Mercedes-Benz engines class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Plaintiff K.R. Lacey filed a class action lawsuit against Mercedes-Benz USA LLC and its CEO Dimitris Psillakis and Euro Motorcars Germantown LLC and its general manager Scott Weber.
- Why: Lacey claims Mercedes-Benz failed to disclose that vehicles equipped with its M278 engine contain a defect that causes premature engine failure.
- Where: The Mercedes-Benz engines class action lawsuit was filed in Maryland Circuit Court for Montgomery County.
Mercedes-Benz fraudulently concealed that its vehicles equipped with an M278 engine suffer from a manufacturing defect that causes premature engine failure, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiff K.R. Lacey’s class action lawsuit claims Mercedes-Benz was aware its M278 engine contained a manufacturing defect, yet failed to disclose the alleged issue to consumers.
“The defect has been discussed in numerous online videos, biogs, internal corporate Mercedes-Benz memoranda, and technical journals, and is well known to Mercedes Benz technicians and dealers,” the Mercedes-Benz class action says.
Lacey wants to represent a class of consumers who purchased or leased a Mercedes-Benz vehicle equipped with an M278 engine in Maryland within the past ten years, but who have not yet discovered the engine defect or who only discovered the issue within the past three years.
Mercedes-Benz won’t pay for repair costs caused by engine defect, class action claims
Neither Mercedes-Benz nor Euro Motorcars Germantown — where Lacey says she purchased a Certified Pre-Owned 2015 Mercedes-Benz GL550 equipped with an M278 engine in June 2019 — were willing to assume responsibility or provide explanation for repair costs she claims she accrued as a result of the alleged defect, the Mercedes-Benz class action alleges.
“Ms. Lacey wrote numerous letters to Mercedes-Benz and EMO and also sought the assistance of the Maryland Attorney General’s Office to mediate a settlement but received no satisfactory response,” the Mercedes-Benz class action says.
Lacey claims Mercedes-Benz and its co-defendants are guilty of fraudulent concealment and breach of implied warranty of merchantability and violating the Maryland Consumer Protection Act.
The plaintiff demands a jury trial and requests declaratory and injunctive relief and an award of compensatory and punitive damages for herself and all class members.
Mercedes-Benz issued a recall for certain model year 2021-2023 S580 and Maybach S580 vehicles last month over concerns a software issue could cause their engine to overheat or stall.
Have you purchased a Mercedes-Benz vehicle equipped with an M278 engine? Let us know in the comments.
The Mercedes-Benz engines class action lawsuit is Lacey, et al. v. Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC, et al., Case No. 8:24-cv-02770, in the Maryland Circuit Court for Montgomery County.
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31 thoughts onMercedes-Benz class action alleges vehicles with M278 engines have defect
Bought a 2011 CL550 with the M278 engine. Vehicle has countless issues. Lots of oil leaks. randomly has misfires. Engine has a timing chain issue, rattles bad on start up when cold. Has differential issues, Airmatic issues, Engine light is always on. seat lumbar and massaging features don’t work. It now has 120K on it. I live in Kansas City, KS.
my 2007 clk550 is just starting to have intake problems at 70k miles… can someone from the firm please get in touch with me about my next moves dealing with mb
Purchased a used 2013 Mercedes Benz GL450 with twin turbos V8. I had issues with cooling system radiator, cooling lines and etc. Engine ran good until recently left home, drove down the road about a mile. Engine began to misfire and shut off. Engine would not turn over after this and can’t be rotated. Evidence of a seized engine. Engine has less that 120k miles.
We bought a 2015 GL550 with M278 engine in August 2022, never was told about cylinder scoring and other defects with this motor. Started noticing problems this past June 2025, it was bore scoped and determined that cylinders had what they call scoring of walls. Apparently instead of using steel cylinder sleeves they left aluminum cylinder walls with just a “protective” coating that wears badly leaving damaged unrepairable engine! They new about his problem early on but didn’t try to corret until after Feb. 2015 when they started using steel cylinder sleeves, since steel doesn’t degrade from the up and down friction of piston an rings at the alarming rate of steel pistons and rings rubbing against softer aluminum walls. Mercedes have denied any recourse for us! Side note was always a fan of MB until this, have another older GL with more thantwice the miles of the 2015, never any serious issues. Would like to beinclused in this suit if possible
My 2018 c300 just had engine failure at 31,000 miles no help from Mercedes $22,000.00 dollars quoted. How is this legal?
How can an engine replacement be $48K? A used engine is ~$8K or less. Maybe ~$2K in gaskets and parts, and then they want 150 manhours at $200/Hr. to do the job? That’s the crime right there.
Owner of 2015 GL550. Just received word of catastrophic engine failure at 99k miles and need a new one quoted at $48k. How do we join this lawsuit?
Did anyone ever reply to you about this? I have the same issue at 92k miles 2015 GL 550