Every known recall and technical service bulletin affecting the Mercedes CLS across all three generations — C219, C218 and C257 — plus how to check your own car by VIN and what to do when the fault you have isn't covered by a recall at all.
Most Mercedes CLS owners will find fewer safety recalls than they expect — the model's real exposure is technical service bulletins, not recall campaigns.
Check your VIN in the section below, then review the TSB list for your engine before you buy or commit to a repair.
The CLS has never been a high-volume recall model, but three generations spanning two decades pick up campaigns shared with the wider Mercedes range. The C219 (2004–2010) sits on the platform that produced some of Mercedes' most significant mid-2000s campaigns; the C218 (2011–2018) shares several global campaigns with the E-Class and S-Class of its era; the C257 (2018–present) is young enough that its recall history is still being written. Recall numbers, issue dates and VIN ranges below must be confirmed against the official Mercedes-Benz recall register for your specific car — treat the affected ranges as guidance, not certainty.
| Generation | Recall Area | Issue | Remedy | Recall Ref / Date / VIN Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C219 (2004–2010) | Braking — electronic brake control | Sensotronic brake system fault can increase brake pedal travel in early cars sharing the contemporary E-Class architecture | Inspection and replacement of affected control unit at no cost | [PLACEHOLDER] |
| C219 (2004–2010) | Engine — oil separation | Oil separator concern on V6/V8 petrol units of the era, potentially allowing oil to contact hot exhaust components | Fitting of updated separator and heat protection | [PLACEHOLDER] |
| C218 (2011–2018) | Fire risk — engine bay sealing | Engine bay rubber sealing can become detached near hot components on affected Mercedes models of this period | Inspection and fitting of retaining clips at no cost | [PLACEHOLDER] |
| C218 (2011–2018) | Fuel system | Low-pressure fuel pump concern within the wider global Mercedes fuel pump campaign; applicability depends on engine and build date | Fuel pump replacement where affected | [PLACEHOLDER] |
Each row marked [PLACEHOLDER] awaits confirmation of its official recall reference, issue date and exact VIN range against Mercedes-Benz UK records. We publish nothing as fact until sourced — see our methodology for how this page is maintained. For the CLS's platform siblings, compare against the E-Class recall register, the S-Class recall register and the C-Class recall register, which share campaigns and engines with the CLS across its three generations.
Ask a Mercedes specialist what actually goes wrong with a CLS and the answer is rarely a recall — it's the engine patterns documented in our 2025 enquiry data. These are technical service bulletins and known fault patterns: fixes Mercedes has documented for workshops, but which are not free recall work unless the car is within warranty.
OM651 diesel — CLS 250 CDI (C218). Mercedes TSB reference LI80.20-P-050001 addresses timing chain tensioner wear on this unit, and injector seal failure — the so-called Black Death carbon buildup — is the most commonly reported failure in our data. Typical independent costs run £600–£1,500 for chain and tensioner work and £400–£1,200 for injector seals [PATTERN DATA]. The engine itself generated 1,250 quote requests across the range in 2025 [EM-VERIFIED], though CLS applications are a small share of that.
OM642 V6 diesel — CLS 320/350 CDI (C219 and C218). Oil cooler seal leaks — the O-ring failing in the V of the engine — and swirl flap motor failures are the two documented patterns, typically costing £800–£1,500 and £500–£1,200 respectively [PATTERN DATA]. Full detail is on the OM642 knowledge centre. This engine produced 880 quote requests in 2025 [EM-VERIFIED], and many specialists report the repairs are labour-intensive because of engine access rather than parts cost.
M276 V6 petrol — CLS 350/400/450 (C218). Timing chain stretch, more common on earlier cars, typically between 60,000 and 120,000 miles, with chain replacement around £1,500–£2,500 [PATTERN DATA]. The M276 accounted for 390 quote requests in 2025 [EM-VERIFIED] — the most-enquired CLS-era petrol engine in our dataset.
M157 AMG V8 — CLS 63 AMG (C218) and M156 — CLS 63 (C219). Timing chain adjuster wear is the documented AMG pattern; it is specialist-only work and not cheap. We keep a separate M157 timing chain adjuster failure page because the economics differ so sharply from the standard engines.
Sixteen-character VIN, stamped on the chassis plate and printed in your V5C logbook.
Run it through our VIN decoder to confirm the exact engine, chassis and build specification before you do anything else.
Any Mercedes retailer will check the recall register against your VIN free of charge — no appointment needed in most cases.
The GOV.UK MOT history service shows recall-related advisories flagged at test time, a useful cross-check for used cars.
If a recall is open, ask for the completion date in writing when you buy — an outstanding recall is legitimate negotiation leverage.
Recalls fix safety defects at the manufacturer's cost, forever — there is no time limit on recall work. Everything else is on you: wear items, out-of-warranty TSB faults, and failures caused by service history gaps. A TSB is documentation for workshops, not a promise to pay.
This matters financially because CLS values have fallen faster than repair costs. A C218 typically trades between £8,000 and £22,000 today, with reconditioned engine supply running £2,800–£6,500 [THIRD-PARTY] [EM-QUOTE]; older C219 cars sit at £3,000–£9,000 against £3,200–£5,500 replacement costs [THIRD-PARTY] [EM-QUOTE] — which is why we flag the earliest cars as borderline. Our Mercedes pages apply a 70% repair-to-value threshold: once the cheapest viable repair approaches 70% of the car's value, scrap or part-exchange enters the conversation. The full worked logic sits in our repair, replace or scrap framework, and every figure on this page is sourced as described in our data verification process.
The recall register will not tell you about these, but they account for most CLS engine enquiries in our data. Each links to a dedicated failure page with symptoms, diagnosis and tiered costs.
If your symptoms don't match any of these, the M276 knowledge centre and OM642 knowledge centre carry the full failure libraries for the two most common CLS engines.
The CLS is a TSB car, not a recall car — your real risk sits in the engine bulletins, not the safety register. Check the VIN first, because recall work is free and leverage when buying; then budget honestly for the OM642, OM651 and M276 patterns if your car is in the 60,000–120,000 mile band. On a C219 at the bottom of its value range, an unrepaired major fault can genuinely write the car off under the 70% threshold, whereas the same fault on a C257 is a routine repair against a five-figure asset.
Use your VIN — the sixteen-character identifier in your V5C logbook. Any Mercedes retailer will check the official recall register against it free of charge, and our VIN decoder will first confirm your exact engine and build specification. Recall status follows the car, not the owner, so checking costs you nothing.
Yes. Genuine recall work is completed at no cost by any authorised Mercedes retailer, regardless of the car's age, mileage or service history, and there is no time limit on recall completion. Technical service bulletin work is a different matter — that is only free within warranty.
A recall addresses a safety or compliance defect and the manufacturer pays, forever. A TSB is workshop documentation of a known fault and its approved fix — the manufacturer does not pay for it outside warranty. Most CLS engine issues, including the OM642 and M276 patterns above, are TSB territory, which is why they cost owners real money.
An open safety recall can be recorded at MOT and will concern informed buyers, so it's sensible leverage in a price negotiation rather than a reason to walk away — the fix is free. Fix it promptly, get the completion documented, and it stops being a factor.
An open recall: yes, usually — it's fixed free and gives you negotiation room. An unaddressed TSB fault on an out-of-warranty car: price it in properly first. An OM642 oil cooler leak or M276 chain job is a four-figure reality, and on a sub-£6k C219 it can approach the 70% repair-to-value threshold where replacement stops making sense.
If your CLS's problem lives in the TSB column rather than the recall column, compare fitted quotes from our vetted specialist network — real prices for the OM642, OM651, M276 and AMG units.
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