The 1997 Mercedes-Benz Sl500 has 1 NHTSA recall campaign affecting an estimated 4,402 vehicles. Recall repairs are always free at any authorized dealer. Owners have filed 13 complaints with NHTSA, most often about the air bags. Last updated July 5, 2026.
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION: PASSENGER VEHICLES. CORROSION OF THE ELECTRICAL IGNITION FILAMENT OF THE AIR BAG GAS GENERATOR MODULE CAN OCCUR IF THE VEHICLE IS OPERATED IN AREAS OF FREQUENTLY HIGH HUMIDITY.
CORROSION OF THE IGNITION FILAMENT CAN RESULT IN THE DRIVER'S AIR BAG BEING DEPLOYED UNINTENTIONALLY.
DEALERS WILL REPLACE THE DRIVER'S AIR BAG MODULE.
Verbatim reports filed with NHTSA, lightly edited for readability and with personal information removed.
“Vehicle has approx. 209k miles. Sunday 1/19/20 driving wb on montauk highway (nys 27a?) at quogue ny. Speed approx. 35-40 mph. Slight turn/bend in road to the right. Sunny, dry pavement. No other cars following or ahead, either direction. Very loud bang heard inside cabin, both seatbelts…”
“Vehicle has approx. 209k miles. Sunday 1/19/20 driving wb on montauk highway (nys 27a?) at quogue ny. Speed approx. 35-40 mph. Slight turn/bend in road to the right. Sunny, dry pavement. No other cars following or ahead, either direction. Very loud bang heard inside cabin, both seatbelts…”
“Vehicle has approx. 209k miles. Sunday 1/19/20 driving wb on montauk highway (nys 27a?) at quogue ny. Speed approx. 35-40 mph. Slight turn/bend in road to the right. Sunny, dry pavement. No other cars following or ahead, either direction. Very loud bang heard inside cabin, both seatbelts…”
“Wiring insulation for lights and power steering deteriorated to the point of causing massive shorts in multiple systems, draining the battery and resulting in engine failure at highway speeds. I maneuvered in heavy traffic onto an off ramp that provided a safe exit from the 6 lane beltway and had…”
“Wiring insulation for lights and power steering deteriorated to the point of causing massive shorts in multiple systems, draining the battery and resulting in engine failure at highway speeds. I maneuvered in heavy traffic onto an off ramp that provided a safe exit from the 6 lane beltway and had…”
“Tl* the contact owned a 1997 mercedes-benz sl 500. The contact stated that while driving 50 mph, the vehicle hydroplaned up to 70 mph and crashed into a tree. The air bags did not deploy and the vehicle was destroyed. As a result, the contact suffered broken ribs and a shattered spine. The contact…”
“I had a wiring harness fire in my vehicle a 1997 mercedes benz sl 500, it is due to a defect in the wire harness but mercedes benz is declining any involvement, I know of 129 other failures in like vehicles, it's costing me $10,000 to fix and I will not have my car back until july 2007. This needs…”
“Consumer was driving at approximately 30 mph, and the air bag on the passenger side inadvertently deployed. Consumer took the vehicle to the dealer, and the dealer told the consumer that they've never seen anything like this, and was telling the consumer that the vehicle had to have hit something…”
Recall, complaint, and investigation records from official NHTSA datasets (FLAT_RCL, FLAT_CMPL, FLAT_INV), synced weekly. Counts reflect NHTSA records for the 1997 Mercedes-Benz Sl500 as of July 5, 2026. Complaint narratives are consumer-submitted and unverified. This page contains ads and affiliate links. Full methodology.