general problems of the 2005 Mercedes Benz E320

There has not been an incident report, however, my brakes failed while driving and I pulled over. This is the fault the sbc system which has an extended 25 year warranty. I brought it into mercedes prior to complete failure, but they only replace the pressure reservoir. It must be returned to mercedes for the sbc unit replacement.

A warning in red came up on the dashboard which said something like "catastrophic break failure" . . I was going slow about to stop at the red light and the brakes did not work and I hit a Mini van.

Break booster malfunction sign popped up 3-4 time while driving and I lost 70% of the break. Luckily it happened on local road at speed under 30mph. It is very dangerous and can result in an accident.

Car break looses 70% of its pressure and only left with 30% break. It happened 3-4 times already. Break booster malfunction sign comes up. When I restart the car, malfunction sign goes away and it run ok for few days till it happen again. I am not driving it right now. It can cause serious accident at high speed.

While driving in highway, sbc brake failure warning and failure. Fortunate to be able to come to a stop without crashing into a car ahead since had plenty of time and distance to slowly come to a stop even with reduced braking power. If traveling in rush hour would likely have rear ended a stopped car in front and potentially causing serious injury and damage! this is a known issue with mercedes, and there is an extended 25 year warranty on the vehicle but for some reason, my vehicle was not included in the recall: NHTSA campaign 04v296000 2005 mercedes E320 automatic sedan. I had the dealer replace parts of the the sba brake unit once, but it has since reappeared on an intermittent basis usually during cold start and then it goes away in a few seconds while pulling out of a driveway, but this time it occurred after having driven for awhile on a freeway please investigate to include additionally affected vehicles!!!.

Brake warning lights flashed and brakes failed.

Please see this discussion. . . 2005 mercedes E320 sbc brake system should be recalled. Thanks for considering!.

Driving down the road at highway speed and red warning lights come on and no brakes.

I was stopped at a light (luckily) and my car started rolling forward. I pressed the brakes harder and they went to the floor and the car continued rolling forward. I threw the car into park and turned on my hazards. The police showed up. He tried putting the car in drive to get it off the road but it wouldn't go into gear. My husband showed up, turned the car off and then on and the car was able to be moved to a close parking lot. When we brought it to a mercedes dealership, they found codes (c233d, c22bc, c23bd, c223c, c26de, c25d5) for pressure system failure and pressure failure to all four tires at the same time. We were told that the brakes needed to be flushed before any sensotronic warranty work would be reimbursed. So we paid $465. 99 to have them flushed and were told that the system was retested and no problems were found. I was given instructions by the technician that when this happens again, brake early and press the brakes really hard. If we get a different code next time, they will be covered under the warranty. We have been in contact with mercedes and they have referred us back to the expertise of the dealership.

I was driving 40mph on a city street, when the car dash flashed in red, "brake malfunction, see workshop soon". A red light was coming up, so I went to press brakes & absolutely no brakes! I swerved in a church/school parking lot to my right so I wouldn't go further ahead & be in a major intersection. Because of the quick turn, I hit a tree in an island, which stopped the car, but totaled my car. I had my car for 12 yrs & always serviced it & had it in excellent condition & no recall, etc was ever on this car for this deal. My husband looked on line after & saw others had the same thing happen, with same make. /model & older miles.

Car shut off randomly by going safe mode while driving, constant break warning in bright red " break visit workshop" I went to multiple shops and a consistent electrical issue but, problem to be determined, car has been checked multiple times before I purchased it from the used car dealer with the srs light on, I did not know what it was. The car has had the alternator replaced 3 times, both batteries twice, one short was found in faulty wiring harness in truck being pinched. The dealer would deny sbc unit recall every time I called fletcher jones, and only gave me the option to pay them for a diagnosis and then they will determine if its faulty instead of my life being risked as well as those around me I finally tracked down the number for corporate and I got conformation from mercedes corporate say my VIN was included in the list. The car would leave me without breaks, power steering multiple times and always without notice occurring mostly on the freeway. The sbc unit was eventually replaced by a supposed authorized shop and I still have not received any reimbursement and then the same problems occurred shortly after the repair. The electrical issue had drained the batteries yet again so the car was garaged at my parents where it eventually caught fire in that location which makes this whole ordeal even more outrageous due to mercedes major lack of concern with this and they still want me to pay them to fix it before they will even decide to do anything. I have many different quarterly report print outs as well, out of the 100s of 1000s documented to possible 2 million total faulty cars , my car had almost all of different safety issues reported. Bought car @ 73k mi, caught fire, blew hole in manifold @ 123k, just isn't right, seems they are trying to cover up true amount of faulty cars in us by asking confidentiality by NHTSA granted blacked files illegible.

I got a message on my dashboard to visit car shop for brakes. Thinking that I needed to replace brakes, I drove it for a couple of weeks ( I hardly drive) and took it in. Only to find out it was the hydraulic pump that went out and could leave me without any brakes at any second!! I had to leave it there for 4 days and paid 1544.

While driving 2 days ago (2005 E320) I suddenly got a brake warning, bright red "stop" 'reduced braking power depress brake fully' and the brake pedal goes to the floor with little or no stopping action, it was very scary. I was only going with 15-20mph but there was a red light in front of me when this happened. I couldn't stop in time and had to hit the barrier to stop the car. Luckily no one is injured, but my car was a serious threat to me and others. I contacted the mb service and it is related with sbc unit and it is out of warranty. They want $2700 to fix this issue. I think mb needs to realize this isn't like the glycol contamination or something not that serious, this is a major problem in the actual braking system of the car!!! very scary and imagine those people driving these 03-06 e's, or 06's cls, or sl's that don't know about the chances of the system failing and what to do.

This vehicle is equipped with sbc - sensotronic brake system. Rolling at city speed limit, the brake pedal suddenly went to the floor with no advanced warning causing me to use the transmission and emergency brake to bring the car to a stop. Seems to me to be a serious safety issue with a Mercedes Benz who don't want to have anything to do with it in terms of repair cost.

The contact owns a 2005 mercedes-benz E320. While driving 35 mph, the brake pedal was depressed and traveled to the floor board. The contact was able to downshift the vehicle in order to stop. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the sbc pump failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 04v296000 (service brakes, hydraulic). The manufacturer was notified of the issue. The VIN was invalid. The failure mileage was 217,000.

The contact owns a 2005 Mercedes Benz E320. The contact stated that when the brake pedal was depressed, the vehicle hesitated to respond and an extra effort was needed to stop the vehicle. The failure occurred without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the brake assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 115,000.

After being told by my mechanic that sbc going into emergency mode he stated he thought there was some sort of recall called mercedes in laguna niguel told me there was no problem with that model car blow off . But there was extended warranty 10 years no letter now red warning other day and could barely stop the car should have been fixed when I bought the car 2007 now they told me ohh there was one now expired very very unhappy and scared to drive now.

The contact owns a 2005 mercedes-benz E320. One day after the vehicle was serviced for routine maintenance, the service brake warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was returned to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the hydraulic brake pump was defective and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The contact referenced NHTSA campaign number: 05v133000 (service brakes, hydraulic), but the VIN was not included. The failure mileage was approximately 154,809.

The contact owns a 2005 mercedes-benz E320. While driving at an unknown speed, the brake pedal was depressed and failed to respond. In addition, all the warning lights illuminated. The contact had to place the gear into park and turn off the vehicle in order to stop. The vehicle was towed to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the sensotronic brake control pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.

With less than 90k miles, the hydraulic brake pump went out. Mbusa knew about issues with the part and extended its warrant until 12/24/2014 but did not notify affected vehicle owners.

While driving to work the vehicle displayed several warnings of problems with sbc, abs, esp. The brakes then required a great deal of pressure to effectively stop the vehicle and the vehicle became much harder to steer. After pulling off the highway and placing the transmission in park, I was unable to get the transmission out of park. The vehicle was taken to my mechanic where they diagnosed a problem with the sbc,and esp modules. I have discovered that this is a common occurrence with Mercedes Benz vehicles with this braking system, so much so that the discontinued using it. This creates an extremely dangerous situation for the drivers of these vehicles and mercedes should either repair all effected vehicles or remove them from the road.

I received the red dash warning at the same time as the complete braking failure (not before) and there was maybe 2% braking capability remaining (useless hydraulic fail safe). That's with the pedal on the firewall at 5 mph. Even with force enough to push the pedal into the firewall it was still a gradual slow down. This was at around 5 mph! now imagine coming off a steep off ramp from 70mph that ends abruptly and perpendicular to a busy intersection when this happens. . . Not good. After sitting in the car off for a few minutes I decided to start the car up again, the message was gone and full braking pressure restored. Talk about a game of russian roulette, I have no idea when this time bomb is set to go off again. This is not even remotely acceptable and is incredibly dangerous. Mercedes knew this and moved back to a standard braking system in 2006 leaving very little assistance to those with the sbc modules installed. These should be replaced by dealers at their expense indefinitely. It was a terrible mistake and they admit it, now it's time to take responsibility for those with malfunctioning units and save some lives. Check mercedes service bulletin s142. 46-p-0012a for more information.

The well known brake safety issue of numerous mb cars, also called the sbc system, is cycling way to often and fear its past is predetermined "life cycles". For some reason mb puts a # of actuations on the system before is quites or must be replaced. Mb has instructed dealers to not replace the system unless a particular code shows up under a diagnostic read. Problem is that from the dealer own service techs. . . . . 'failing pumps don't always throw a code that will be stored in the computer, or there is a reset facility built into the computer self diagnostic system that is to reset a code for issues with the sbc system when car is cycled off then restarted. ' mb refuses to fix such safety issue if repair is needed beyond their 10 year warranty period. For secondary owners the repairs that are needed for the safety of occupants of the car and all those around them presents an issue. This is such a safety issue that mb quickly stopped producing vehicles with the new braking system even after they had touted this as being the next break through in braking for all their vehicle line. They know it is a safety issue which is why they moved away from producing it further. The problem is they are not being held responsible for replacing all 'sbc' braking systems which have an inherent defect for failures. A non safety issue I can understand a warranty recall expiration, but not for something like this.

The contact owns a 2005 Mercedes Benz e-320. The contact stated that a warning message illuminated on the instrument panel stating ¿reduced braking power¿. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, where the technician diagnosed the spc control unit needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 25,070.

I was slowing down to exit the highway and when I stepped on the brakes, I felt no pressure on the pedal brakes. I pressed harder on the brakes and still the car didn't slow until I got to a slight incline at the end of the ramp. Then a red warning light on the dashboard appeared reading "reduced brake power". I turned off the engine and waited a couple of minutes. I managed to get home safely. I called a certified mechanic and he told me to call the mercedez benz dealer because of a possible recall. As per the mechanic, this are the faulting codes: c2131 - pressure reservoir faulty c249f - operating time of component a7/3 (sbc left hydraulic unit) is exceeded c25d5 - hydraulic fault malfunction in pressure supply as of this writing, my brakes have not been repaired.

There was a message that the brakes needed attention. I could feel something inside the brakes. I took it and they replaced my brakes, but the issue kept happening. Then one day, while going 55 miles an hour, the brakes would not fully operate. The whole dash went red and it came to a slow stop. Luckily no one was immediately in front of me. We called the dealership and they said they had a 10 year recall of the sbc unit but I don't see the recall anywhere. This is a serious issue!.

A little less than 2 years ago, vehicle's sensotronic brake control (sbc) system failed. It was replaced by mercedes dealer with a re-manufactured unit under the ten year warranty for that brake system. That system is very well known to break down without warning which renders car a moving hazard to occupants and other motorists. On mb forums, it is stated by commentators/owners that unit has a life span of 300,000 actuations; brake pushes. This is not anywhere in the mb literature or owner's manual. Car electronics have no meter to measure or gauge those actuations, so a catastrophic failure could occur without me the driver being prepared for it. Mercedes benz needs to warranty this safety related defect for the life of the car.

The contact owns a 2005 Mercedes Benz E320. The contact was driving approximately 25-30 mph when a beeping noise sounded inside of the vehicle with the illumination of the brake warning indicator on the instrument panel. When force was applied to the brakes there was minimal response. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and the vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who stated that the vehicle be repaired by the dealer. The vehicle was then towed to the dealer where the sbc hydraulic unit was replaced under the service warranty. The failure mileage was 99,264.

Traveling down steep hill at 45 mph. Attempted to apply brakes as I approached a stop sign at bottom of hill. Braking system totally failed as a warning light read "braking system failure - service immediately" attempted to apply brake manually but did not have to strength to push the pedal hard enough to stop the car at that speed. I manually downshifted the car and it slowed to about 10 mph and I coasted it onto the shoulder of the main road and was then able to stop the car with the brake pedal manually. After turning the car off and restarting, the brake system worked again for a few minutes and again failed. Apparently a computer malfunction.

Side airbag deployment: contact states while driving vehicle he ran over a piece of rubber in the road, all three side air bags deployed. The service dealer states the passengers in the rear of the car were jolted because of hitting the rubber in the road. Contact states while decelerating the transmission down shifts, the brake system slows down too much and vehicle lurches forward. In stop and go traffic has no brake control.

Brakes grind when put in drive, park and at stop lights. Seat belt indicator had to be fixed after 5 times at the shop, brakes were identified with a problem by mbz after 6 visits to the shop (fletcher jones mbz las vegas), tech stated on the invoice he identified the problem and ordered the parts. When I took the car back in to get the parts, the service manager stated there was a mistake and there was nothing wrong with the brakes and mbz would not fix the problem. Currently none of the seat belts work (when slamming on the brakes they do not lock). Control panel reads "srs malfunction drive to shop", "airbags off", "check engine". Fletcher jones mbz las vegas refuses to comply with the lemon law, repair for one malfunction more than 3 times, out of service (in the shop) for more than 30 days in one calendar year.

Electrical problems out of service 18 days, srs/airbag failures out of service 18 days, ac/defrost blower motor failures out of service 12 days, brakes out of service 9 days, transmission (idle surge/up shifting/stalling) out of service 10 days, front end/tires out of service 10 days. During the lemon law final repair attempt, the dealer wrote on work order that they had installed new brakes because they found "after market brakes" on car. The only place the car has ever been serviced was the dealership where we purchased it. We asked the service advisor and assistant service manager (first they said the brakes were thrown out and then they said the parts were shipped to mb) and wrote two certified letters to Mercedes Benz for the removed parts so we could track the serial numbers. We were ignored. The regional representative who initiated the "brake replacement" was conveniently "promoted out of the area" just before the lemon law hearing so he could not be questioned. We had been complaining about the brakes, especially the stopping distance, from the beginning and they kept saying no problem found. The dealer would not document it on the work orders.