Mercedes SUV's Seat Warmers Investigated

Associated Press

DETROIT - Federal safety officials are investigating a Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle after getting three complaints that the driver's side seat warmers can overheat, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Monday.

The investigation involves ML320 SUVs from the 2003 model year, NHTSA said. In one case, a driver allegedly sustained second-degree burns. NHTSA said the seat covers also may burn.

A Mercedes spokesman did not immediately return a call for comment Monday.

NHTSA also is investigating several models of minivans from Mercedes' parent company, DaimlerChrysler AG. Consumers reported that the headlights may flicker and go off while the minivans are moving, NHTSA said.

The investigation involves Dodge Caravan and Grand Caravan, Plymouth Voyager and Chrysler Town and Country minivans from the 2001 and 2002 model years.

Chrysler spokesman Max Gates said there are around 744,000 minivans from those model years on the road. He said the company is working with the NHTSA.

NHTSA investigations can lead to vehicle recalls.

I know in my 430 I have to turn the heater switch off within a few minutes of activation because it heats up the seats a little too much to feel uncomfortable... Hope they do a recall to fix this....

Mine haven't worked for a couple years. (I noticed that the report only mentions years 2003+)

Mine have not worked for years also. I actually ordered the seat bottom heating elements and was well into the replacement project when I decided it was more than I bargained for so I returned them. What deterred me was that the heating element is fastened to the foam by many heavy gauge wire upholstery rings.

__________________
99 ML430

My OEM seat heaters on my ML320 are not very hot, they are never warm enough and sometimes take 10 mins to heat up... I have installed several seat heaters on other cars (for family and friends) and they work great. I bought them from HeaterSeats.com and they are easy to work with, I wanted to install them on my ML but too lazy to! =)

Tabo

My drivers side seat was just replaced due to the seat heater burning a hole through the seat and my jeans. It has been since October but the cover is available again. There is a new part number and supplier. Mercedes has had LOTS of problems with them. I have an ML350 though, not a ML320.

__________________
Patrick