The contact owns a 2007 Mercedes-Benz ML350. After activating the seat warmers, the driver's seat became very hot and the contact smelled a burning odor. The contact stopped the vehicle and noticed that the seat was burned on the left side. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the seat was unplugged, but the details of the diagnosis could not be provided. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 96,000.

- Jamaica, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2007 Mercedes Benz ML350. While driving approximately 30 mph and activating the seat warmer, the left side of the driver seat was extremely hot and burned the contact's shirt and left arm. Medical attention was not received. The contact noticed that there was smoke emitting from the driver seat and turned off the seat warmer. The failure burned the lower left side of the driver seat. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 87,653.

- Minneapolis, MN, USA

The contact owns a 2007 Mercedes-Benz ML350. The contact stated that while driving 50 mph with the driver's side seat heater activated, burning fumes emitted into the vehicle. Upon further inspection, the contact noticed a hole in the lower side of the driver's side seat. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 128,000.

- Waxhaw, NC, USA

The contact owns a 2007 Mercedes Benz ML350. The contact stated that the driver's side seat warmer was activated and there was a burning smell emitted as the temperature became extremely hot. The defect resulted in a burned hole in the seat cushion and through the contact's clothing. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was advised to the contact that the seat back warmer was faulty and they would need to perform further investigations to determine the cause of the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was repaired. The approximate failure and current mileage was 63,000. Updated 11/4/13 updated 11/14/13

- Easton , CT, USA

Seat warmer burned a hole through my driver's seat. Approximately 2'-3' in height and approximately 1/2' in length.

- Redondo Beach, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2007 Mercedes-Benz ML350. While driving approximately 35 mph with the driver side heated seat activated, there was a burning odor followed by smoke. After the driver pulled to the side of the road, the driver-side seat ignited into small flames. The driver extinguished the seat cushion. The vehicle was able to resume operation with caution to the residence. There were no personal injuries. The vehicle has not been in operation. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer. The failure and current mileages were 35,000. Updated 01/08/10 updated 01/12/10.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

The contact owns a 2007 Mercedes Benz ML350. The contact observed smoke coming from the drivers heated seat. Prior to turning the heated seat off, the contact suffered minor burns on her left buttock. A road side assistance mechanic towed the vehicle to an authorized dealer and advised the contact not to drive the vehicle. The contact is concerned that the failure could have caused a fire to occur. The current and failure mileage was 27,000. Updated 1/25/10 updated 01/26/10

- Cincinnati, OH, USA

I had the seat heat on, and waiting to pick up my family in front of a theatre, I smelled burning, I opened the window, to see if something was burning outside, I suddenly felt a pinch in my left lower left back, I opened the door and jumped out of the car, I saw on the lower left side of the driver seat a whole that was glowing bright red, I saw fire was starting, I hit it few times with my hands and put out the glowing fire, the smell was sickening, I turned off the ignition, and started checking myself, I felt a hole in my winter jacket. Thank got this happened when I was stopped, if I was on the highway this would have surely caused an accident. It is hard to describe the panic condition when this happened.

- Little Neck, NY, USA

While out of state on vacation, we activated both the driver side and the passenger side seat warmers in my car. After about two to three minutes of activating the seat warmers, we began to smell burning leather. All of a sudden we began to see smoke coming from the driver side of the vehicle. After seeing the smoke, we pulled over to the roadside to see where the smoke was coming from. Once we exited the vehicle we realized my husbands jacket and shirt had been burned by the malfunction in the driver side seat back warmers. After inspecting the seat back, we saw that the seat had a large burn area. We immediately turned off both seat warmers and the vehicle's engine. The burning finally stopped after tuning off both the seat warmers and the vehicle. This was the worst encounter that I ever had with a vehicle, and the vehicle happens to be a brand new Mercedes-Benz ML350, 2007 model from downtown la motors. I had always dreamed of owning a Mercedes-Benz, but I never thought that I would have this kind of experience with such a prestigious vehicle. I thought that I had purchased my dream vehicle, but after this experience I realized that I was mistaken. This experience spoiled our trip, and traumatized my family and I. not only did it spoil our trip, we were inconvenience and devastated by the damage to the vehicle and also to my husband who was almost burned by the incident. My vehicle is now in the process of being repaired by the dealership. Upon completion of the repairs, I will be hesitant to use the seat warmers in my vehicle again because the confidence and trust I once had in my vehicle has been diminished. I am afraid that it may happen again.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA