with the same air suspension problem. Its not fair for the consumers and its certainly not fair for all mercedes benz customers. My mechanic told me that the notorious air suspension problem is caused by a leak in the air shock. Whichever air shock leaks, thats the side of the car that will lean down. My e550 is leaning on the front side and both passenger and driver side are both affected. I was quoted 1600$ for each shock from mb, which is over 3200$ with all the taxes. Every night when I park the car, I wake up in the morning with the car leaning down.
The front air suspension drops (both sides at the same time) at random times -- sometimes while parked and sometimes while driving. I have spent $1,116.53 so far and have replaced the pre-fuse box, relay, and valve unit. The same problem persists. The dealer and a private repair shop are stumped as to what the problem is. Seems like a frequent problem reported online by many owners and that mb should take care of this faulty design.
Recalls on the 2011 model year
NHTSA has issued 3 recall campaigns covering the 2011 Mercedes Benz E550, affecting an estimated 15,408 vehicles. A recall is a different kind of evidence from a complaint: it is the regulator and the manufacturer agreeing that something has to be fixed, and the fix is free for as long as the car exists.
The campaigns cover air bags:frontal:passenger side:inflator module and air bags:frontal:driver side:inflator module. Whether the work was actually done on the car in front of you is a question only the VIN can answer, and the manufacturer or NHTSA will answer it free.
Recalls also distort complaint counts. Publicity about a campaign reminds owners that complaining is possible, so reports for a recalled component often spike after the recall rather than before it.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
288,779 vehicles 2019-01-09- Defect
- Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2014 C250, C300 4Matic, C350, C63 AMG, E350 4Matic Coupe, E350 Cabrio, E350 Coupe, SLS AMG Cabrio, SLS AMG Coupe, 2014-2015 C250 Coupe, C350 4Matic Coupe, C350 Coupe, C63 AMG Coupe, GLK 350, GLK250 BlueTec 4Matic, GLK350 RWD, 2015-2017 E400 4Matic Coupe, E400 Cabrio, E400 Coupe, 2014-2017 E550 Cabrio, and 2014-2016 E550 Coupe vehicles sold, or ever registered, in the states of AL, CA, FL, GA, HI, LA, MS, SC, TX, PR, AS, GU, the MP, and VI or "Zone A." Additionally, MBUSA is recalling certain 2012-2014 C250, E350 4Matic…
- Consequence
- An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the passenger or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag module, free of charge. The recall began March 29, 2019. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:PASSENGER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
258,163 vehicles 2016-05-26- Defect
- Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) is recalling certain model year 2008-2011 C300 Sedan, C300 4matic Sedan, C350 Sedan, C63 AMG Sedan vehicles, 2010-2011 GLK350, GLK350 4-Matic and E350 Coupe vehicles, 2011 SLS AMG, E350 Convertible, E550 Coupe and E550 Convertible vehicles originally sold, or ever registered, in Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or "Zone A." Additionally, unless included in "Zone A" above, MBUSA is…
- Consequence
- An inflator rupture may result in metal fragments striking the vehicle occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag modules, free of charge. Owners were sent an interim notification October 2016. A second notice will be mailed when remedy parts are available. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-877-496-3691.
AIR BAGS:FRONTAL:DRIVER SIDE:INFLATOR MODULE
711,159 vehicles 2016-02-11- Defect
- Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. (MBUSA) is recalling certain model year 2009-2010 ML320 BlueTec 4Matic, GL320 BlueTec 4Matic and R320 CDI 4Matic, 2011 E350 Cabriolet and E550 Cabriolet, 2009-2011 ML350, ML350 4Matic, ML550 4Matic, ML63 AMG, and C63 AMG, 2010-2011 ML450 4Matic Hybrid, E350 Coupe, E350 4Matic, E550 Coupe, E550 4Matic, and E63 AMG, 2011-2012 GL350 BlueTec 4Matic and R350 BlueTec 4Matic, 2009-2012 GL450 4Matic, GL550 4Matic and R350 4Matic, 2007-2008 SLK280, SLK350, and SLK55 AMG, 2011-2014 SLS AMG Coupe, 2012 SLS AMG Cabriolet, 2013-2014 SLS AMG GT and SLS AMG GT…
- Consequence
- In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the driver's frontal air bag, the inflator could rupture with metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- MBUSA will their notify owners, and Fiat Chrysler will notify the affected Chrysler owners. Dealers for the respective brands will replace the driver's frontal air bag module, free of charge. This recall began November 2016. Mercedes-Benz owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372 and Chrysler owners may contact Fiat Chrysler customer service at 1-800-853-1403.
Recall work is free at a franchised dealer regardless of the car's age. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls before assuming it was done.
How it ranks in the 2011 field
The score at the top of the page, placed among its peers. The zones are the same thresholds the scorer applies, read out of the scorer itself, so the picture and the band word cannot disagree.
Scores are ranked within the model year, never across years, because an older car has had longer to accumulate reports.
- Left fewer and less serious reports
- Right more, or worse
- Marker this vehicle
How 2011 compares with the other years
High risk for a 2011 — 145th riskiest of the 283 2011 vehicles we can rate. Because the ranking is against the same model year only, age cancels out of it.
Across the 7 model years of this car that carry enough reports to score, 2008 comes out best at 64 and 2013 worst at 73, with 2011 itself at 71.
If the model year is negotiable, 2008, 2007, 2014 and 2010 score lower than 2011 by a margin worth acting on. Same body, same engines, different luck — usually a supplier change or a mid-cycle fix, which the complaint data can show but never explain.
Within the 2010–2017 generation specifically, 2014 is the strongest year at 66 and 2013 the weakest at 73.
Scores compare each year against other cars of the same model year, so a low number on an older car is a real result and not an artefact of age.
Shorter is better. Years with too few reports to score are shown without a bar rather than as a zero, because no data is not good news.
Within the 2010-2017 generation, 2014 Mercedes Benz E550 scores best at 66 and 2013 Mercedes Benz E550 worst at 73.
Where these figures stop being useful
66 owner reports; fleet size estimated from this year's own recall paperwork. Every count on this page is therefore a floor: it is the number of owners who went to the trouble of filing with a federal agency, which is a small and self-selected fraction of the owners who had the fault.
Of those 66 reports, 23 carried an odometer reading, so the mileages here describe 35% of the sample rather than all of it. Owners also round: readings pile up on multiples of ten thousand, which is why this site publishes "about 90,000 miles" and not "91,438".
Named failure modes come from matching phrases in the complaint text, so a badly worded complaint can land in the wrong bucket. The effect washes out across hundreds of reports and does not wash out across five.
And nothing here predicts what one car will do. These are other people's complaints, filed years apart, on cars maintained by strangers. Read the page as a map of where this model year has previously gone wrong, then have the specific car in front of you inspected.
Questions this page answers
What are the most common problems with the 2011 Mercedes Benz E550?
The most-reported failures are airbag inflator rupture (25 reports, median 70,000 miles), other suspension problem (8 reports, median 65,000 miles) and air suspension failure (7 reports, median 90,000 miles). Counts come from owner complaints filed with NHTSA, which are voluntary, so they show what owners bothered to report rather than every fault that occurred.
Is the 2011 Mercedes Benz E550 reliable?
It scores 71 out of 100 on our risk index, which is high — 145th riskiest of the 283 2011 vehicles we can rate. The score is a comparison against other 2011 vehicles, not a prediction about any individual car, and it is built from complaint rates, severity and how early failures appear.
Which year of the Mercedes Benz E550 is best?
Within the 2010–2017 generation, 2014 scores best at 66 out of 100 and 2013 worst at 73. Same body, same engines, different luck.
Where this comes from. Every figure above is computed from NHTSA owner complaints and recall records for this exact make, model and year. Complaints are voluntary and self-selected, so treat counts as a floor. The methodology page writes out each formula, and the same numbers are available as JSON.
What breaks at my mileage Compare with another car
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