Mercedes-Benz Recalls 235,000 Vehicles Over Disabled eCall System

Back in February 2020, the Stuttgart-based automaker was informed of a customer who experienced issues with the Mercedes Me Connect due to a disabled SIM card. A handful more complaints were received in the following months, prompting an investigation with IDEMIA SAS of France, the supplier of the communication module. In September 2020, the sub-supplier of the SIM card singled out a triggered security mechanism as the root cause.

Not named in the attached document, the mystery sub-supplier focused on cards for North America with dedicated software for this region. The company was able to narrow down the root cause to the software in question, which prompted yet another investigation at Mercedes-Benz. Come March 2022, the luxury automaker identified almost 235k potentially affected vehicles.

From May 2020 through May 2022, the three-pointed star has received 191 field reports in the United States. There were no reports of crashes or property damage associated with this problem. As for the remedy, the sub-supplier will update the SIM software of the communication module in the near future. The update can be performed over the air or at the dealer.

Owner notifications are slated for July 19th. The nameplates covered by this recall start with the A-Class and CLA, followed by the GLA, GLB, C-Class, GLC, E-Class, GLE, G-Class, S-Class, SLC, and SL. The AMG GT sports car is also listed. These vehicles were built from MY 2017 through 2022.

Mercedes-Benz isn’t the only automaker that had – or still has – issues with the emergency call system. Volkswagen springs to mind, which temporarily stopped deliveries of the Golf Mk. 8 two years ago. Mercedes-Benz also recalled 1.3 million vehicles to fix the eCall system in February 2021, followed by a handful of S-Class and EQS vehicles in January 2022.