— A Mercedes-Benz M274 engine class action lawsuit alleges the pistons cause engine problems which lead to premature engine failure.
The Mercedes M274 engine lawsuit was filed by California plaintiff Lena Jamil who is the original lessee and owner of a 2016 Mercedes-Benz C300.
According to the class action, she filed the lawsuit on behalf of California owners or lessees of Mercedes-Benz vehicles equipped with M274 engines.
According to the M274 lawsuit:
"When Plaintiff’s car had logged only approximately 95,000 miles, Plaintiff encountered the car’s engine shuddering, losing power on the freeway, such that the car eventually would no longer restart—an obvious safety risk."
Jamil says she had the vehicle towed to a Mercedes dealer and was told the M274 engine suffered piston failure in at least one cylinder and pieces of the piston had penetrated other engine cylinders.
The class action asserts the plaintiff was told her vehicle would need the M274 engine replaced at a cost of about $20,000. The plaintiff says she complained because her Mercedes vehicle "was only a few years old and with just 95,000 miles," but Mercedes wouldn't pay for the M274 engine replacement.
The lawsuit says the plaintiff went to an independent mechanic who agreed to replace the engine with a used long block engine at a cost of nearly $7,000 plus exchange of the damaged M274 engine.
The plaintiff says she had no choice but to pay the cost because she needed a vehicle that operated properly.
The Mercedes M274 engine class action lawsuit says the automaker knows about the alleged engine problems because in October 2022 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration allegedly opened a formal investigation.
Mercedes M274 Engine Problems and the Government
The lawsuit says NHTSA "opened a formal investigation of this same problem after receiving customer complaints about the same and conducting an initial review."
Additionally, the plaintiff claims the formal investigation was opened because "the effects of the piston defect plaguing the M274 engine are so significant and pose such a safety concern."
However, NHTSA has not opened a formal investigation into Mercedes M274 engine problems.
According to federal safety regulators, they received a defect petition from the owner of a 2015 Mercedes-Benz C300. The petitioner asked NHTSA to investigate "engine piston damage attributed to improperly sized wrist pins in the M274 engine found in the owner's 2015 C300."
The petitioner told NHTSA his 2015 Mercedes C300 M274 engine suffered a cracked piston and that all Mercedes vehicles with M274 engines should be investigated.
The petitioner also referenced a 2015 technical service bulletin (TSB LI03.10-P-060916) sent to Mercedes dealerships by the automaker.
Regulators said the petitioner's vehicle is equipped with a 2.0L M274 DE20LA engine calibrated to run on 91 Octane or higher gasoline and contains diamondlike coating (DLC) wrist pins.
"None of the other Mercedes models referenced in the petition contain this engine configuration. Thus, the scope of the petition will primarily focus on those vehicles that contain DLC coated wrist pins like those in the petitioner's vehicle." — NHTSA
Safety regulators said they would focus on wrist pins found in the M274 engines in 2015 Mercedes C300 vehicles built prior to March 25, 2015.
NHTSA also noted it had received "seven (7) related Vehicle Owners Questionnaire (VOQ) reports in certain 2015 C300 vehicles."
The government gave Mercedes until November 22, 2022, to respond to NHTSA's request for information about the 2015 C300 M274 engines.
Based on what is discovered by regulators, NHTSA will grant or deny the petition to open a formal Mercedes M274 engine investigation.
The Mercedes-Benz M274 engine class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California: Lena Jamil v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC.
The plaintiff is represented by The Katriel Law Firm, P.C., and The Kalfayan Law Firm, APC.
