I was driving along last week when all of a sudden got all sorts of messages on display which ended up saying Brake Defective - Stop Vehicle. The ABS lamp and red brake warning came on. Luckily I was going slow and managed to pull over with almost NO brakes. Turned off the ignition and restarted, all seems well.

That's not the horror part....

Took it into the dealer, who after reading the stored fault codes tells me that the SBC Unit needs replacing...cost $6500.00. .....the vehicle on has 57000Ks about 30,000 miles.. He warns me that the brakes could fail again at any time without the replacement....what choice do I have? So I say go ahead.

Cam home and did some research on the net only to find that my VIN had a recall on it to mount a bracket to stop the electrical connector on the SBC coming loose. My VIN is not one of the ones in the recall for the SBC replacement.

Next morning I go to pick up the car and point out this little bit of information, but he says "the connector coming loose would cause a completely different fault code"....yeah right! So he says I can't have my car back unless I pay the $6500 for the new SBC and labour. I come to a compromise in that he has my Credit Card number which he will charge tomorrow unless I come up with eveidence to say that the connector coming loose will cause the following fault codes;

SBC - MB Number 0044314212 HW Version 11.2002 SW Version 17.2004
Code
C25D6 This fault can be ignored and erased
C26DE Hydraulic fault: Malfunction in pressure supply
C26BB Hydraulic fault: Malfunction in pressure supply

ESP
Code
C14BE System faults: Test control module A7/3n1 (SBC COntrol module)


Any techs out there experienced with the cable connector coming loose that can verify what fault codes this produces?

Thanks...you could save me a bundle.

Raymond

 

Sheesh, what a mess good Luck man!

 

did the brakes work after you restarted the car? not realy an expert, but if the connector comes loose, woudlnt the SBC be gone until its reattached?

 

It sounds like your problem might have to do with an incorrect voltage. There are at least two TSB's for it. One is to check and replace defective voltage regulators and the other is to reprogram the car to provide better charging to the battery.

I have a E320 with a 3/04 build date and I had both done.

Check to see if these were done.

Also, what is the dealer saying he's going to do? Is he going to replace the entire SBC controller or only the pump? I'd ask him exactly what he's going to do and also tell him you'd like to speak to a regional or country rep for Mercedes.

 

Very scary. The only problem I had with my SBC brakes (I had a very early '03) was horrible brake pedal feel and a whole series of "Visit Workshop!" and similar MFD warnings. Messages became so frequent that I just started to ignore them.

You've come to the right place as there are several members with extensive "experience" with SBC and problems associated with it.

Best of luck to you and I hope your holidays go more smoothly after this episode gets settled.

 

Either you are talking out of your *** or your dealer is a crook. My mechanic reckons if this had happened MB would change the unit for free as they cannot afford anymore bad press with the braking system. If you went to buy the unit it would cost no more than £350 which equates to about $600.
How the hell do you reckon the unit costs $6500 AU is beyond me.

One other thing mate, do you really own a w211 or do you own a BMW and like to troll

 

The SBC system is a warranteed item. The US warranty period was 48 months for the '03 and that hasn't expired yet. What is the warranty period in Australia?

 

Isn't he located in New Zealand, not Australia?

 

Right you are. Ok, what is the warranty period in NZ?

 

The Vehicle is an 02 E500. The SBC component of the $6500 is $5800 the rest is labour and other parts such as Brake Fluid, hoses, clamps etc.

And yes it's in New Zealand. BTW when you call DaimlerChrysler in NZ they have a "deny all" policy, when I first called them about this, their immediate response was "there are no recalls on the W211 in NZ" after laughing at and arguing with them, they went as far to admit, that there are only service recalls, definitely no safety recalls and they only pay for safety recalls.

My thoughts on the electrcia connector vs sbc failure is that the connector could come just loose enough to throw the computer into a spin so that when you restart its all ok, but if the sbc mechnically fails...it stays failed.

I drove for about a week after the initial problem with no further issues.

I guess that's why the dealers are kindly refferred to as 'stealers'

 

Unless MB deems Australia/NZ to be a small market, otherwise I would think the SBC recalls apply to the entire world. Perhaps I am wrong in this assumption. This only shows the validity of MB claims to restore the brand.

 

How long is the warranty in NZ? I agree with BudC (maybe not on everything ) you should definitely escalate the situation higher. 30K miles for such a major part to break or wear out is ridiculous, especially when there's been 2 million (Autoweek 12/8/05, Askaprice Motoring News 11/30/05, the autochannel.com 11/30/05 ) recalls that address SBC issues.

 

did they have SBC in teh old W210s?

 

The new E was introduced in that part of the world as an 02.

 

I thought they had both 210/211 in '02's.

 

Warranty is different between different region of the world. In Asia (Vietnam, Singapore), an E240 cost 120K USD, and warranty is only 24K Kilometer or 24 months, whatever first.

There's no recall for SBC for W211 in lot of countries, look like Mercedes issue recall & warranty based on how they worry about being sued or have reputation tarnished. At least, in Asia, Mercedes is still considered at best car in the world, regardless of lousy quality, and no one dare to sue a car manufacture there.

Btw, car model year seem to be a year ahead in Europe & Asia. The W211 starts model year there as 02, the new W221 starts model year there as 06.

 

For those doubters out there....
a copy of the bill!!!

 

HOLY ****... a cable tie for 3.19. Bend over

 

I got the same warning messages on my E. The people at Roadside told me to drive for 20 min to possibly recharge the alternator. When messages continued to reappear, I was nervous. The brakes and transmission failed while I was on the highway and I was almost in a serious accident. The battery control module went out, and shut down all my vital systems while driving. No brakes, and my transmission was shifting 1-7 on its own. Not sure if this is related to the SBC issue.

 

Glad you and no one else was hurt. If your brakes failed then it is an SBC issue....period. Makes no difference what caused it, your brakes failed catastrophically and went to a backup mode that could have killed you or someone else because it is inadequate. This is a complex system that takes many inputs and analyzes them for system health and performance. If what it sees compromises the integrity of the system it shuts down and goes to back up. Even a sensor failure, when there is no actual failure in what it is checking, could cause the problem. Disclaimer....I don't actually own or drive an SBC equipped vehicle, been accused of not knowing what I'm talking about, and have no business on this forum. However myself and many other people drive cars and deserve the safety of your car as much as you do. Instead of defending the integrity (that's a joke) of the system those in denial should be demanding MB correct the problem. I've been reading the W211 forum since start because I liked the way it drives and feels but decided to wait for the 7G transmission. My W203 was/is a reliability nightmare but it never stranded me nor put me in harms way. Chicken Little.

 

Did they make the W211 as a 2002 model?

 

The W211 I have was manufactured in 2002 but is classed as a 2003 model.

 

Not that it makes a huge difference, but 6,500 New Zealand dollars is about $4,368 US. So that cable tie was 2.14

 

Hey all, we have one of the early 2003 E320 models. Had the recalls done for the SBC. Is this enough? I don't feel safe after hearing all of this. Can anyone tell me if the 2005 E320 CDI has the SBC or not? We are thinking to trade in the car for something without SBC. Sorry, I have not searched through all of the threads on this topic. Is there any way to remove the SBC system on these cars ? What is up with Mercedes Benz? For a company that has a history of being the top quality in automobiles (ie 1980s and 1990s specifically), this is concerning....

D

 

My advise in case of sub standard treatment or doubt on an expensive repair is to contact MB in Germany directly. I know this tended to catch the attention of Volvo in Europe when my mother worked there (quite) a few yeares ago, and in most cases the factory stepped in to correct. I know Mercedes is keen to work on its quality and you have bought their top of de line E-Class (OK, short of the E55). I think this type of failure and cost to fix is rediculous, especially as there are many known issues with earlier SBC fitted in the E-class.

Maybe there are other ways, but try via:
www.mercedes.com

select country:
Germany or Deutschland

select:
Kontakt

select:
Allgemeine Anfragen

Anrede Herr (=Mr) Frau (=Mrs)

Titel
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select Thema:
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Succes

P.S. the factory should have no problem with English.