2017 Mercedes-Benz B 250E Electrical Problems

In November 2024, the vehicle indicated "add coolant". The vehicle was brought to Mercedes Benz of Scottsdale for servicing. The dealership apparently added coolant without advising me that the B250-E has a 100% chance of failure to the Drive Unit / coolant intrusion unless a small part is replaced before coolant leaks into the inverter/entire engine. A few weeks later - the vehicle, while traveling on a highway, had a complete failure and essentially shutdown on moment's notice. It nearly caused a severe accident. Mercedes Benz USA and the MB Scottsdale dealership have refused to cover the cost of a repair (near $7,000) or replace the vehicle (that is completely inoperable). I was disturbed to learn that a failure rate to the Large Drive Module is ONE HUNDRED PERCENT. This same problem exists for early Toyota RAV4 EVs and some Teslas. I encourage you to go to [XXX] to confirm the facts. These vehicles should be recalled. Consumers like me should not have to shoulder the expense due a defect that the manufacturer should cover/resolve. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

NHTSA ID

11705166

Incident

Dec 15, 2024

On Wednesday [XXX] I was driving my electric vehicle to work. I exited the freeway and as soon as I stopped at the light for the off ramp a warning light indicator appeared stating Coolant Low. I found this odd as I was unaware of Electric Vehicles using Coolant. I clicked the OK button on the steering wheel and the message was acknowledged and disappeared from the screen. When the Light changed to green I proceeded to turn towards my office. At the next traffic light a new message popped up stating see service agent before starting your car. I again found this odd as the car was already running and the message could not be acknowledged with the OK button on the steering wheel. I was 2 blocks from my office so I continued on to get the car out of traffic so it wouldn't be a safety hazard. 1 block later the message disappeared and I was stopped at the left turn lane light when the Car completely died. All lights and indicators came on the dashboard and the car was completely dead. A kind person pushed my car out of the street so I would not be in danger or blocking traffic. These 2 indicators on the way to the office where the first indicators that ever were shown prior to the car becoming inoperable. I had the vehicle towed to my certified MB mechanic and he diagnosed the issue within an hour of receiving the car. The drive Unit was damaged due to an internal leak in the drive unit. I contact MBUSA to file a complaint about the car and they notified me I had to have the car diagnosed by a MB Dealership. I had the car towed to MB of Laguna Niguel and they charged me 300 for initial Diagnosis. On October 3, 2024 I was informed by the service rep the car needed additional diagnostics to determine the issue fully. They needed an additional 590.00 to run the diagnostics. On October 7, 2024 I was informed the repairs would be 19,000.00 to repair this car that we only paid 20,000 for. This is a complete design defect and should be covered. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION

NHTSA ID

11633846

Incident

Sep 25, 2024

While driving a notice to park the car and call for maintenance came up then while I was trying to get to safe stopping point the car went on to neutral and shut down while I was at speed. I turned the car back on and moved it to safety and called for roadside assistance

NHTSA ID

11630844

Incident

Dec 15, 2024

My car just stalled and was not able to move on the highway exit which caused a high risk for the safety of passengers and the safety of others. The car has been towed to a Mercedes Dealer in West Covina, California. and they indicate that the coolant leaked into the drive motor and caused the car to stop. Prior to this car stall, there was no warning lamp, messages, or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure. After the car stalls on the street, a failure message appeared asking to send the car to the shop.

NHTSA ID

11553101

Incident

Oct 27, 2023

Mercedes dealer indicated a coolant leak resulted in an electrical failure and required that I pay $18,000 to replace the motor system. This is a known issue, however. When I mentioned that this is a manufacturing defect affecting numerous b250e I was referred to Mercedes Benz USA. Mercedes Benz USA offered a $1000 discount towards repairs rather than waiving the cost entirely. There are no details or tools available by mercedes or others to diagnose and resolve this issue. I would like this vehicle recalled. I want to be refunded the entire amount of the vehicle or at least the amortized value at the time of the incident.

NHTSA ID

11496946

Incident

Feb 26, 2022

Motor failure after 50K mile. Car can only move and stop - move and stop. Need to replace Electric Engine Motor. Seat belt malfunction after 40K.

NHTSA ID

11480555

Incident

Jul 4, 2022

When trying to leave a shopping complex in my Mercedes Benz B250e, the vehicle suddenly just wouldn't move in either drive or reverse. All instruments looked normal, there were no warnings or messages on the console, and the vehicle was fully charged, but the electric motor just would not engage even though the transmission was engaged. The vehicle was towed to the nearness Mercedes Benz dealership in Littleton, where they diagnosed the problem simply as a "failed electric drive". They could offer no explanation as to why the drive failed, but offered us the option to replace it at a cost of over $16k. The vehicle's warranty had expired only 3 months prior, the vehicle only had 16K miles, and I had owned it less than a year, so this all felt very strange that such a major component would simply fail with no explanation. We pleaded with the dealer to honor the warranty under the spirit of "good-will" but did not offer any consolation towards what we feel is an exorbitant cost to repair the vehicle. Upon further research we have discovered that this seems to be a problem with these particular Mercedes model, many other owners of the same vehicle have experienced the same issue, Mercedes is aware of the problem and refuses to recall or honor repairs. vehicle mileage at 16,000

NHTSA ID

11468355

Incident

May 16, 2022

Mileage

16,000 mi

Glad to have found this group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/bclasselectric?sorting_setting=TOP_POSTS Here's my situation with my B-250e 2017 model with 38,000 miles. Bought from a used car dealership in California. Took it to Mercedes-Benz of South Bay. First, they had it for 2 months and could not diagnose the problem with the error messages. This is when it was still drivable. They escalated to MB USA and Germany. Finally, Germany told them what to do to remove the alert and it worked fine. I drove it for 80 miles and now the same alert came back. This time the engine would not start. After another 3 weeks with the dealership I get this: Technician found coolant entering the electric motor assembly, specifically at the rotor position sensor. Resolving this matter takes replacing the electric motor itself. Amount to resolve takes $17, 575+tax (replaces electric machine/electric motor). Conferred with warranty manager for potential extended coverage. There is no additional or extended coverage for this component. I owe $15K on car payments so clearly, I won't be getting it repaired for $18K+. Especially when I can't trust if their diagnostic is accurate after they haven't figured it out for 3 months. Totally lost trust in the brand of Mercedes-Benz. The only remaining warranty is the Tesla battery till 100K miles. They say Tesla doesn't support it anymore. That's not my problem. Mercedes-Benz has sold this lemon of a model to many people. They owe compensation to pay for this. Customers are NOT Research & Development cost. We expect a working product. And as this group has posted -- this is a systemic issue. Any lawsuits on this or recall? There needs to be for sure.

NHTSA ID

11467661

Incident

Feb 1, 2022