2006 Mercedes-Benz C-Class POWER TRAIN,ENGINE
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
I have a 2006 Mercedes C280 which I purchased almost a year ago with 57,000 miles. It currently has 73,000 miles and is having major mechanical problems which have been life threatening due to when and where they occur. 1. Loss of transmission upon acceleration. If I pull over, turn it off and restart, it will shift fine until it decides it wants to do it again and I either lose the ability to shift, or it goes into limp mode without a Check engine light. This has happened on the freeway, heavy traffic, and have been several close calls. The shop said the codes were for transmission malfunction and valve body malfunction. Just out of nowhere. 2. Check engine light goes on and off repeatedly and The plastic intake manifold needs to be replaced because it is one of the defects Mercedes was sued for on this particular year, model, and engine. All of the oxygen sensors are going out as well and that is just the start. The cost for the part alone is in the $1000 range. My mechanic said the best is yet to come and explained around my current mileage on up is when most of the damage takes place with the valves and whatever else happened with this engine. I'm not sure exactly what all the problems were but he said to take it to the junkyard and was very serious which infuriates me because it's a beautiful car and I couldn't in good conscience sell it to anyone. Mercedes is fully aware of this but not a lot of people benefited from the settlement. The same problems are known by all owners and German mechanics.
ATTEMPTING TO SPEED UP FROM STOP TO 45 MPH AND RPMS ROSE ABOVE 5000 TO 6000 AND CAR WOULD NOT SPEED UP PAST 35 MPH. I TRIED FLOORING THE ACCELERATOR BUT NOTHING HAPPENED. NO RESPONSE AT ALL PAST 35 MPH. I PULLED OVER AND TURNED OFF THE CAR FOR 5 MINUTES. THEN I STARTED THE CAR AGAIN AND THE ACCELERATION PERFORMED AS IT SHOULD. *TR
"ATTEMPTING TO SPEED UP FROM STOP TO 45 MPH AND RPMS ROSE ABOVE 5000 TO 6000 AND CAR WOULD NOT SPEED UP PAST 35 MPH. I TRIED FLOORING THE ACCELERATOR BUT NOTHING HAPPENED. NO RESPONSE AT ALL PAST 35 MPH". MY CAR DOES NOT ACCELERATE AS IT SHOULD. I WENT TO A AUTO SHOP AND THEY SAID I HAVE AN INTAKE MANIFOLD PROBLEM. *TR
ENGINE BEGAN KNOCKING WHILE DRIVING. BALANCE SHAFT MALFUNCTION. CAUSED VEHICLE TO BECOME NON-DRIVABLE. LOCAL DEALER QUOTED 6K TO FIX. CONTACTED MERCEDES BENZ WHICH INDICATED IT WOULD OFFER NO ASSISTANCE IN REPAIR OF THIS PROBLEM. INTERNET RESEARCH SHOWS A CONSISTENT PROBLEM WITH THE YEAR AND C-CLASS VEHICLES. OTHER RESEARCH INDICATES A DEFECT IN THE BALANCE SHAFT USED BY MERCEDES BENZ IN THIS MODEL AND OTHER MODELS. MERCEDES BENZ ISSUED A SERVICE NOTIFICATION ABOUT THIS PROBLEM IN 2008. PROBLEM OCCURRED ON THIS VEHICLE WHILE RELATIVELY CLOSE TO HOME PRIOR TO BEING DRIVEN OUT OF TOWN. HAD THE PROBLEM OCCURRED ON THE ROAD, THE DRIVER AND VEHICLE WOULD HAVE BEEN STRANDED. A NON DEALER MERCEDES MECHANIC STATED THERE WAS AN 8-10% FAILURE RATE ON THE BALANCE SHAFTS IN QUESTION. MERCEDES BENZ NEEDS TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO THE OWNERS TO RESOLVE THE ONES THAT DO FAIL. *TR
THE CAR HAS A BALANCE SHAFT ISSUE LIKE MANY W272 ENGINES...WE NEED TO FIND A WAY TO GET MERCEDES INTO ANOTHER CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT...THIS ISSUE WILL COST ME ABOUT 5000 DOLLARS TO FIX...OTHERWISE. *TR
I WAS DRIVING HOME AND NOTICED THAT WHEN I WOULD ACCELERATE AFTER COMING TO A STOP THE CAR WAS EXTREMELY SLUGGLISH. I WOULD HAVE TO ALMOST FLOOR THE GAS PEDAL IN ORDER FOR THE CAR TO BEGIN MOVING. I PULLED OVER AND THEN PUT THE CAR IN NEUTTRAL. THE JERKED VIOLENTLY AND SHIFTED VERY HARD AS I THEN TRIED TO PUT IT IN REVERSE AND THE INTO PARK. I TRIED TO PUT THE CAR BACK INTO DRIVE AND IT WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AT ALL. I HAD TO TURN THE CAR OFF AND THEN BACK ON AGAIN IN ORDER TO GET IT MOVING. THE GEARS CONTINUED TO SHIFT VIOLENTLY. HOWEVER, WHEN I FINALLY GOT MOVING AGAIN, THE CAR WOULD NOT GO OVER 35 MPH. THE CAR WAS INSPECTED AND AN ERROR CODE FOR THE INTERNAL SPEED SENSOR CAME UP, WHICH IS PART OF THE VALVE BODY FOR THE TRANSMISSION. MY CAR ONLY HAS 59,000 MILES ON IT. MERCEDES IS VERY AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM ON 2006-2007 C230 MODELS! IN FACT, THEY ARE HAVING A DISPUTE WITH THE MANUFACTURER OF THE VALVE BODY BECAUSE IT IS POOR QUALITY AND DEFECTIVE. I HAVE SEEN NUMEROUS OTHER COMPLAINTS RELATED TO THIS ISSUE. MY LOCAL MERCEDES DEALERSHIP QUOTED ME $2,400 TO REPAIR THIS DEFECTIVE PART. I WAS LUCKY IN THAT I WAS NOT DRIVING AT 60 MPH ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN THIS MALFUNCTION OCCURRED. THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS ISSUE AND A RECALL SHOULD BE ISSUED FOR THIS PART. *TR
Trend Over Time
Complaints by year
Other Issues
Common problems reported
Quick Summary
The 2006 Mercedes-Benz C-Class has 6 POWER TRAIN,ENGINE complaints on file. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.