While I was making a right hand turn, the steering wheel "locked." I put the word "locked" in quotes, because the hose system to the power steering broke and the power was lost. A Mercedes M-class is a heavy vehicle, and I was unable to turn the steering wheel. I was lucky. There was no person or car to the right of us and I drove the car into the right hand curb. This happened in 4/02. The car was towred to w.I. simonson, a Mercedes dealorship in santa monica, California. The car was returned to me and the same thing happened a couple of weeks later on May 10, 2002. This time I was backing out of my driveway when the steering wheel froze and I could see brown fluid in a big puddle. It was towed again to the same dealership and I was told the problem was either 1)something defective with the metal piece attached to the hose; or 2) a defective clamp which did not hold the hose to thepipe. Anyhow, I am very worried about driving this car. I know I was lucky. I could have been killed/injured or killed/injured someone else if the failures had not happened in such safe places. I notice one other steering wheel failure listed for the 2000 Mercedes ML320. Thank you.

- Pacific Palisades, CA, USA

While driving, power steering becomes very erratic, which makes vehicle very hard to manuver. Took to dealer. Problen has not been resolved as of yet. Dealer was well aware of problem and replaced a leaking power steering hose.

- Richardson, TX, USA