May 13, 2019, my wife started the car and drove for less than a mile when her dress started smoking from the driver seat that was alight. She stopped the car and removed our 11 month old baby from the backseat and called me. She has a video of the incident. I checked on Mercedes usa site and found out that there was a class action law suite on this issue. We were not notified by either mb or the administrator of the case. This could have turned out deadly as the battery is under the passenger seat and the fuel lines. I turned the car on and again, the seat started to smoke. It is now parked in our driveway as my wife and I are scared of putting our kids in it. I contacted mb usa and they directed me to the administrator of the law suite. This can create dangerous or even deadly situations if my was on a highway and could not stop or fie escalates rapidly with our child in the back seat.

- Harrisburg, PA, USA

The heated seats were turned on the driver seat while waiting in line at a fast food drive thru on June 15, 2017 around 1:00am. I pulled of after getting my food. Then while I was leaving the parking lot I started to feel really warm on my back and side, hotter than normal. I started to smell smoke! I pulled over quickly and got out of the car and I realized my clothing was smoking and the back of my seat was on fire. The fire went out and my jacket and T shirt had burns and ashes on them and my driver seat had large hole in it.

- Rochester, NY, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Mercedes Benz R350. The contact stated that the front drivers side seat back and cushion heater was activated, while driving approximately 25 mph. A burning odor emitted inside of the vehicle. The vehicle was maneuvered to the side of the road. The seat heater was immediately deactivated. The contact sustained minor burns to the back area and medical attention was not required. There were no flames visible. A fire report was not filed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the seat and heating element were both replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000. The VIN was unavailable.

- Canon, GA, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Mercedes Benz R350. When the contact parked the vehicle, she noticed that the driver seat became hot and burned through, creating a hole on the seat. There was no warning indicator illuminated and the contact was not injured. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to a local dealer. The dealer was unable to diagnose the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 126,000.

- Glenview, IL, USA

I was driving my car home from church, while pulling up at walgreens I saw smoke and felt a burn on my skin...look down and there we're smoke coming out my seat through the leather. Turned off the car and it cooled the smoke.. waited a while and turned car on again but the smoke didn't return. Scared to drive car.

- Villa Rica, GA, USA

While driving, smelled burning odor but saw no smoke or fire. Driver's side seat heater was on at time odor was noticed. Turned it off immediately and stopped vehicle. Odor went away but noticed upper left of seat back had two burn holes. Made appointment for service.

- Lansdale, PA, USA

I started my 2006 Mercedes-Benz R350 and activated the driver seat warmer on high. After approximately 2.2 miles into my drive (speed 30-45 mph) my seat felt very hot on my lower left side near my waist line. I reached back while driving to feel how hot the seat was and was surprised by a very hot sensation as though I had touched a hot needle. As I continued to drive and pull my body forward I noticed smoke rising from behind my left shoulder. I immediately pull over onto a left side street and put the car in park leaving it running and jumped out of the seat. There was a large hole burned in the leather and it was still smoking. I patted the area down with my hand to notice a glowing orange spark and it continued to smoke. I reached in and turned off the heated seat button by cycling it though the 2nd and 3rd levels. The seat finally stopped smoking. I let the hole in the seat cool down. Checking my clothing I realized I had a hole and several melted spots on my polyester vest I was wearing. Upon coming home I noticed also a hole in my light cotton sweater that was worn under the vest two days prior to this incident I had felt the seat was hot in the same area but thought my shirt at the time was raised exposing my skin to the seat.

- St. Joseph, MI, USA

The contact owns a 2006 Mercedes Benz R350. The contact stated that while driving 10 mph with the driver side heated seat warmer activated, the seat started to burn and smoke was emitted into the vehicle. The contact mentioned that she was able to extinguish the fire by turning off the seat warmer. The contact suffered minor burns to the hip and fingers. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to diagnose the failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who advised the contact that they would contact her at a later date. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not available. The failure and current mileage was 55,000.

- Pembroke Pines, FL, USA