Mercedes-Benz USA is recalling 33,456 model year 2001-2011 C-Class, CLK, E-Class, and CLS vehicles because the glass sunroof panel from Webasto Roof & Components may not be properly secured and can detach, according to the required safety defect filing made public this morning by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Dealers will inspect and replace the sunroof panel as necessary, free of charge as required by U.S. safety regulations. Owner notification letters are not expected to be mailed until 18 January 18, 2025. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372. This recall is an expansion of previous NHTSA recall number 22V-954.
Chronology
- In the beginning of December 2017, Mercedes-Benz AG launched initial investigations based on isolated field reports from outside the US, claiming that the sliding roof panel detached from the vehicle. No damage or injuries were reported as a result of these events. The sliding roof assemblies of the affected vehicles were requested and returned by the individual markets.
- The returned field parts were analyzed by the supplier as well as by an external laboratory. The analysis of the supplier and outside laboratory were inconclusive. Since these analyses did not indicate a potential root cause and this type of sliding roof was already out of production, MBAG began to look for vehicles from the global used car market to carry out further investigations.
- By November 2018, three sliding roofs were retrieved and analyzed. From these three sliding roofs, two did not indicate any issues. While one of the sliding roof panels exhibited indications of an impaired bonding, and the others did not, it was unclear why the bonding on this particular sliding roof was not as strong compared to the other field samples.
- MBAG, along with the supplier Webasto Roof & Components, also undertook a thorough review of the supplier’s production records to determine if there were any changes made during the course of production. That review concluded in May, 2019. MBAG found that the supplier had changed the process of the primer application several times over the course of the full production period, including having changed the drying time for the bonding agent.
- MBAG then conducted testing, using various test methods to determine whether a reduced drying time may have affected the bonding performance over time. MBAG additionally undertook further investigations to correlate the testing results, suggesting that there could be a diminution in bonding performance depending on the production period of sliding roofs.
An authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer will check the glass panel bonding on the affected vehicles and replace the sliding roof, if necessary. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) or go to nhtsa.gov about 24V874.
Mercedes-Benz USA Recall – Sunroofs Flying Off
Mercedes-Benz USA is recalling 33,456 model year 2001-2011 C-Class, CLK, E-Class, and CLS vehicles because the glass sunroof panel from Webasto Roof & Components may not be properly secured and can detach, according to the required safety defect filing made public this morning by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Dealers will inspect and replace the sunroof panel as necessary, free of charge as required by U.S. safety regulations. Owner notification letters are not expected to be mailed until 18 January 18, 2025. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372. This recall is an expansion of previous NHTSA recall number 22V-954.
Chronology
An authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer will check the glass panel bonding on the affected vehicles and replace the sliding roof, if necessary. Owners may also contact the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) or go to nhtsa.gov about 24V874.