1993 Mercedes-Benz 400E Electrical system Problems
- Complaints
- 14about this part
- Share
- 74%of 19 total for the year
- Median mileage
- 116,000miles
- Trend
- Not enough dataFewer than 15 complaints, too few for a reliable trend.
NHTSA recorded 14 complaints about the electrical system of the 1993 Mercedes-Benz 400E, 74% of the 19 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 116,000 miles. 1 a fire, according to the filers.
Fewer than 15 complaints name this part, so treat the figures as a rough indication only.
Example complaints
Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.
“I own a 1993 400E mercedes. Recently it has had major difficulty turning over. I took it to my local mercedes benz repair shop. They told me it the engine harness has gone bad and needs to be replaced completely. Evidently this is a very common problem with this vehicle as mercedes used sub-standard materials when building the wiring harness. This causes major safety issues and I believe mercedes should be forced to begin recalling these vehicles.”
NHTSA complaint #10310130, filed 2010-02, 100,000 miles“I am writing about a faulty engine wiring harness in my 1993 400E (e420 badge). This past may, my car had a check engine lamp problem symptom. After being without my car for the more than 2 weeks that it took my mechanic (dietsch werks in sunnyvale, california) to investigate multiple erroneous diagnostic fault codes, I finally got my car back after spending about $500 partially for elusive diagnostic time. On the evening of 30 june, the car died while driving on the busy us 101 freeway in san jose, so I had it towed to my mechanic. The fuse for the fuel pump (and other things) was blowing. …”
NHTSA complaint #10163905, filed 2006-07, 95,630 miles“Faulty wiring in engine harness resulted in loss of power at speed on a major interstate, luckily at the time I was able to get off the road safely. It was determined that the car's charging system had been shorted out. Still waiting on other system tests. This is a known problem with certain mercedes. Why isn't anything being done about this?”
NHTSA complaint #10484072, filed 2012-11, 278,000 miles“Parked the vehicle and placed it in park then turned ignition off. Burning smell coming from vehicle then smoke started going in through vents and seemed liked it was coming from under the car. The electrical wiring harness is creating mass and the car nearly went up in flames. The fire department arrived and werent able to put out the smoke as the source of it was not immediatly determined. I am not looking at thousands of dollars in repairs.”
NHTSA complaint #10851497, filed 2016-03, 163,000 miles“Wiring harness on mercedes benz 400E failed and entered a low power backup mode on the highway far away from our residence. Wiring harness is charred and harness shorted out on engine.”
NHTSA complaint #10257260, filed 2009-02, 211,000 milesRelated service bulletins
- 10057241Nov 17, 2014Mercedes my-all models 164.195 212.095, 221-195 222-163, 245.286 . Vehicles must be examined immediately after an accident to avoid damage to hv battery.
- 10056014May 27, 2014Parktronic system triggers without obvious cause.
Electrical system: other model years
| Year | Complaints | Share of year |
|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 14 | 74% |
| 1992 | 17 | 89% |
Other parts of the 1993 Mercedes-Benz 400E
2 complaintsEngine cooling
2 complaintsVehicle speed control
2 complaintsElectronic stability control
1 complaintsFuel system
1 complaintsOther or unknown
1 complaints
← All problems reported for the 1993 Mercedes-Benz 400E
About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Nov 1, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.
To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology