Owners have filed 245 complaints on the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class, covering 2016–2023. The system named most often is Electrical System (43 reports). Worst years by volume: 2016, 2017, 2020; cleanest: 2019, 2023, 2021. 24 reports describe a crash, 5 a fire. On average the car was 3.3 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 245 GLE-Class complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Electrical System 43 Read
I reported multiple times to Mercedes USA that the vehicle was experiencing electrical issues as I was periodically loosing power and/or control over the vehicle. The vehicle was returned twice to the dealership but the problem always came back pretty much immediately. On the day of the accident, I was driving the…
When my wife got into vehicle first thing in the morning after it sitting all night in the garage, she smelled a foul smell. As she was driving, she opened all the windows to dissipate the smell and turned in the heater because wit was cold that morning. After about ten to twelve minutes of driving, she noticed the…
While parking car in a parking spot in private office parking, the car accelerated itself (while pressing the brake to stop it) and ran into front wall. This similar problem has shown earlier where car accelerated itself without causing any accident. Apparently problem exist where car sometime accelerate itself. Last…
Power Train 18 Read
Electronic shifter stays in neutral after turning off the vehicle and taking foot off the brake while parking. This is a serious design flaw and often causes a dangerous rolling condition after parking until the driver is aware the vehicle is not stopped and in park. No audible alerts or safety warnings are trigged if…
The contact owns a 2017 Mercedes-Benz GLE550E. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, an unknown message was displayed. The contact pulled over, and the vehicle was towed to his residence. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, and it was confirmed that no failure was found. The vehicle was then taken to Mercedes-Benz…
My 2022 Mercedes GLE 350 With distronic adaptive cruise control accelerates with the cruise control disabled. It's happened about a dozen times since I purchased the vehicle in September of 2022. All acceleration issues occurred at low speed while turning. Right after I release the brake while turning my car…
Service Brakes 17 Read
This car rear-ended another car while slowing down and preparing to stop at a red light. The Automatic Emergency Brake system failed to provide any alert whatsoever, no warning lamps, no audible alerts, no warning messages, nothing. The Automatic Emergency Brake system failed to engage the brakes. The Automatic…
I can be driving on a flat surface with out the car been on eco mode and the car shuts off for no reason without and light on the dash board I have to wait a few secs to restart the car ,brakes don't stop like they should very loud grinding noise and comes. I have report this problem lots of times and my car was not…
The Brakes Failed - At Mercedes Dealership for Over a Month My Wife could have been killed on the highway going 70MPH with no brakes The car was towed by Mercedes over a month ago and never returned. No one will talk to me. Mercedes will not speak with me. Nor have they contacted the dealer - Letter Enclosed No…
Exterior Lighting 13 Read
The contact owns a 2021 Mercedes-Benz GLE350. The contact stated that the rear brake lights did not function properly when the brake was applied. The contact was made aware of the failure when he noticed that after slowing down to stop, other vehicles from behind were stopping close to the rear of his vehicle. The…
Both left and right headlamp/turn signal/marker light assemblies and control modules have been replaced. One under warranty in 2023, the second in 2025. Infotainment system displays error messages Messages may increase as assembly/control module becomes increasingly dysfunctional
Low beam head lights are very poor and I am not able to drive this car at night. I googled about this issue, and I see lot of people complaining about the same issue on mercedes gle. I am willing to pay money to fix this issue, but dealer said he can not do anything about it now. I talked to mercedes and they also…
Engine 12 Read
The contact owns a 2022 Mercedes-Benz GLE450. The contact stated that while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle lost automotive power with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact pulled over to the side of the roadway, restarted the vehicle, and continued driving. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer to be…
I am writing to report a problem with my 2022 Mercedes GLE 350 4Matic. A metallic ticking noise originates from the engine compartment during acceleration, with the noise diminishing as speed increases. This effect creates a deceptive sense that the issue disappears at higher speeds, potentially encouraging faster…
Cylinder head replacement
Steering 11 Read
We were driving our mercedes gle 350 on I 80 near mile marker 203.1, ohio on 7/11/2020 at 7 am. It was raining a bit in morning. The lane departure assist was on, and it was turning green and gray continuously. I keep lane assist on all the time for safety purpose. I was driving on the slow lane on right most lane at…
Electric power steering failed while car was in motion, causing unsafe condition, loss of steering control and low speed collision with concrete wall. Various warning messages in the instrument cluster appeared. Mbusa inspected vehicle, and an electronic steering control fault code was found. Technician states in…
During a routine drive, the vehicle swerved to avoid an oncoming vehicle. The vehicle driver assist functions over-corrected, causing vehicle to end up off road
Fuel/propulsion System 11 Read
Car has caught on fire due to (as diagnosed by certified MB mechanic) leaking from fuel injector(s). Issue is known to many MB mechanics. Issue DOES have a recall for other (non GLE350) models in this same year (2016). Request recall issued! Request assistance with having MB warranty/repair problem
Vehicle sitting in driveway. Fuel injector leakage and resultant engine control unit detecting fuel set off spark which resulted in explosion under hood. Completely destroyed engine intake manifold (over 100 pieces found), and requires all (6) new fuel injectors. Due to core return value, I will NOT be keeping…
This has previously been reported, but NHTSA email indicated I needed to file formal complaint. Fuel injector(s) leaked while vehicle parked overnight in driveway. ECU detected fuel and subsequent ignition/spark caused "explosion' blowing out engine intake manifold (appx 50-75 pieces found). All 6 injectors and intake…
Vehicle Speed Control 10 Read
Car was stopped in the parking lot,and just before switching the ignition off,it accelerated without intention, hitting the restaurant wall causing property damage and little physical injury. After hitting the wall car stopped with major damage to front. Airbags never deployed
Car took off after going over railroad track, and accelerated without driver being able to control it. The breaks and steering went out as well. It’s like car was being driven remotely. Crashed into fence, and there was no warning. The car accelerated. The car bounces back and forth when brakes are on, and again last…
While waiting for traffic signal to change with foot on break pedal, the suv accelerated suddenly and lurched forward and rear ended the car ahead of me! Luckily, it was a Hummer with a tire mounted on the rear door and damage occurred only to my MB. Front end has severe damage, hood buckled and headlight broken! It…
GLE-Class years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Electrical System | 1 | — | |
| 2022 | Air Bags | 2 | — | |
| 2021 | Electrical System | 2 | — | |
| 2020 | Air Bags,forward Collision Avoidance | 3 | 1 | |
| 2019 | Seat Belts | — | — | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 3 | — | |
| 2017 | Air Bags,vehicle Speed Control | 9 | — | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 4 | 4 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 137 |
| Average complaints per series | 1.8 |
| Worst single series | 7 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 3.3 years |
A model average of 1.8 hides a worst series at 7. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
- No ads, on every page
- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the GLE-Class?
By complaint volume, 2016, 2017, 2020 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which GLE-Class years are the cleanest?
2019, 2023, 2021 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Mercedes-Benz GLE-Class have?
245 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 2016–2023. Of those, 24 describe a crash and 5 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.