AutoUtility currently tracks 66 official NHTSA owner defect complaints for the 2018 Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Engine & Cooling issues are the most frequently reported category, appearing in 13 complaints (19.7% of submitted records). Among these NHTSA complaint records, 2 filings cite a crash, 3 cite a fire, 3 report one or more injuries. The 2018 Mercedes-Benz E-Class belongs to the 5th Generation (W213) platform.

Key Problem Findings
  • Total NHTSA Complaints: 66 reports
  • #1 Reported Problem Area: Engine & Cooling (13 reports • 19.7% of submitted complaints)
  • Secondary Problem Areas: Electrical System (13), Driver Assistance & Safety Tech (9)
  • Crash-Citing Complaints: 2 filings
  • Fire-Citing Complaints: 3 filings
  • Complaints Reporting Injuries / Fatalities: 3 injury filings • 0 fatality filings
Reporting Methodology: Statistics describe unverified consumer submissions voluntarily filed with NHTSA. Complaint volume is not normalized for vehicle sales volume or miles driven. Multiple components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission.
Total Complaints
66
Submitted to NHTSA ODI
Crash-Citing Complaints
2
Filings citing a collision
Fire-Citing Complaints
3
Filings citing smoke or fire
Complaints Reporting Injuries
3
Filings citing one or more injuries
Complaints Reporting Fatalities
0
Consumer filings citing fatalities

Most Reported Problems for 2018 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Top automotive subsystem defect categories ranked by unique owner complaint volume in federal records

#1 Problem Area 19.7% of complaints

Engine & Cooling

13 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
🔥 3 fire reports
#2 Problem Area 19.7% of complaints

Electrical System

13 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 2 official safety recall campaigns for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#3 Problem Area 13.6% of complaints

Driver Assistance & Safety Tech

9 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ 1 crash report
#4 Problem Area 13.6% of complaints

Wheels & Tires

9 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
#5 Problem Area 10.6% of complaints

Steering System

7 owner complaints submitted to NHTSA ODI
⚠️ NHTSA Recall Context

NHTSA records list 1 official safety recall campaign for this model year involving the same broad component area:

*Component overlap means an official recall exists for the same broad vehicle system. It does not establish that an individual owner complaint was caused by, covered by, or resolved through that recall.
✓ 0 crashes or fires cited
Domain Share Note: Share percentage represents the proportion of unique complaint filings referencing each vehicle system. Because single complaints may cite multiple systems (such as engine and electrical simultaneously), domain percentages represent individual category incidence and may sum to over 100%.

Recent NHTSA Owner Reports for 2018 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Representative defect filings submitted by owners to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation

Powertrain & Transmission NHTSA ODI ID: #11738071
Filed: 05/15/2026

"The contact owns a 2018 Mercedes Benz E Class. The contact stated that while driving stopped at a residential gate, the gear was shifted and skipped from g1 to g3., shifting itself to neutral. In another incident, when at a stop light or stop sign, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was taken to the..."

Incident Date: 03/04/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: POWER TRAIN
Engine & Cooling NHTSA ODI ID: #11724676
Filed: 03/16/2026

"Variable Valve Timing Camshaft KNOWN DEFECT rendering the car unusable at only 100K miles."

Incident Date: 03/09/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: ENGINE
Exterior Lighting NHTSA ODI ID: #11720741
Filed: 02/26/2026

"The contact owns a 2018 Mercedes-Benz E43 AMG. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the front passenger’s side headlights intermittently inoperative. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed; however, the diagnostic result was..."

Incident Date: 12/26/2025 • Raw NHTSA Component: EXTERIOR LIGHTING
Air Bags & Restraints NHTSA ODI ID: #11715242
Filed: 02/03/2026

"The driver-side seat belt retractor on my 2018 Mercedes-Benz E400 (W213) has failed to fully retract, leaving significant slack across the driver's chest and lap. An authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer has diagnosed the issue as a failed seat belt motor. This component is part of the vehicle's..."

Incident Date: 02/03/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: SEAT BELTS
Driver Assistance & Safety Tech NHTSA ODI ID: #11710180
Filed: 01/11/2026

"The rear backup camera intermittently will open for a second, display the rear view (when in reverse), then immediately closes. This often happens after the trunk has been opened / closed, as when we go shopping and put items in the trunk. Sometimes it resets when you turn off the ignition and..."

Incident Date: 01/02/2026 • Raw NHTSA Component: BACK OVER PREVENTION
Consumer Narrative Notice: Excerpts are sanitized text descriptions submitted by vehicle owners to the federal ODI database. They reflect the reporting consumer's observations at the time of filing and have not been independently confirmed by vehicle manufacturers or government investigators.

Complaint History for Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Reported defect complaint volume across sibling model years (2015–2026)

Model Year NHTSA Complaints Crash Reports Safety Recalls Detailed Report
2015 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 57 5 6 View 2015 Problems →
2016 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 89 6 5 View 2016 Problems →
2017 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 166 3 20 View 2017 Problems →
2018 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Current Page 66 2 6 Current
2019 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 54 4 20 View 2019 Problems →
2020 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 20 0 14 View 2020 Problems →
2021 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 25 0 18 View 2021 Problems →
2022 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 21 2 8 View 2022 Problems →
2023 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 24 0 5 View 2023 Problems →
2024 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 25 3 0 View 2024 Problems →
2025 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 2 0 2 View 2025 Problems →
2026 Mercedes-Benz E-Class 0 0 0 View 2026 Problems →
Comparative Disclaimer: Complaint totals are unadjusted historical counts and are not normalized for vehicles sold, active fleet size, or total road mileage. Newer model years naturally have had less calendar exposure time to accumulate owner filings.

Detailed NHTSA Component Breakdown for 2018 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Complete distribution of consumer defect reports across all 33 granular NHTSA system and subsystem classifications

Vehicle Component / System Total Complaints Crash Reports Fire Reports Reported Injury Entries Reported Fatality Entries
Engine NHTSA category: ENGINE 7 0 2 0 0
Other / Uncategorized NHTSA category: UNKNOWN OR OTHER 7 0 0 1 0
Electrical System NHTSA category: ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 5 0 0 0 0
Powertrain NHTSA category: POWER TRAIN 4 0 0 0 0
Seat Belts NHTSA category: SEAT BELTS 4 0 0 0 0
Wheels & Hubs NHTSA category: WHEELS 4 0 0 0 0
Steering NHTSA category: STEERING 3 0 0 0 0
Structure & Body NHTSA category: STRUCTURE 3 0 0 1 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,SERVICE BRAKES 2 0 0 0 0
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 2 0 0 0 0
Forward Collision Avoidance NHTSA category: FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 2 0 0 0 0
STEERING,WHEELS 2 0 0 0 0
Air Bags NHTSA category: AIR BAGS 1 1 0 1 0
AIR BAGS,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 1 0 0 0
Back Over Prevention / Camera NHTSA category: BACK OVER PREVENTION 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,WHEELS,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,WHEELS,SEATS 1 0 0 0 0
Doors, Latches & Locks NHTSA category: LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
POWER TRAIN,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM 1 0 0 0 0
Service Brakes NHTSA category: SERVICE BRAKES 1 0 0 0 0
SERVICE BRAKES,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
STEERING,SUSPENSION,ENGINE 1 0 0 0 0
STRUCTURE,UNKNOWN OR OTHER 1 0 0 0 0
Tires NHTSA category: TIRES 1 0 0 0 0
UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE 1 0 1 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 1 0 0 0 0
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL,UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL (ESC) 1 0 0 0 0
Visibility / Glass NHTSA category: VISIBILITY 1 0 0 0 0
Visibility & Wipers NHTSA category: VISIBILITY/WIPER 1 0 0 0 0
Data Attribution & Reporting Methodology: Complaints are unverified voluntary submissions to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI). Because multiple vehicle components can be cited within a single owner complaint submission, component-level rollups may sum to more than the unique complaint count (66). Injury and fatality entries in the detailed table reflect raw values entered by reporting consumers across individual submissions; they are not deduplicated casualty statistics and may include duplicate or unverified entries. Complaint volume is not normalized for sales volume or vehicle mileage and does not represent an audited component failure rate.
Official US Government Data Provenance

The complaint records on this page are retrieved directly from the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) public database.

Local Production Store Compiled: August 2026 • Deterministic Audited Dataset • Zero Dynamic External API Runtime Latency.