Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (fuel pump, injectors, fuel tank, hybrid and EV propulsion).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2003 Mercedes-Benz AMG E55 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns a 2003 Mercedes-Benz AMG E55. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, he smelled an abnormal gasoline odor inside of the vehicle. After a visual inspection of the rear seats, the contact observed gasoline pooling underneath the rear seats. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to TSB: 2008-020001. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was unknown.
While the vehicle was on the highway on a long road trip, there was an increasingly large rattle when the vehicle was under load. Eventually the rattle stopped. Then when I tried to fill up the car with gas, it leaked everywhere causing a massive fire hazard. While this was put under extended warranty for 15 years by Mercedes Benz, a 2003 model is out of warranty by 3 years. This is completely unacceptable as it left me stranded in rural montana on a road trip (I'm from wa) and posed a massive fire hazard in the blazing heat of summer. I had to tow it back on a uhaul to prevent further damage to the car or a potential fire. Even the mechanics at a near-ish (200 miles away from the montana highway I broke down on) were hesitant to even move the car due to fire hazard. This issue should have been recalled for safety reasons or been given a much longer extended warranty. …
1st incident was while driving along on the expressway and noticed a slight scent of raw fuel,, as I arrived home and parked in the garage, exiting the vehicle the smell of fuel was more evident, when I look under the vehicle, I see a puddle of gas steadily leaking from the fuel tank area, I cleaned up the mess and immediately had it inspected, inspection determined that primary fuel pump sending unit was leaking causing fuel to accumulate in the fuel tank area directly underneath the left rear passenger seat and overflowing out through the chassis wherever it could find a way out, repair required complete fuel pump with sending unit, as it is a one piece design, after all said and done, repair estimate $1,800. …
As a loyal Mercedes Benz customer for years it pains me to write this letter. I am shocked to see a class action lawsuit against mbna and have personally had two fuel cell issues in two separate AMG cars 6 years apart. It doesn't matter that my extended warranty covered the cost before and this time. It sickens me that mbna refuses to acknowledge that this is a defect in the design and products utilized in these AMG vehicles yet the design was changed. Customers are not told that this is a flaw that happens on many of the AMG instead they are treated as if each are unique cases. Shame on mbna for treating such loyal customers with such disregard and not admitting to the public that this is a limitation that consumers and insurance companies should be aware of for their safety. It personally placed my family in harms way this past weekend during a trip to naples fl. …
Filled my just purchased 2003 E55 AMG with gasoline on 10/30/14 and drove straight home. After a few minutes my brother told me the garage had a strong gasoline smell. Drove to work the next morning and noticed the smell was extremely strong in the car and left windows down to ventilate. Drove home with windows down and still noticed smell that seemed to be coming from back seat of car. Entered car and "gasoline smell" into internet search to find there is a large scale issue, investigation, and lawsuit. When picking the car up from dealer I noticed the entire rear seat bottom was not attached. Thought it May have been due to an inspection. However, it turns out that the access panel for the fuel sending unit is directly under the seat. After learning this I removed the rear seat to find gasoline on the access panel. …
I just purchased a used 2003 Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG. Upon driving it home from the state where I purchased it, I smelled a strong fuel smell. This is strong inside the cabin and also outside the cabin, to the point that others around the car noted the fuel smell. I can smell it while driving and when the car is stationary. A google search indicated that there was an investigation into this years ago and mbusa offered an extended warranty of an additional 5 years beyond the initial 10 years in lieu of having a court require a full recall. After, further investigation on my part, I learned that it is not a matter of if but when this will happen to your w211 vehicle. I called my local Mercedes-Benz dealer and they told me that the extended warranty for the fuel system on my car ended last year. I do not know why the previous owner(s) did not take care of this problem. …
What should have been a classified as a total recall turned into an extended warranty, and as a result I have lost $1700. After a battle with the NHTSA, back in 2015 Mercedes settled to do a retroactive extended warranty on certain 2003-2011 vehicles due to how many problems and safety concerns there were with the fuel system. Unknown to me, not receiving any letters about the issue since purchase, my car was out of the warranty period by 3 months when I got a check engine light. I had the check engine light read by a reputable gas-station shop, and they found an EVAP leak. This was no normal hose leak/gas cap open EVAP leak. They ended up finding a massive leak at the top fuel pump! There was actually dark plastic/signs of high-heat inside the gas tank (on the pump). Fire hazard?!? I had the car towed to Mercedes of wilmington for a second evaluation because it was a time bomb. …
I came out to my car the morning after filling up the tank fully and smelled a strong odor of gasoline inside the car. I drove it to the dealer and it turns out the fuel filter/fuel sending units had cracked and were leaking fuel. There is a sending unit on either side of the fuel tank under the rear passenger seats, and the fuel was leaking out the tops of these sending units into the cabin of the vehicle. Because I caught it early, the gasoline had only pooled on the top of the fuel sending unit and not spilled into the seats and footwells. The dealer diagnosed the issue as cracked sending units and said both needed to be replaced. I did some research online and found that there had been a voluntary recall on my car in 2008 by Mercedes-Benz for this exact issue. The recall had been performed but clearly had not fixed the issue, as these parts failed again less than 2 years later. …
Gas is leaking from the gas tank after the vehicle is filled up. If you fill up and let it sit overnight in the garage you wake up to raw fuel leaking out under the car under the rear seat driver side. We have had 6 fuel pumps, sending units and level sensors replaced in the gas tank the last 3 years. Then the gas tank itself was changed along with new sensors and pumps. It started leaking a year later. Same situation if you fill the car up it starts to leak. When will this situation be fixed. Mbusa has failed to offer any assistance to owners that have paid upwards of 90,000 dollars for these vehicles. Why? So that mbusa can show the NHTSA people "look we have no warranty claims on file" just read the complaints of 2003-2006 E55 owners. Now the newer e63 gas tanks are starting to leak as the vehicles reach 4 years of age. Just like our E55 started to leak at 4yrs and 50K miles. …
I began to notice strong odor of gasoline in my garage intermittently - I park the car in garage daily but only noticed gasoline odor some days- took to dealer dec 2012 and dealer stated there was fuel leak at fuel rail pressure regulator - dealer replaced fuel rail and regulator- I thought problem was resolved since I did not notice gasoline odor for a while- then started to have intermittent gasoline odor again- noticed small oil leak under engine and took it back to dealer feb 2013 and mentioned that I smelled fuel odor again- dealer located minor oil leak at rear main seal that did not need immediate attention and did not comment anything further about the gasoline odor- I monitored the situation for next few weeks- months since I did not have time to keep taking auto back to dealer - finally figured out that intermittent nature of gasoline smell was related to filling tank- noticed …
NHTSA investigations
Fuel System (Tank/Sender) Leakage
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation based on 20 consumer reports.All of the vehicles were E55 AMG models and the complainants alleged fuel leaks or a strong odor of gasoline both inside and outside of their vehicle, particularly after refueling.Some complainants alleged that the leaks may be related to a 2008 Mercedes Benz emission recall (Campaign No.
Fuel Leakage From The Fuel Tank
The Office of Defects Investigation (ODI) opened this investigation on January 23, 2012 as PE12-001 based on 20 consumer reports in model year (MY) 2003-2006 E55 AMG vehicles.Based on new reports in other E-Class vehicles, ODI upgraded the investigation to Engineering Analysis (EA) 13-003 on March 15, 2013, and expanded the scope to all E-Class vehicles through MY 2008.The complainants alleged a strong odor of…
Fuel System complaints in other AMG E55 years
Frequently asked questions
How common are fuel system problems on the 2003 Mercedes-Benz AMG E55?
NHTSA has 63 complaints about the fuel & propulsion system of the 2003 Mercedes-Benz AMG E55, 90% of the model year's 70 complaints. The component named most often is delivery › fuel pump (3 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2003 Mercedes-Benz AMG E55 fuel system problems?
No. NHTSA lists no fuel & propulsion system recall for the 2003 Mercedes-Benz AMG E55, though it has 3 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2003 Mercedes-Benz AMG E55 fuel system problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 74,000 miles, and 4% before 25,000 miles.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.