Buyer Research

2022 Mercedes-Benz E-Class — Should You Buy One?

Typical asking price: $32,000–$47,000. There are 2 high-severity known issues you need to know before handing over a check.

Deciding between model years? Compare the 15 Mercedes-Benz E-Class years we've written up →

Kestrel Take

Twenty-one filings for a whole model year tells you about the kinds of trouble this car has, not the odds of getting one. The kinds are worth knowing: the 48-volt system again, with one owner given roughly thirty seconds of warning before the car slowed itself; a fuel-system recall that three owners say sat open for months while the dealer waited on parts; emergency braking that fires at shadows with a child in the back seat; and wheel rims that roll over the sidewall of the factory low-profile tires at full lock. Our recall pull for this year came back empty, which is a gap in our data and not a clearance — type the VIN into NHTSA's recall lookup yourself, then drive the car somewhere its own automatic braking can embarrass it.

What we checked

Reconciled against public records, 2026-09-25

NHTSA holds 21 owner complaints for the 2022 Mercedes-Benz E-Class, and 3 recall campaigns.

A big number here usually means a lot of these were sold, not that it is a bad vehicle — popular models collect more complaints for the same rate of trouble. So the total on its own says little. What is worth reading is the shape of it. The largest single group is electrics and electronics at 24%. That is notable without being overwhelming — worth checking, not worth panicking about.

3 recall campaigns cover this model year. Recalls are repaired free, for any owner, with no time limit on most safety campaigns — but only if someone books it in. Ask the seller to show it was done, or have any dealer check the VIN; it takes them a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Counts come from the NHTSA complaint and recall database — free, public, and worth checking yourself.

Known Issues for the 2022 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

Ranked by wallet impact. These are documented, recurring problems — not freak accidents. How we decide that.

48-volt battery warning, then the car decelerates on its ownHigh — wallet impact

One owner had the 48-volt malfunction warning appear twice in a year, each time followed by a red warning and about half a minute to reach the shoulder before the car lost power and slowed. Two independent shops traced it to the mild-hybrid battery. The rest of this cluster is the same electrical architecture behaving oddly in smaller ways: a driver's seat adjusting itself at startup, the head-up display wandering up the windscreen, the reversing camera showing a blank screen. Start the car from cold, watch the dash through its full self-test, and walk away from any battery warning.

Repair cost (estimate): $1,200–$3,000 for the 48-volt battery and the labour to reach it

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under electrics and electronics (5).

Fuel-system recall several owners could not get fixedMedium

Four of twenty-one filings are the fuel system, and three are the same story told by three owners: a recall letter arrived, the dealer had no parts, and month after month went by with the car unrepaired. The fourth describes the car slowing down on its own with the accelerator still pressed, fixed by switching it off and restarting. The remedy on a recall costs the owner nothing, so this is a paperwork job rather than a repair bill — but it is your paperwork job. Ask the selling dealer to print the campaign status for this VIN, and check it against NHTSA's own lookup rather than taking the printout on trust.

Repair cost: $0 with the recall — verify it was performed

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the fuel system (4).

Automatic emergency braking triggering with nothing in front of the carHigh — wallet impact

Three filings, and one more inside the electrical cluster, describe the car braking hard by itself on clear road. One driver, with a child in a seat in the back, says it stopped at full force for the shadow of a tree, and heard a loud pop from inside the car half an hour later. Another reports the automatic brake engaging in traffic with no obstruction. No repair bill attaches to any of these, because no dealer has named a part to replace — which is exactly why a buyer should test it rather than read about it. Drive the car under dappled shade, past overhead signs, and through a car park, and ask the seller outright whether it has ever braked on its own.

Repair cost: Not yet priced — a safety matter first, a repair bill second

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under the driver-assist and automatic braking systems (3).

Rims rolling over the low-profile tire sidewalls at full steering lockMedium

An owner with a three-year-old car showing 15,000 miles reports that turning the wheel to maximum lock — the sort of thing you do leaving a parking space at walking pace — lets the rim edge roll onto the sidewall of the factory low-profile Pirellis and bubble them. The same cluster holds a filing about two plastic blocks hanging an inch below the front bumper shield just ahead of the tires, and one crash-tagged report of a low oscillating noise from the front wheel well with the car pulling right between 40 and 70 mph. Crouch and run a hand round every sidewall for bulges before you buy.

Repair cost (estimate): $350–$600 per run-flat tire, and $900–$1,800 more if a rim has been bent as well

Source: NHTSA complaints filed under wheels and bearings (3).

Walk-Away Red Flags

✗A 48-volt battery malfunction message at any point during the drive
✗Bulges or bubbles in a tire sidewall, especially the fronts
✗The car braking or jerking on its own on clear road
✗A recall the selling dealer describes as open but unfixable for want of parts

Good Signs

✓NHTSA VIN lookup showing every campaign for this car closed
✓A dealer printout of completed recall work with dates on it
✓Four matching tires with even wear and clean sidewalls at full lock
✓Mercedes service history covering the first three annual intervals