Showing the 2013 E-Class E550: EPA's E550 and E550 4matic (4.7 L, 4WD or RWD). Recalls and complaints cover the whole model year. Every version
Owner complaints, recalls, fuel economy and safety ratings from public NHTSA and EPA data, updated Oct 18, 2026.
Fuel economy
19–21 mpgcombined; city 16–17, highway 25–27; the E550
Five years of fuel
$19,160–$21,180U.S. average; Ohio $18,060–$19,960 at local prices; the E550; fuel only, not other costs of owning it; 15,000 miles a year, at EIA fuel prices for the week of Oct 12, 2026
NHTSA's VIN data lists these trims for the 2013 E-Class. A trim's engine and numbers are shown as its own only where EPA names versions after the trim and no other version could be it; "seen with" means a source shows that engine on the trim, not that it was the only one. Recalls and complaints cover the whole model year: whether a recall applies to a car depends on its VIN, on NHTSA's recall lookup.
Owners have filed 182 complaints with NHTSA about the 2013 E-Class. These are unverified owner reports, counted by the part of the car they name; one complaint can name several parts. Counts aren't adjusted for how many were sold, so they don't show how reliable a car is.
Complaints by part of the car
Part
Complaints
Crashes
Fires
Injuries
Air bags
55
2
0
2
Service brakes
33
1
0
2
Structure
22
4
0
2
Engine
16
2
2
2
Suspension
16
3
0
1
Unknown or other
16
2
2
2
Electrical system
12
2
0
2
Steering
10
2
0
2
Vehicle speed control
9
6
1
7
Wheels
9
3
0
2
Power train
8
2
1
0
Fuel/propulsion system
7
1
0
1
11 more parts
Visibility
6
0
0
1
Forward collision avoidance
5
0
0
0
Fuel system, gasoline
4
0
0
0
Tires
3
0
0
0
Seat belts
2
0
0
0
Service brakes, hydraulic
2
0
0
0
Visibility/wiper
2
0
0
0
Engine and engine cooling
1
0
0
0
Exterior lighting
1
0
0
0
Fuel system, other
1
0
0
0
Seats
1
0
0
0
What the columns count
Complaints: complaints that name that part. One complaint can name several parts, so the rows overlap and don't add up to the total.
Crashes and Fires: complaints that report one. Two owners can file about the same event, and NHTSA doesn't link them, so these count reports, not events.
Injuries: the number of people the complaints say were injured.
None of these columns shows that a part caused a crash, fire or injury: they're what owners reported, unverified.
Complaints by model year
Newer years have had less time to collect complaints, and counts aren't adjusted for sales, so a shorter bar doesn't mean a more reliable year.
NHTSA lists 7 recall campaigns for the 2013 E-Class over its history. Campaigns are matched by model and year, so each one may apply to a given car, and its repair may already be done: check a VIN on NHTSA's recall lookup for the open recalls on that exact car.
Air bags: frontal
NHTSA campaign 21V638000 · reported Aug 13, 2021 · 205 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: Dealers will replace the front passenger air bag on the affected vehicles, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed on September 10, 2021. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372.
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2015-2016 E400 Coupe, 2012-2015 C250 Coupe, C350 Coupe, C63 AMG Coupe, 2011-2014 E350 Coupe, and 2012-2014 E350 Cabrio vehicles. An incorrect front passenger air bag may have been installed during a prior repair.
Risk: An incorrect air bag may not function properly in a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
NHTSA campaign 19V787000 · reported Nov 1, 2019 · 24,226 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: MBUSA has initiated an Over the Air (OTA) remote update. MBUSA will also notify owners, and dealers will check software for a successful OTA or update the communication module software as needed, free of charge. The recall began December 23, 2019. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372. MBUSA's number for this recall is 2019120008.
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2013-2017 vehicles due to a software fault that may cause the date and time for the emergency call system (eCall) to differ from the actual date and time, potentially relaying an inaccurate vehicle location. For a full list of the affected models visit: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2019/RMISC-19V787-4620.pdf
Risk: An inaccurate vehicle location may delay emergency responders, increasing the risk of injury.
NHTSA campaign 19V010000 · reported Jan 9, 2019 · 288,779 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag module, free of charge. The recall began March 29, 2019. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372.
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2014 C250, C300 4Matic, C350, C63 AMG, E350 4Matic Coupe, E350 Cabrio, E350 Coupe, SLS AMG Cabrio, SLS AMG Coupe, 2014-2015 C250 Coupe, C350 4Matic Coupe, C350 Coupe, C63 AMG Coupe, GLK 350, GLK250 BlueTec 4Matic, GLK350 RWD, 2015-2017 E400 4Matic Coupe, E400 Cabrio, E400 Coupe, 2014-2017 E550 Cabrio, and 2014-2016 E550 Coupe vehicles sold, or ever registered, in the states of AL, CA, FL, GA, HI, LA, MS, SC, TX, PR, AS, GU, the MP, and VI or "Zone A." Additionally, MBUSA is recalling certain 2012-2014 C250, E350 4Matic Coupe, SLS AMG Cabrio, 2012-2015 C250 Coupe, C350 4Matic Coupe, C350 Coupe, C63 AMG Coupe, 2011 C300, 2011-2014 C300 4Matic, C350, C63 AMG, E350 Cabrio, E350 Coupe, SLS AMG Coupe, 2015-2016 E400 4Matic Coupe, E400 Cabrio, E400 Coupe, 2011-2016 E550 Cabrio, E550 Coupe, 2011-2015 GLK350 4Matic, GLK350 RWD, and 2013-2015 GLK250 BlueTec 4Matic vehicles ever registered in the states of AZ, AR, DE, DC, IL, IN, KS, KY, MD, MO, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NC, OH, OK, PA, TN, VA, and WV or "Zone B." MBUSA is also recalling certain 2012-2014 C250, E350 4Matic Coupe, SLS AMG Cabrio 2012-2015 C250 Coupe, C350 4Matic Coupe, C350 Coupe, C63 AMG Coupe, 2010-2011 C300, 2010-2014 C300 4Matic, C350, C63 AMG, E350 Coupe, 2011-2014 E350 Cabrio, SLS AMG Coupe, 2015-2016 E400 4Matic Coupe, E400 Cabrio, E400 Coupe, 2016-2017 E550 Cabrio, 2010-2016 E550 Coupe, 2010-2015 GLK350 4Matic, GLK350 RWD, and 2013-2015 GLK250 BlueTec 4Matic vehicles ever registered in the states of AK, CO, CT, ID, IA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, NH, NY, ND, OR, RI, SD, UT, VT, WA, WI and WY or "Zone C." These vehicles are equipped with air bag inflators assembled as part of the passenger frontal air bag modules that may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to high absolute humidity, temperature and temperature cycling.
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the passenger or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
NHTSA campaign 18V043000 · reported Jan 10, 2018 · 132,167 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will replace the passenger frontal air bag module, free of charge. Mercedes issued an interim notification to owners on February 23, 2018. A second notice will be mailed when remedy parts are available. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-877-496-3691.
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2013 C250, C250 Coupe, C350 Coupe 4Matic, C300 4Matic, C350, C350 Coupe, C63 AMG, C63 Coupe, E350 Cabrio, E350 Coupe, E550 Cabrio, E350 Coupe 4Matic, E550 Coupe, GLK350 4Matic, GLK250 Bluetec 4Matic, GLK350, SLS Coupe, SLS AMG GT Coupe, and SLS Roadster vehicles sold, or ever registered, in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan), and the U.S. Virgin Islands or "Zone A." Additionally, MBUSA is recalling certain 2010 C300, C300 4Matic, C63 AMG, E350 Coupe, E550 Coupe, GLK350, and GLK350 4Matic vehicles ever registered in the states of Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia or "Zone B." MBUSA is also recalling certain 2009 C300, C300 4Matic, C63 AMG, and C350 vehicles ever registered in the states of AK, CO, CT, ID, IA, ME, MA, MI, MN, MO, NH, NY, ND, OR, RI, SD, UT, VT, WA, WI and WY or "Zone C." In the event of a crash necessitating deployment of the passenger frontal air bag, these passenger air bag inflator may explode due to propellant degradation occurring after long-term exposure to absolute humidity and temperature cycling.
Risk: An inflator explosion may result in sharp metal fragments striking the driver or other occupants resulting in serious injury or death.
NHTSA campaign 17V627000 · reported Oct 6, 2017 · 495,290 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will add sufficient grounding to the steering components, free of charge. The recall began in December 6, 2017. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-877-496-3691.
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. (MBUSA) is recalling these vehicles: 2014-2018 CLA250, CLA250 4Matic, CLA45 AMG 4Matic, 2015-2018 GLA250, GLA250 4Matic, GLA45 AMG 4Matic, C300 4Matic, C63S AMG, 2012-2014 C250, C350, C300 4Matic, E550 4Matic, 2013-2014 C63 AMG, 2012-2015 C250 Coupe, C350 Coupe, C63 AMG Coupe, 2013-2015 C350 4Matic Coupe, GLK250 4Matic BlueTec, GLK350, GLK350 4Matic, 2016-2017 C350e, C43 AMG, 2015 C400 4Matic, 2016-2018 C63 AMG, GLC300, GLC300 4Matic, 2017-2018 C300 Coupe, C300 4Matic Coupe, C43 AMG, C63 AMG Coupe, C63S AMG Coupe, C300 Cabriolet, C300 4Matic Cabriolet, C43 AMG Cabriolet, C63 AMG Cabriolet, C63S AMG Cabriolet, GLC300 4Matic Coupe, GLC43 AMG, GLC43 AMG Coupe, 2014 E350 Coupe, E350 4Matic Coupe, E350 Cabriolet, E400 Hybrid, 2015-2017 E400 Coupe, E400 4Matic Coupe, E400 Cabriolet, 2014-2017 E550 Coupe, E550 Cabriolet, B250e, 2014-2016 E250 BlueTec, E63 AMG 4Matic Wagon, 2012-2013 E350 BlueTec, 2012-2016 E350, E350 4Matic, 2015-2016 E400, E400 4Matic, 2012 E63 AMG, 2014-2015 E250 4Matic BlueTec, 2013-2016 E350 Wagon, 2017 GLC300d 4Matic, and 2018 GLC350e 4Matic. The driver's air bag may unexpectedly deploy due to insufficient grounding of the steering components if an electrostatic discharge occurs and the air bag clockspring is broken.
Risk: If the driver air bag inadvertently deploys, it can increase the risk of injury and a crash.
NHTSA campaign 17V177000 · reported Mar 14, 2017 · 51 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will update software in the affected control units, free of charge. The recall began April 21, 2017. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-800-367-6372.
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (MBUSA) is recalling certain 2016 AMG GT-S, GLC300, CLA250 and GLE300d 4Matic vehicles, 2013 C250, E350 BlueTec and G63 AMG vehicles, 2008-2014 C300 vehicles, 2013-2014 C300 4Matic and ML350 4Matic vehicles, 2009 C350 vehicles, 2014 CLS550, E350 4Matic, E350 Coupe 4Matic, E350 Wagon 4Matic, GLK350 and SL550 vehicles, 2012 CLS550 4Matic vehicles, 2012-2016 E350 vehicles, 2016-2017 GL450 4Matic vehicles, 2012-2014 ML350 4Matic BlueTec vehicles, 2015 S550, S550 4Matic and C300 4Matic Sedan vehicles, 2015-2016 C300 Sedan vehicles, and 2017 SL63 AMG vehicles. Various control units on these vehicles may have been updated with incorrect software, potentially affecting the correct deployment of the air bags in the event of a crash.
Risk: If the air bags do not deploy as intended in the event of a crash, there would be an increased risk of injury in the event of a crash.
NHTSA campaign 15V088000 · reported Feb 13, 2015 · 147,224 vehicles potentially affected across the whole campaign
Remedy: MBUSA will notify owners, and dealers will attach four additional retaining clips to the rubber seal, free of charge. The recall began March 6, 2015. Owners may contact MBUSA customer service at 1-201-573-5339. MBUSA's number for this recall is 2015020001.
Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. (MBUSA) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 E350 Sedan, E350 4Matic Sedan, E350 4Matic Station Wagon, E400 Hybrid Sedan, CLS 550 CGI, and CLS550 4Matic, 2013-2014 E550 4Matic Sedan, 2013 E63 Sedan, E63 Station Wagon and CLS63, 2014-2015 CLS63 4Matic, E63 4Matic Sedan, E63 4Matic Sedan "S", and E63 4Matic Station Wagon, 2015 CLS400, 2015 E400 Sedan, E400 4Matic Sedan and CLS400 4Matic and 2014 CLS63 "S". The affected vehicles have a rubber seal at the back of the engine bay that may temporarily stick to the hood when it is opened and then may fall into the engine bay when the hood is closed.
Risk: If the rubber seal falls into the engine compartment, it may contact parts of the exhaust system, increasing the risk of a fire.
Carmakers sent NHTSA 188 service bulletins and notices that cover the 2013 E-Class, the latest on Sep 22, 2026. They tell dealers how to fix known issues.
The parts they mention most: electrical system (57), equipment (22), power train (21), engine and engine cooling (17), exterior lighting (16).
NHTSA defect investigations
Opening an investigation isn't a finding of a defect. Outcomes are as NHTSA's summary states them. A recall is shown as an investigation's outcome only where NHTSA's summary names it; other recalls NHTSA's file lists with it are marked as listed, not caused.
Investigation
Part
Opened
Status
Engineering analysis EA21002 Desiccated Air Bag Inflator Rupture · covers 37 makes
The owner's manual gives the oil and how often to change it. We show oil facts only once we've checked them against the manual, and we haven't yet for the 2013 E-Class.
See used 2013 Mercedes-Benz E-Classs for sale on: Autotrader · CarMax
These are searches on those sites; we don't copy or check their listings. Your ZIP is used for these links and never kept.
Specs
EPA class: subcompact cars. EPA greenhouse gas score: 4–7 out of 10. Each version EPA tested:
Swipe the table sideways for more columns.
Version
Engine
Transmission
Fuel
City / hwy / comb
E350 Rear-Wheel Drive
3.5 L, 6 cyl
Automatic 7-spd
Premium Gasoline
19 / 29 / 23
E350 Rear-Wheel Drive
3.5 L, 6 cyl
Automatic 7-spd
Premium Gasoline or E85
20 / 28 / 23
E350 Rear-Wheel Drive
3.5 L, 6 cyl
Automatic 7-spd
Premium Gasoline or E85
19 / 28 / 22
E350 Rear-Wheel Drive
3.5 L, 6 cyl
Automatic 7-spd
Premium Gasoline
19 / 28 / 22
E350 4matic 4-Wheel Drive
3.5 L, 6 cyl
Automatic 7-spd
Premium Gasoline
19 / 29 / 22
E350 4matic 4-Wheel Drive
3.5 L, 6 cyl
Automatic 7-spd
Premium Gasoline or E85
19 / 27 / 22
E350 4Matic 4-Wheel Drive
3.5 L, 6 cyl
Automatic 7-spd
Premium Gasoline or E85
19 / 28 / 22
E400 Hybrid Rear-Wheel Drive
3.5 L, 6 cyl
Automatic 7-spd
Premium Gasoline
24 / 30 / 26
E550 Rear-Wheel Drive
4.7 L, 8 cyl, turbo
Automatic 7-spd
Premium Gasoline
17 / 27 / 21
E550 Rear-Wheel Drive
4.7 L, 8 cyl, turbo
Automatic 7-spd
Premium Gasoline
16 / 25 / 19
E550 4matic 4-Wheel Drive
4.7 L, 8 cyl, turbo
Automatic 7-spd
Premium Gasoline
16 / 26 / 20
E63 AMG Rear-Wheel Drive
5.5 L, 8 cyl, turbo
Automatic 7-spd
Premium Gasoline
16 / 24 / 19
E63 AMG Rear-Wheel Drive
5.5 L, 8 cyl, turbo
Automatic 7-spd
Premium Gasoline
15 / 23 / 18
Sources and dates
U.S. EPA fuel economy data, file of Sep 29, 2026
NHTSA owner complaints, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA recalls, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA manufacturer communications, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA defect investigations, file of Oct 17, 2026
NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings, file of Aug 7, 2026
U.S. Energy Information Administration, file of Oct 12, 2026
Fuel cost: EPA mpg with fuel prices for the week of Oct 12, 2026 and electricity prices for Jul 2026. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (Oct 2026). Complaints are unverified reports owners filed with NHTSA. About the data