NHTSA Complaint #10182851 — 2003 MERCEDES BENZ E320

I PURCHASED A 2003 MERCEDES BENZ E320 CUSTOM ORDERED. THERE ARE ERRATIC, INCONSISTENT,INTERMITTENT PROBLEMS OF DEFECTIVE BRAKE OPERATION, RADIO,CD,SEAT CONTROLS,INSTRUMENTATION,WINDOWS CONTROL,TIRE PRESSURE INDICATION, RESTRAINT SYSTEM,TRANSMISSION OPERATION, SRS SYSTEM. THESE PROBLEMS OCCUR RANDOMLY. TWICE,WHEN I NEEDED TO BRAKE QUICKLY THE BRAKES DID NOT STOP THE CAR. THE BRAKE ASSIST FEATURE DID NOT WORK. THE CAR'S BRAKES ARE TERRIBLE AND UNRELIABLE, AND CONSTITUTE SAFETY DANGER ON THE ROAD. THERE ARE NUMEROUS MALFUNCTIONS REPORTED BY CAR INDICATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. ALL OR MOST OF THESE PROBLEMS ARE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE GATEWAY MODULE*SOFTWARE*.THE CAN-BUS SYSTEM ON CAR,WHICH ALSO CONTROLS BRAKES,DOES NOT HAVE CORRECTLY-OPERATIONS OF WARE,AND IT AFFECTS MOST ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL SYSTEM FUNCTIONS IN THE CAR. THERE ARE DATA COLLISIONS AND PACKET CONFLICTS ON THE BUS BECAUSE THE SOFTWARE IS NOT WRITTEN CORRECTLY OR THE COMPUTER SYSTEM AND SOFTWARE IS OVERLOADED. READING OVER THE 55 2003 E320 COMPLAINTS ON YOUR WEBSITE,IT IS CLEAR THAT MOST OF THEM ARE DUE TO THIS SOFTWARE PROBLEM. THE CAR HAS BEEN BROUGHT BACK TO THE SELLING DEALER ,MERCEDES BENZ OF SAN DIEGO,*OVER 50 TIMES*DURING THE YEARS 2003-2007 WITH NO SOLUTION. THE CAR WARRANTY IS SET TO EXPIRE IN A WEEK, AND THESE PROBLEMS ARE NOT YET FIXED. THE NHTSB DEMAND MERCEDES BENZ EITHER REDESIGN THE SYSTEM OR REWRITE THE SOFTWARE AND TEST IT FOR ABOUT 40,000 HOURS, OR REPLACE THE VEHICLES WITH POST-2003 E-CLASS MODELS, FREE OF CHARGE THE NHTSB HAS BEEN DUPED BY MERCEDES BENZ INTO BELIEVING THAT REPLACING HARDWARE COMPONENTS SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS THE NHTSB SHOULD TEST THE NETWORK SOFTWARE BY EXAMINING DATA FLOWS AND FUNCTION CALLS DURING THE OPERATION OF THE ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL SYSTEM FEATURES OF AN E320 AND DIAGNOSE FOR DATA COLLISIONS AND PACKET CONFLICTS DURING AUTOMOBILE FEATURE OPERATION. *JB