NHTSA Complaint #11586092 — 2021 MERCEDES-BENZ S 580

The contact owns a 2021 Mercedes-Benz S580. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the "Camera System Unavailable" and "Camera Dirty" messages were displayed on the instrument panel. The vehicle was initially taken to a dealer where the contact was informed that the failure was caused by a bumper guard placed on the front license plate, rendering the driving assist sensor inoperable. Despite the removal of the bumper guard, the failure persisted. Recently, the contact received text from the dealer that stated that several other owners of the model year vehicle had experienced the same failure. The letter stated that a defective camera lens hood had caused the failure; however, the parts for the repair were on backorder. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 1,000.