2021 Mercedes-Benz AMG GLE53 Problems
Owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA, grouped by component
Data refreshed
What this page shows
Everything below is an owner-reported complaint submitted to NHTSA about the 2021 Mercedes-Benz AMG GLE53, grouped by the component NHTSA recorded on the report. These are not confirmed defects, and they are not recalls. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a category with more reports in it is not evidence that a part is defective.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Reports by component
Ranked by how many owner reports name each component category
- Electrical942.9%
- Engine419.0%
- Driver assistance29.5%
- Fuel system29.5%
- Powertrain (other)29.5%
- Brakes14.8%
- Tires & wheels14.8%
Percentages are of component mentions. A single complaint can name more than one component, so these do not sum to the total complaint count.
Each component in detail
What the reports in each category say, in the owners' own words
Electrical
Reports naming the electrical system — wiring, battery, charging, control modules, infotainment and electrical accessories.
From owner reports, verbatim
Engine harness wires insulation is falling apart very early after 3 years. It’s causing arching inside the insulation. Issues is from overheating and can cause a fire. Isolation needs to be upgraded and wire harness needs replaced.
Vehicle unexpectedly lost power on a major highway. Limped into a service station, called for a tow truck. Several days later vehicle was repaired with a bill of $2800. Four weeks later, while driving, check engine light comes on. Contact dealership that completed repairs, brought car in. Now it’s the 48V Hybrid battery needs to be replaced, $4000. Based on some cursory research, this is a known problem in these cars. Mercedes Benz needs to be held accountable. The car was purchased brand new three years ago.
Engine
Reports naming the engine itself — including stalling, misfires, oil consumption, cooling and internal engine components.
From owner reports, verbatim
Purchased as a CPO directly from a local dealership. Vehicle has experienced multiple (10+), seemingly random failures of the Electronic Stability Control, Blind Spot Assist, Lane Keeping Assist and Active Break Assist under varied driving and weather conditions. On two separate occasions (one at 15+ mph and the other at 65+), these system failures were accompanied by a brief "limp mode" and immediate total loss of acceleration. The most recent loss-of-acceleration event occurred during lunch hour traffic on the highway, at highway speeds. The vehicle has been taken to the dealership to address these issues on 3 separate occasions. Visit #1: the communication fault codes were noted by the technicians, but they could not replicate the issues. The faults were cleared and the vehicle service was deemed complete. Visit #2 (3 days later and the first instance of acceleration loss): report from service department reads almost identical to that of Visit #1 except the notation that "...found several stored faults for communication with engine control unit." Again, the issues could not be replicated and the faults were cleared. Viewed as an unacceptable response by the consumer, the dealership retained the vehicle for further troubleshooting with the follow-on report noting, "Found no socket tension at Sockets 27 and 28 to PTCU. Removed and replaced sockets 27 and 28 at ME connector 6." The faults were, again, cleared and the vehicle was returned to the owner. Visit #3 (roughly 5 weeks after last visit and the second instance of acceleration loss, this time on the highway): The same complement of warning lamps illuminated, the car lurched, and there was zero acceleration. The vehicle was navigated to the highway's shoulder without incident and shut down. After 5+ minutes, the vehicle was restarted and acceleration functioning had returned. It was immediately driven to the dealership where it currently awaits repair.
2021 MB GLE 53 AMG Coupe. Less than 7500 miles. Car wont start throws a red error saying see the operators manual. This is the second time in 5 months this has happened and is extremely frustrating given MB is fully aware of the issue. They say it is related to software but I just had my car at the dealer for another issue and all software was updated. This is a design flaw that MB needs to fix before someone dies. The issue can happen at any time, I have just been lucky enough that both times it was parked in my garage. I am now considering pursuing a full refund under lemon law, I no longer feel safe driving this car and each time it has been in the dealer for repair I am without a vehicle for 2 weeks. Very disappointing for a vehicle that cost almost 100k.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Driver assistance
Reports naming forward-collision avoidance, lane keeping, back-over prevention, cruise control and related electronic driver-assistance systems.
From owner reports, verbatim
Purchased as a CPO directly from a local dealership. Vehicle has experienced multiple (10+), seemingly random failures of the Electronic Stability Control, Blind Spot Assist, Lane Keeping Assist and Active Break Assist under varied driving and weather conditions. On two separate occasions (one at 15+ mph and the other at 65+), these system failures were accompanied by a brief "limp mode" and immediate total loss of acceleration. The most recent loss-of-acceleration event occurred during lunch hour traffic on the highway, at highway speeds. The vehicle has been taken to the dealership to address these issues on 3 separate occasions. Visit #1: the communication fault codes were noted by the technicians, but they could not replicate the issues. The faults were cleared and the vehicle service was deemed complete. Visit #2 (3 days later and the first instance of acceleration loss): report from service department reads almost identical to that of Visit #1 except the notation that "...found several stored faults for communication with engine control unit." Again, the issues could not be replicated and the faults were cleared. Viewed as an unacceptable response by the consumer, the dealership retained the vehicle for further troubleshooting with the follow-on report noting, "Found no socket tension at Sockets 27 and 28 to PTCU. Removed and replaced sockets 27 and 28 at ME connector 6." The faults were, again, cleared and the vehicle was returned to the owner. Visit #3 (roughly 5 weeks after last visit and the second instance of acceleration loss, this time on the highway): The same complement of warning lamps illuminated, the car lurched, and there was zero acceleration. The vehicle was navigated to the highway's shoulder without incident and shut down. After 5+ minutes, the vehicle was restarted and acceleration functioning had returned. It was immediately driven to the dealership where it currently awaits repair.
Issue-The car brakes aggressively using cruise control (Mercedes Distronic) with no driver intervention. This dangerous condition can cause an accident. Using my advanced cruise control…the issue is my set speed was changed along with acceleration or braking when a traffic sign is misread. I have turned off the only setting controls Traffic Sign Assist & Route Based Speed Assist but there is no change. Example of issue-My car was misreading 80mph as 60 & braking aggressively. .My prior 2020 GLE misread signs less often and did not change the speed setting or brake the vehicle. The Dealer applied all available software updates. After all the updates my car continues to adjust set speed to every misread traffic sign. For example recently I had my speed set at the posted speed of 80 and the car read a sign as 70, changed the 80 to 70, and started braking aggressively. In Idaho there are stacked signs-the upper one reads 80 and below “Trucks 70” so this happens about 50% of the time. The vehicle misreads signs often.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Fuel system
Reports naming fuel storage or delivery — tanks, pumps, lines, injectors and fuel leaks.
From owner reports, verbatim
Vehicle unexpectedly lost power on a major highway. Limped into a service station, called for a tow truck. Several days later vehicle was repaired with a bill of $2800. Four weeks later, while driving, check engine light comes on. Contact dealership that completed repairs, brought car in. Now it’s the 48V Hybrid battery needs to be replaced, $4000. Based on some cursory research, this is a known problem in these cars. Mercedes Benz needs to be held accountable. The car was purchased brand new three years ago.
When vehicle is driven 70 mph and above the drive side of vehicle is making a whilst noise by ear of the driver, that is coming into the car. The gas cap door is not sitting flush with the body of the vehicle.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Powertrain (other)
Powertrain reports that are not specifically the engine or transmission — driveshafts, axles, transfer cases and differentials.
From owner reports, verbatim
According to the dealer, there are fault codes in the system for Transmission control unit failing. Thats what caused the vehicle to go into "limp" mode... That needs to be replaced. In an instant, the warning lights and reduction in power occurred simultaneously. The car slowed down and had to coast to shoulder of the highway crossing multiple lanes of traffic. The warnings that came on said “car cannot shift”, “battery failure warning” and when stopped; “do not restart the car.” The shoulder was very narrow and we could have easily been hit by the cars passing at high speeds on the beltway. We had to wait 2 hours for Mercedes roadside assistance to arrive. The dealer is saying it will be $6,000 to repair this.
The contact owns a 2021 Mercedes-Benz AMG GLE53. The contact stated that while the gear shifter was in PARK, the vehicle was still rolling. In addition, the vehicle failed to stay in reverse and in neutral. The contact mentioned that the parking brake was activated to keep the vehicle from rolling away. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where they informed the contact that the vehicle was operating as designed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was unknown.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Brakes
Reports naming service brakes, the antilock braking system, brake hoses, master cylinders or the parking brake.
From owner reports, verbatim
Issue-The car brakes aggressively using cruise control (Mercedes Distronic) with no driver intervention. This dangerous condition can cause an accident. Using my advanced cruise control…the issue is my set speed was changed along with acceleration or braking when a traffic sign is misread. I have turned off the only setting controls Traffic Sign Assist & Route Based Speed Assist but there is no change. Example of issue-My car was misreading 80mph as 60 & braking aggressively. .My prior 2020 GLE misread signs less often and did not change the speed setting or brake the vehicle. The Dealer applied all available software updates. After all the updates my car continues to adjust set speed to every misread traffic sign. For example recently I had my speed set at the posted speed of 80 and the car read a sign as 70, changed the 80 to 70, and started braking aggressively. In Idaho there are stacked signs-the upper one reads 80 and below “Trucks 70” so this happens about 50% of the time. The vehicle misreads signs often.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Tires & wheels
Reports naming tires, wheels, hubs, or the tire-pressure monitoring system.
From owner reports, verbatim
The contact owns a 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLE53 equipped with Continental Tires, Tire Line: Sport Contact, Tire Size: 255/40/ZR21, DOT: (Unavailable). The contact stated that on several occasions while driving 30 MPH on wet pavement at low speeds, the vehicle started to shake, and a loud abnormal sound was heard in all four tires. No warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the tire assembly needed to be replaced; however, there was no repair for the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was advised to call the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 18,000.
Too few reports in this category for a page of its own — they appear in the full complaint list.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Elsewhere on this vehicle
Data sources
- NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation — owner-reported complaints and the components recorded on them
Data on this page last refreshed .