No news yet on whether Malaysian models are affected.
Mercedes Benz Australia has issued a recall to over 30,105 Mercedes Benz cars over an issue related to the anchorage of the sunroof glass panel to the sliding roof frame.
This models of Mercedes Benz affected by this recall includes the C-Class, CLK, CLS and E-class that are built within the years 2000 and 2010.
The recall is done because Mercedes Benz claims that ‘the durability of the bonding between the sunroof glass panel and the sliding roof frame on some vehicles might not meet specifications and the glass panel may separate from the vehicle.’
The German automaker goes on to claim that ‘If the glass panel separates from the vehicle, there is a risk of an accident resulting in injury or death of other road users.’
Interestingly enough, Mercedes Benz has also issued a similar recall in the United States in January of this year. Recalling nearly three quarters of a million vehicles built within nearly the same time frame of 2001 and 2011 due to the same problem whereby the bonding attaching the sunroof glass to the frame of the vehicle may file, causing the glass to detach from the car.
Unsurprisingly, the same models of Mercedes as in the Australian recall were affected by the North American recall, with the C-Class, CLK, CLS and E-class being the only models affected.
With recalls happening in two countries already, the question now would be: What about the Malaysian Mercedes Benz models that are equipped with sunroofs?
Thus far there is no word from Mercedes Benz Malaysia regarding this issue affecting Malaysian models. However, as the recall for the Australian sold Mercedes Benz vehicles only came six months after the recall issue was sent out in America, Malaysian sold Mercedes Benz vehicles may not be in the clear just yet.
As an aside, Mercedes Benz seems to have a history of sunroof related issues. Mercedes Benz Australia has already previously issued the same type of recall for 2019 model year A-Class.
Meanwhile in America, apart from the bonding defect recall, there have also been cases of panoramic sunroofs exploding on these German cars. The most prolific of which is the case where an angry GLE owner is suing Mercedes Benz for USD200 million (RM838.5 million) when the sunroof of his Mercedes SUV shattered out of the blue.
To those shopping for a Mercedes Benz, maybe it is a wiser decision to opt for the model without the sunroof? Hardly anyone uses the sunroof under the blazing Malaysian sun anyway.
Opinion and Text by Joshua Chin
