Brakes Failed Problems of Mercedes Benz E320 - part 1

Tl the contact owns a 2004 mercedes-benz E320. The contact stated that a blue light illuminated, which meant that the brakes needed to be serviced. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic where the brakes were serviced. A few months later, while traveling 30 mph, the brakes failed without warning. The contact continuously pumped the brake pedal until the vehicle stopped. The contact had the vehicle towed back to the independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with a sbc hydraulic pump failure. The contact took the vehicle to mercedes-benz of beverly hills (9250 beverly blvd, beverly hills, CA 90210, (310) 659-2980) where the vehicle was ultimately diagnosed and repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 106,000.

See all problems of the 2004 Mercedes Benz E320 🔎.

Brake failure occurred with no prior warning. Brakes are electronically controlled and complete loss of braking occurred while vehicle was in motion. Red "brake" and "abs" lights in dash started flashing along with continuous beeping. Was able to bring vehicle to a stop within parking lot by using parking brake. Upon shutting off and restarting engine, vehicle regained braking. Car will not be driven until issue is addressed.

See all problems of the 2003 Mercedes Benz E320 🔎.

Complete brake failure while driving. Pulled out of the parking lot (brake working at this time) on to a city street. This was a divided multiple lane road, with the car traveling in the center lane. A few minutes later the car could not be slowed or stopped. An intersection with traffic light was ahead, with multiple cars in front. Switched off the ignitiom of the car to slow it down. Took a turn off at the intersection. The car ran over the curb and came to rest next to a gas station.

See all problems of the 2005 Mercedes Benz E320 🔎.

I was driving and my brakes failed causing me to almost crash. I was on a busy interstate and had to immediately get to edge of road and turn my car off and the restart. . Took to a aoto shop. Found out that it was the sbc abs brake system. Was notified of a recall.

The sbc braking system totally failed while driving. Dong road at 35 mph only way to avoid running into someone or cars was to drive this into tree. I could have killed someone or me. The problem is the same with all these models. Their needs to be a recall on theses models before to many people die. This model is know to have complete brake failure especially on the mercedes forums. Someone can inspect the vehicle because I can wait to fix to make sure this can never happen to anyone again or cause a death.

Was driving in my 2005 E320 w211, last week 500 am in the morning southbound towards freeway about 45 mph had perfect brakes then red warning on dash no brakes had complete brake failure went through the red light rolled to a stop!good thing it was early in the morning. . 2nd complaint I called mercedes dealer where I bought the car just got brush off as usual. Well another w211 with sbc pump failure!how many does this make! good thing not doing 80 on freeway with kids in the car!!!!!!! anyway my startech mechanic warned me about this when I called my dealer in 2013 still under exteded goodwill warranty that nobody knew about. I called and asked about recall, I was told: "nothing wrong with that model car no recal"l and now!!!never got a letter explaining the brakes could go out anytime without warning or phone call, about this defective brake pump driving around in potential death machine!!!! just really dissapointed in my dealership. I called them again telling them sbc pump went no goodwill goodheart change of defective pump and now cost me 2000. 00 to fix a defective sbc pump that should had been changed before I bought the car, or corrected me when I called they should have told me there is a extended warranty I would have brought it in then! very frustrated with Mercedes Benz dealer where I bought my car hope this becomes a national recall before something really bad happens, most people 2nd owners are probably have no idea.

(hk - no dealer info) tl the contact owns a 2005 mercedes-benz E320. While decelerating from 60 mph, the brakes failed to engage. The brake warning indicator illuminated prior to the failure. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed that the sensotronic brake control (sbc) was faulty. The vehicle was repaired. The dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure. The VIN was unknown. The failure mileage was 65,000.

Tl- the contact owns a 2003 Mercedes Benz E320. The contact stated that while driving about 50 mph, the brake pedal went to the floor, without stopping or slowing the vehicle. The vehicle made a beeping sound, and the stop-engine and brake failure warning lights illuminated. The dealer was contacted by phone mrcedes benz of brooklyn, NY, 718-258-5100, where the technician stated that the abs system was faulty and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that there was no recall, referred the contact to the NHTSA. . The vehicle was not repaired. . The failure mileage was about 140,000. Fe.

The sbc control unit failed. There was a red warning light on dash, that when I was in the road the brakes just about failed. When I shut off the car and tried to start again it would not let me move it from park position. Tried several times and was able to get it into neutral and drive to pull in position for the tow truck. In reading up on the web this is a known problem with the sbc control unit. I was fortunate to be close to home but this is a really dangerous problem. Mercedes put a limit on the unit to shut down without warning. They do not have any way to tell us owners when this will hit their limit. They should be forced to repair all of these sbc control units or at least find a way to tell us when it will happen. I also found out that they did know of the problem and extended the warranty for the sbc unit for ten years, but depending how often you used it determines the break down of the brake system. Which meant if you had an older car you paid for something they force to break. There is an app $30 that can reset the amount of braking you have done and has been shown to fix the problem instead of a $2000 repair that mercedes will charge you for a whole new sbc unit. Why don't the dealers have this app? why do we let the manufacturers get away with forcing parts to seemingly break so they can make more money?.

The contact owns a 2006 mercedes-benz E320. The contact stated that the brake warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was manufactured so that after the brake pedal was depressed over 300,000 times, the brakes would fail. The contact took the vehicle to a certified mechanic who diagnosed that the sbc brake unit failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer stated that it was a known failure and extended the warranty an additional 10 years; however, the contact's vehicle surpassed the warranty extension by six months. The manufacturer advised the contact to have the vehicle towed to a dealer for diagnostic testing. The approximate failure mileage was 149,000.

See all problems of the 2006 Mercedes Benz E320 🔎.

The contact owns a 2005 mercedes-benz E320. The brakes failed to respond when the brake pedal was depressed and the battery warning indicator flashed on the instrument panel. The manufacturer indicated that the statute to receive an extended service campaign expired; therefore, they refused to repair the vehicle. The VIN was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 05v133000 (service brakes, hydraulic). The approximate failure mileage was 145,000.

The contact owns a 2005 mercedes-benz E320cdi. While driving 60 mph, the brakes would not operate when the brake pedal was depressed. The brake warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was towed to a local mechanic where it was diagnosed that the hydraulic brakes failed. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 115,000.

Merecedes benz USA customer service would not honor NHTSA campaign 04v296000 (sbc brake pump failure) claiming failure was beyond the limit of the campaign. Car was always serviced at mercedes dealership however this part was never replaced. Due knowledge of potential defect in the brake unit, I have requested the part be replaced at mercedes expense which has been denied. I was told my car is unsafe to drive and the repair is quoted at $2200. 00.

The contact owns a 2004 mercedes-benz E320. While driving approximately 20 mph, the brake pedal was applied and failed without warning. The vehicle was pulled over into a parking lot and the emergency brake was applied to stop the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, but was not diagnosed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that there was a brake failure the sbc/electro hydraulic brake system component, which needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 39,000.

Sbc brake unit which control the brakes just failed when driving on highway,very limited braking,very scary when you are driving 70mph. I have read that this is major issue with Mercedes Benz ,some kind of penalty should be assessed to them because this is a dangerous situation. It just cost me 2380. 73 to get my car fixed and I understand this is a problem that will keep happening over and over again. Hopefully it's a situation that the ntsb can look into about this defected unit from Mercedes Benz. Thank you.

While driving, the car's display turned red with warning message "brake defective stop vehicle"- brakes became stiff. Car was in limp mode. I took vehicle to the Mercedes Benz dealer in fresno. They diagnosed the problem as an "sbc brake controller failure". They told me that these had been troublesome for years, they have since been discontinued because of unreliablity of the brakes, and mercedes would not cover repair cost.

I was pulling out of a drive way and brakes completely failed with no warning. I could not change gears or stop. I only came to a stop when the car finally rolled to a stop. This was unbelievable terrifying. I had car towed to nearest mercedes mechanic. I paid the $1394. 00 and Mercedes Benz customer services says I have no recourse because I am out of the 10 year warranty. I could have been killed as car pulled out blindly onto the city street. This happened late at night with no warning. I am still shaken up by how suddenly this happened on a vehicle that I once held in such high esteem.

The contact owns a 2003 mercedes-benz E320. While driving at various speeds and attempting to depress the brake pedal, the brakes failed. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the hydraulic pump failed and would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 144,000.

The sbc brake unit failed while I was on vacation. The rest of the brake system works fine. Mercedes recalled this brake system and knew it was unsafe, however now they will not replace the part unless I pay and the cost is $2,500. 00 per the dealer. Without it the car is garbage. It is an electronic braking system.

Brakes failed three times today. At one point, we were forced to use emergency brake to stop, and at another point, we were forced to drive off into the grass to stop.

Hydraulic brake pump may fail with no warning, reducing braking power by 80-90%. Pump has "known" service life but dealers are unable to scan for remaining life. Pump failure renders the car non-drivable, with towing required, and replacement of pump is typically between $1,500 and $2,500.

Tl-the contact owns a 2004 Mercedes Benz e 320. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 20 mph, the power brakes failed without warning causing the brakes to go into backup mode. The VIN was serviced under NHTSA campaign number 05v133000 (service brakes, hydraulic) however, the failure continued. The failure recurred three times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the abs pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 95,000. Ak.

I was driving on route 5, branch Ave. , near clinton, MD, about 30 mph, down slight decline of a hill, approaching a place in the road where cars can enter the highway from both the left and the right. As we normally do, I pressed on the breaks to slow down, in case one of the cars sitting on both the left and right, decided to enter on to branch Ave. My brakes failed - the foot peddle went completely to the floor when I was trying to slow down, there was little to no control in the steering wheel and I looked at the dashboard and it was lit up in red warning lights , first saying brake need maintenance (or something) at first. I manage to get the car to steer towards the right to get on the side of the road, hoping the rough terrain would help to slow the car to a stop. By this time the red warning lighted up dash board said stop, brake failure or something. The car finally stopped and I turned if off. I am 59 year old woman and was absolutely petrified - my whole body was shaking from the fear that I was going to wreck on this busy highway. Luckily for me the cars waiting to enter the road, did not and cars on the highway slowed down and went around me while the car was coasting towards the side of the road. There was no warning light telling me to get the brakes services - they just failed while I was driving on the freeway. I called mercedes roadside service for them to pick up the car. After an hour and they had not arrived, I turned the car on, there was no red light. I pressed the brake and it didn't go to the floor but it was soft and went nearly to the floor. I kept pumping the breaks - something I used to see my father do - thinking that would bring the breaks back up so that I could at least drive back home to await service truck. I let mercedes service know, then I slowly drove back, side roads, pulling over to allow cars to pass until got home.

I was traveling on a secondary road at a speed of 30mph when the mfd turned red, started beeping and stated brake failure, stop driving. When I attempted to stop, the brake pedal went to the floor and the transmission automatically down shifted. After pulling the car to the side of the road, I put the transmission in park where it locked in place. After fifteen minutes the sbc reset itself and the transmission unlocked. The vehicle was removed to the mercedes dealer where I purchased it. The mercedes tech stated that the sbc needs to be replaced. I was told there was a 10 year warranty on the sbc unit, but it expired in June 2013. I am the original owner and Mercedes Benz USA stated that they did not notify the owners of the warranty extension or of the problems with the sbc. The cost to replace the sbc is $2,000.

This vehicle is equipped with sensotronic brake control that has a service threshold. When this threshold is reached, the vehicle's brake system defaults to non power assisted hydraulic mode to the front wheels only. This occurs without any prior warning and results in greatly increased stopping distances along with much longer time interval for vehicle speed reduction due to loss of brake effectiveness. Mercedes (hereinafter referred to as mbusa for Mercedes Benz USA) service bulletin s142. 46-p-0012a addresses this issue. Mercedes discontinued installing this type brake system on new production vehicles at the end of my 06. Suggested cure - mbusa should issue a mandatory recall to interrogate these vehicles with star das to determine how close to the service threshold (I. E. Brake failure) the sbc unit is. If mbusa is unable to assure the vehicle owner that (due to the design of the system) the vehicle's brakes will not default to basic hydraulic mode for front wheels only without prior notice of imminent failure, mbusa should retrofit & replace the necessary brake system components to insure vehicle safety at the expense of mbusa. This is a major life-safety issue that needs to be immediately addressed. A major reduction of efficiency in a vehicle braking system occurring without prior warning can cause property loss, personal injury and death, especially at interstate highway speeds.

At the annual service the mercedes dealer tested the brakes and informed me the brake system sbc has failed. This is a problem with this model and has been the subject of a recall/extended warranty. It's an approximately $4,000 dollar repair and they claimed to have just discovered it only months after the recall/extended warranty has ended. They do not want to repair the brakes under the recall/extended warranty issue to do so but have said it needs to be repaired. The vehicle just underwent a recall/extended warranty authorized repair for a long standing fuel leak problem the month before. There remains a strong smell of fuel in the passenger compartment of the vehicle.

I just replaced my brakes and I get an message on my dash that says reduced brake effect longer stopping distance. I take it in to the dealer penske mercedes and they tell me the sbc pump and another part are bad and that it will cost me $2200 to repair because my extended warranty expired 10 years after the date I purchased my vehicle. I thought extended meant after the manufacturer warranty expires not the day I buy the car. This is a very dangerous issue if my brakes fail because of their negligence why should I have to pay for them to fix their mistake.

I was driving down a side road by a college in lowell MA and my dash board lite up and starting beeping. Said brake failure sort stopping distance, visit work shop ASAP. I tried to stop the car but it was very hard stopping it, I honked the horn because I was coming up on a school crossing( thank god) they all moved out of the way because I would have ran over them all. I got the car stopped and shut it off, police over saw the whole thing and pulled up behind me and I explained what happened, we went to go start the car up and all the light where off and the car seemed fine, there was no way I was taking that chance again so I called a tow truck and had it towed to my garage, mechanic just called me and said nothing was stored in the computer system and the brakes are working fine now. He checked on line to see if there where any other complaint about this issue and informed there a lot of problem from Mercedes Benz owners on this issue. I will not drive this car again, I could have killed all those people in the walk way because of this problem that mercedes is aware of. Please help ! I just looked up the same information on google and there are hundred of complaint about the same issue, my brakes are new. It is a electrical problem that they are aware of.

My wife and I were traveling northbound on texas hwy 281 just north on marble falls texas. I noticed a train coming and started to slow down and made the decision to stop for the train! well at that time my brake dash warning came on and it was all red and my brakes failed. Their I was not able to stop going 75 miles per hour (legally) and I could not stop and it was way to late for the train to stop also so I floored it to get over the tracks then I finally came to a safe stop. I searched the internet for a fix and to my surprise mercedes had known of this for many years and stopped all help with the issue when the car reached 10 years old. This car should be fixed by the company that knowingly put it on the road with an experimental new type of braking system then tells owners down the road to kiss their butt. And its now the owners problem. What a deal my car is in great shape but has a defective experimental braking system that mercedes will not even discuss fixing. I should hav bought a corvair or maybe a pinto at least you can stop them! wow why have you not jumped all over this manufacture about this deadly problem even you have known for years! but no one has told me??? the title should be marked deadly in bold letters.

2003 Mercedes Benz E320. Consumer writes in regards to sensotronic brake control failure. The consumer stated a warning light appeared on the dashboard that read braking effect reduced please visit workshop. The consumer was quoted a price of $1925. 00 for the replacement of the hydraulic unit.

Near total and instantaneous brake failure, very close to hitting another car, thankfully was able to enter parking lot to stop. As soon as pedal was depressed dash illuminated red and notified of brake failure, pushing pedal to floor barely provided any braking at all. After key off cycles everything appears to be normal again. Huge confidence loss in vehicle, very close to hitting another car at speed, not good.

Sbc brake failure. Brakes not working. Car refused to stop. I put it on park and jumped out.

I was driving to work when my brake system failed. My car displayed a code stating "brake defective; stop vehicle". This occurred on a busy highway in rush hour traffic. I am a pregnant female and was in the car alone, it was terrifying. After having my car towed to the dealership, I learned of an extended 10 year warranty on the sbc unit of my car. Since I bought this car used, I was not the "registered user" even though I have the loan and title in my name. The warranty expired in sept of 2013. After my car was diagnosed, it was found that it was the defective sbc unit that failed me. I had previous similar codes (none that caused my brakes to fail) related to this sbc unit defect in April 2011 & August 2013 to which I purchased new brakes. It is not know whether this was necessary or not since my code of "service brake" at those times are a part of the faulty sbc unit and not necessarily related to the safety of my brakes. After my case was reviewed and denied at the corporate level, my husband and I had to shell out $1135 to fix the part ourselves. My husband was previously laid off and just started a new job in June. I feel it is unfair that we had to pay this money when we take good care of the car and were not privy to the information to fix the brake system within the warranty time. I worry about other people who have this car, are unaware of the warranty, and are outside the warranty. I was lucky to not have damage or injury. I feel mercedes should be held accountable. I also feel I should be reimbursed as this was not a wear and tear issue and I feel it was handled unfairly on the corporate level of mercedes. Thank you for your time.

The contact owns a 2005 Mercedes Benz E320. The contact stated that while driving 35 mph, the brakes failed with the illumination of the press pedal warning light. The failure recurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for diagnosis where it was stated that the switch lamp light and the hydraulics spc pump needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 166,000.

On June 6, 2013, while braking on approaching intersection, brakes failed and transmission locked. Mercedes customer assistance towed vehicle to dealer, m-b greenway, houston, TX, where the service advisor explained that the pressure reservoir of the sensotronic brake unit had failed and must be replaced at a cost of $1,350. I complained that the sbc unit was the subject of NHTSA safety recall 05v0133 and two mbusa recall campaigns (2005070007 and 2005110001) resulting in the extension of the original warranty to 10 years with no mileage limitation. The dealer refused to honor the warranty or replace the entire sbc unit, because the electonic diagnostic code required by mb USA, llc for a dealer to file a warrntry claim under the NHTSA 05v033 campaign did not appear on the diagnostic equipment. I paid the disputed $1,350 charge and drove the car about 6 miles on June 6, 2013, wnd the brakes again failed and the transmission locked. Mercedes customer assistance towed it back to m-b greenweay, where the service stated the entire sbc unit had failed and must be replaced at a cost of $2,030. I complained that the replacement was mandated at no cost by NHTSA 05v0133, but she said mb USA llc would allow the dealer to honor the sbc warranty because the car was "driven out of the shop. " she also refused to credit the $1,350 charge I paid for the sbc pressure reservoir replacement, but offered to "discount" the replacement of the entire sbc unit to "$1,799. ".