Fully loaded, 2 month old R320 explodes suddenly in our driveway during a Colorado blizzard. See the complete story and pictures at http://www.landxml.org/R320


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Umm yeah

MBUSA needs to be contacted about this and a full investagation this could be a serious problem. With the R-class

 

Suprising that the vehicle exploded only when there were no people around. Could the diesel fuel that was sprayed have caused a sensor malfunction? Were there any issues prior to the 20th?

 

The car will lock itself if you unlock the car and never open a door....It will relock after a few min.... The transmission has an electronic motor that changes the gears....It was prabably shorted out since it was in deep snow..plus the snow prabably melted and shorted out the motor, causing it to go into reverse......Since you spilled fuel, another electrical short could have ignighted the fuel...

 

very interesting.
the tire blows up. but the temperature is not low enough to to make the rubber/nylon brittle. not unless a liquid nitrogen was used.

you didn't shoot it from the stairs did you?

the thread wasn't worn out, so i guess the wheel doesn't have much friction on it.
however, i can see that the edge of the rim which could touch the ground is SHINY... it means that the wheel was rotating when it explodes. thus creating the spark but... there wasn't any smoke, was there???

red, orange flame and spark... the rim is clean and no fire at all. no burn marks or anything.
your fuel filler is on the other side...this can't be the cause. diesel aren't that easy to burn in cold weather.

when it shifts in reverse gear, the door automatically locks.

i think, it's a tire problem.
lots of pirelli tires got bulge on the side...and it touches something. this can only be confirmed by closer inspection.


let us know the progress.

 

The car was purchased new from Mercedes of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Pictures and complete forensic expert report: http://www.landxml.org/R320

Summary:
A defective Mercedes "4Matic" system caused the rear tire to explode causing $25,000 in car damage and $1500 damage to home. Mercedes and the dealer will not stand by the car and only tell us that it is an insurance issue. Automotive warranty items, including factory defects are not covered by insurance - only the resulting damage is.