.
What is interesting, is that in talking to one of the NHTSA engineers
currently investigating our defective harnesses, he made no mention of "biodegradability" being
at all responsible for the wires disintegrating inside our harnesses.
He simply attributed it to Mercedes-Benz making one of those poor manufacturer's decisions about where to shave costs. He said it was remarkable/unfortunate that Mercedes chose low-cost (cheap) wire in such a critical location.
My personal opinion is that the "biodegradability-green" story is, if anything, MB company disinformation slipped out as a "We were just trying to do the right thing for the environment" excuse for their blunder.
Strife, please read the below list; there have been a number of suspect fires that have been, and or could be, attributed to the defective MB harnesses:
http://sites.google.com/site/infoage1/mercedes-benz-1991-1996-engine-wiring-harness-defect
Even without the fires, note the recent Nissan recall concerning their Altimas with symptoms
nearly identical to the most common complaints of the failing MB harnesses. And further note: the Nissan recall came as a result of only 29 NHTSA complaints:
MB Wiring Harness Failure
As to the age question: Yes, it does make a recall harder to effect, but certainly not impossible. Witness the recent recall of
millions of early to mid nineties Fords and Toyotas:
MB Wiring Harness Failure
.