There are 2 owner-reported steering complaints for the 2016 Mercedes-Benz S-Classin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
The contact owns a 2016 Mercedes-Benz S550. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the power steering failure warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the steering wheel seized. The contact stated that he was lucky to have been driving the vehicle in front of the residence and not on the highway. In addition, the contact stated that it was very difficult trying to move the vehicle from one parking space to another in front of the residence. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed with a failed electric power steering module. The contact was informed that the electric power steering module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was informed about NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V899000 (Steering); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 56,000.
My steering deactivates and totally locks out while driving. I do get warning messages and it comes on when the steering deactivates and then goes out its like intermittent sometimes I wont have steering at all for a few minutes and sometimes it just goes in and out. MBUSA has an active recall on this very issue but my car even though it was built in the time frame they say other cars have been built they are not willing to fix it. It has been inspected twice and the dealer has verified the steering rack needs replacement, they still wont fix this. The message that comes on is power steering Malfunction see owners manual. When this locks out i get other items that wont work either like lane departure assist and blind spot inop lights. This started happening slowly roughly a year ago but it would only lock out once or twice a few days here and there and wouldn't do it for awhile, I brought it to the dealer then, which I showed them videos of what was happening and asked them to contact mbusa which they said they would call me and never did, I waited about a year while not driving it hoping maybe they would add my car to the recall and that never happened so I escalated the issue and called them myself, they asked me to bring it to the dealer again and I did they verified my problem and have said they wont fix it bc my car is not on the recall list. The recall my car should fall on is 16v899000 it is doing the exact thing this recall is worried about. I had to drive like this a few times bc I had no ride, driving like that when I know its about to lock out is a tiny bit better then when I am not expecting it and may need to again but it is not safe when trying to turn off an exit or a street it locks in the middle of turning or at the start of a turn and gets harder to control.
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 25, 2026