- Vehicles
- 132,167
- Built between
- Jan 2008 – Jul 2013
- Models
- 12
- Recall type
- Vehicle
- Initiated by
- NHTSA investigation
- Owners notified
- 31 October 2018
- Repaired
- 73%
- Unrepaired
- 6,622
Does this affect my vehicle?
This recall covers vehicles built between January 2008 and July 2013. If yours was built outside that window, it is not part of this recall.
- 2009 Mercedes-Benz C300Built May 2008 to May 2009
- 2009 Mercedes-Benz C350Built June 2008 to February 2009
- 2009 Mercedes-Benz C63 AMGBuilt May 2008 to March 2009
- 2013 Mercedes-Benz SLSBuilt June 2012 to May 2013
- 2010, 2013 Mercedes-Benz AMG C63Built May 2009 to May 2013
- 2013 Mercedes-Benz C250Built March 2012 to June 2013
- 2010, 2013 Mercedes-Benz C300Built May 2009 to June 2013
- 2013 Mercedes-Benz C350Built February 2012 to June 2013
- 2010, 2013 Mercedes-Benz E350Built January 2008 to April 2013
- 2010, 2013 Mercedes-Benz E550Built December 2008 to April 2013
- 2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK250Built August 2012 to June 2013
- 2010, 2013 Mercedes-Benz GLK350Built September 2008 to July 2013
Repair progress
6,622 of 132,167 vehicles in this recall had still not been repaired as of Q2 2026.
73% repaired — 97,108 of 132,167 reported
- Scrapped or exported
- 28,437
Manufacturers file these figures with NHTSA each quarter. Vehicles the manufacturer could not trace, or that have been scrapped or exported, are counted separately and are not included in the unrepaired figure.
What the defect is
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2013 C250, C250 Coupe, C350 Coupe 4Matic, C300 4Matic, C350, C350 Coupe, C63 AMG, C63 Coupe, E350 Cabrio, E350 Coupe, E550 Cabrio, E350 Coupe 4Matic, E550 Coupe, GLK350 4Matic, GLK250 Bluetec 4Matic, GLK350, SLS Coupe, SLS AMG GT Coupe, and SLS Roadster vehicles sold, or ever registered, in the states of 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, MBUSA is recalling certain 2010 C300, C300 4Matic, C63 AMG, E350 Coupe, E550 Coupe, GLK350, and GLK350 4Matic vehicles ever registered in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia or "Zone B." MBUSA is also recalling certain 2009 C300, C300 4Matic, C63 AMG, and C350 vehicles ever registered in the states of AK, CO, CT, ID, IA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, NH, NY, ND, OR, RI, SD, UT, VT, WA, WI and WY or "Zone C." In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these passenger air bag inflator may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
What could happen
An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
What gets fixed
MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag module, free of charge. Mercedes issued an interim notification to owners on February 23, 2018. A second notice will be mailed when remedy parts are available.
Timeline
- Vehicles builtJanuary 2008 to July 2013
- Recall reported to NHTSA10 January 2018
- Owners notified31 October 2018
- Latest repair reportQ2 2026 — 73% repaired
Your rights
A safety recall repair is free. Under US federal law the manufacturer must fix a safety defect at no cost to you — no charge for parts, labor or diagnosis — whether or not you are the original owner. A dealer cannot charge you for recall work, and cannot require you to have bought the vehicle from them.
That entitlement is not unlimited. It applies where the vehicle was first sold less than 15 years before the recall was announced — 5 years for tires. Past that a manufacturer may still do the repair free of charge, and many do, but they are no longer obliged to. This recall was reported on 10 January 2018.
To arrange the repair, contact any franchised dealer for the brand. If a dealer refuses the work or tries to charge for it, you can report that to NHTSA at nhtsa.gov/recalls or on 1-888-327-4236.
Manufacturer contact
Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-877-496-3691.
Official source
- Recalling manufacturer
- Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC.
- Recall initiated by
- ODI
Everything on this page — the models listed, the build dates and the repair figures — comes from the manufacturer's filing to NHTSA and describes the vehicle line as a whole, not any individual car. Only the manufacturer can confirm whether a specific vehicle is affected, and whether its recall work has already been carried out. Check yours by VIN and read the official notice at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Additional notes
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 www.safercar.gov.
Check your own vehicle
This page describes the recall, not any one car. To see which recalls cover a specific vehicle, search by make, model and year.
A VIN lookup here identifies your vehicle and shows recalls issued for that make, model and year. It cannot tell you what is still open on your individual car - only the manufacturer knows that. Search by VIN instead, or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov for whether a recall is still open on your individual car.