Photo: Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz AG received isolated reports in April 2021, outside of the United States, alleging the infotainment system of S-Class luxury sedans failed to activate. The MBUX in suspect vehicles remained black after unlocking, which prompted the German automaker to coordinate an investigation with the supplier, namely Gigabit Multimedia Serial Link.
During the initial phase of the investigation, GMSL started developing a stop-gap remedy in the guise of more robust software. Rolled out into series production that summer, the ad-hoc remedy was complemented by parallel analyses of the root cause of this problem. Come November 2021, MBAG received two more field reports of a central display screen failure to activate in EQS models. The company determined a similarity to the failures in the S-Class, therefore suggesting a potentially common cause.
Fast forward to the spring of 2022, and that’s when the investigators concluded that software is to blame for the start-up behavior of the central display. For the EQS, the German automaker identified a different deviation from that of the S-Class. Both models do not comply with the rear visibility requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard 111. The remedy software for the MBUX system comes in two guises: A2979043200 for the EQS electric sedan and A2979042800 for the combustion-engined sedan.
The attached report notes that “changes in the development processes of our suppliers ensure that this issue can no longer occur from March 24th, 2022 onwards,” which begs a question. Why did Mercedes-Benz take four months to acknowledge a software issue that it had already addressed internally?
Whatever the reason, Mercedes filed an 8,530-vehicle recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over this blunder. Owner notifications will be mailed before September 9th according to MBAG.
Starting with suspect EQS vehicles, the affected population was produced between July 13th, 2020 and January 19th, 2022, in the guise of the 450, 580, and the AMG-branded 53 series. The same dates apply to S-Class vehicles, which are split between the 500, 580, and the Maybach-branded 580.
Fast forward to the spring of 2022, and that’s when the investigators concluded that software is to blame for the start-up behavior of the central display. For the EQS, the German automaker identified a different deviation from that of the S-Class. Both models do not comply with the rear visibility requirements of federal motor vehicle safety standard 111. The remedy software for the MBUX system comes in two guises: A2979043200 for the EQS electric sedan and A2979042800 for the combustion-engined sedan.
The attached report notes that “changes in the development processes of our suppliers ensure that this issue can no longer occur from March 24th, 2022 onwards,” which begs a question. Why did Mercedes-Benz take four months to acknowledge a software issue that it had already addressed internally?
Whatever the reason, Mercedes filed an 8,530-vehicle recall with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over this blunder. Owner notifications will be mailed before September 9th according to MBAG.
Starting with suspect EQS vehicles, the affected population was produced between July 13th, 2020 and January 19th, 2022, in the guise of the 450, 580, and the AMG-branded 53 series. The same dates apply to S-Class vehicles, which are split between the 500, 580, and the Maybach-branded 580.
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