lig

Cannot get on with it? How about "chose not to live with such a annoying aspect of the car"

It wasn't as if I was crashing into other cars becaused of SBC - it just felt like *****. The car stopped when I hit the brakes.

The thing that amuses me is that some folks would post "SBC saved my life!!!"

Please. The car slowed down when you hit the brakes.

'07 owners - you're lucky not to be saddled with that albatross.

edspider

For the record I am glad I have SBC. It feels fine to me and I like the extra safety features not available with standard brakes. I'm so glad someone else spoke up.

glojo

I'm sure your a really, nice, pleasant person and it is just the written word that is not travelling very well.

I accept you and a very few others might not like an excellent system. That does not mean the system is wrong. I could say that marmalade jam is horrible, but that would merely be my opinion and I would be arrogant to insist that I'm right and all the folks that enjoy this jam are merely 'saddled with it'

If you do not like a characteristic of a vehicle then don't buy it. Don't criticise the great majority that like it.... move on. I would NEVER buy a car that had the fault you and others allege and I find it really amusing reading the excuses made to cover up the truth.

Why did you buy a vehicle if you thought the brakes were so bad?

glojo

I'm sure your a really, nice, pleasant person and it is just the written word that is not travelling very well.

I accept you and a very few others might not like an excellent system. That does not mean the system is wrong. I could say that waffles are horrible, but that would merely be my opinion and I would be arrogant to insist that I'm right and all the folks that enjoy waffles are merely 'saddled with them'

If you do not like a characteristic of a vehicle then don't buy it. Don't criticise the great majority that like it.... move on. I would NEVER buy a car that had the fault you and others allege and I find it really amusing reading the excuses made to cover up the truth.

Why did you buy a vehicle if you thought the brakes were so bad?

On second thoughts, don't answer as I fear it will just be 'waffle'.

John the jam lover

cyclerider

Alright boys, we are not getting anywhere. These brakes work just fine 99.999999999999 % of the time. If you step on the pedal and the car stops, you are happy. What do you tell the very few people on this thread (I won't name them) who have had catastrophic failures of the SBC system? They will tell you that the back-up system is marginal at best; frightening and dangerous. I did not experience any failures on my '05 CDI, but I am glad that my 2007 E-Class will not be SBC equipped.

lig

:hello: John -

Actually I am an exceedingly nice fellow. I just didn't like the brakes on my E - along with most of the electronics since they sure didn't like me.

I am so nice that my car was an award vehicle from my company and they gave me a list of cars to choose from: The outgoing E39 BMW 530, the X5, the W211 and a Lexus RX. I chose the W211. When I ordered the vehicle it wasn't available to drive yet so I had no idea the brakes (and to a lesser degree the steering) would feel so god-awful bad to me.

Between the transmission woes, the "Visit Workshop" warning in my MFD almost weekly, the multiple times I had to pull a fuse just to get my stereo working, the sunroof that needed resynching and the horrible feeling brakes and steering - I just plain didn't like the car.

Loved the looks. Enjoyed some of the brand appeal. Had a fabulous dealer who really did the best they could given what they had to work with.

I have subsequently left that company and my new employer gives me a car allowance so I voted with my dollars and have selected a car better suited to my needs.

I am delighted that you are still very pleased with SBC. I even think that you are right in that for the most part the primary reason it was axed was the expense.

I still don't think that it was a quantum leap in braking technology - if it was then I think they would have really worked to improve it rather than abandon it altogether.

Cheers!

glojo

Good morning lig,
Well said, and hence the joys of motoring. We are all individuals with individual tastes.

Have a really nice day,
Regards,
John

schnell

And I bid you a good day and achtung as well! How's the weather?

I am reading!! What else would I be doing here?

sorry, bad joke...

My driving abilities are inconsequential. I mentioned my experiences only to highlight that I am willing to dedicate a bit more time to try and get my braking as I would with a non-SBC car and have had the benefit of using close to a hundred vehicles worth of different braking systems and seeing a few score of different braking styles. All I want a braking system to do is to give me exactly what I want when I want it and not change my mind for me. I am also happily willing to accept either of your proposed answers, namely that I failed to adapt and / or the car was defective. As to whether I am in the minority, it matters not a whit to the conclusion I am trying to research.

All I'm trying to say is that with the benefit 9 months, try as I might, I couldn't get it to do EXACTLY what I wanted it to do. Now perhaps, exactly is the operative word. I didn't really analyse whether I was being too demanding or not. So in short, yes I did fail to adapt, but it was not from want of trying. Now would the system as it was work on emergency vehicles? I have no doubt it would. With the sole exception of the 1 time it actually failed and really scared the living daylights out of me, I would characterise the system as "flaky", but acceptable. Fine, but nowhere as good as a C class or S class let alone a 993 RS. When it did fail, the braking power was significantly lower than normal. Now I really hate Luddites. But, to me, it just didn't feel like progress. But that's just my opinion based on my experiences.

Quite right John. It may be that we all have very different requirements when we get into the car. What I really suspect however was that system was rushed out to market without adequate tuning. I recently drove a Lexus GS 300 with the exact same braking system!! Or at least, a very good facsimile of the SBC. And you know what? It felt fine. It was after that drive that I considered that mine may been a 1st batch system without adequate fine-tuning and that later cars may have been adequately rectified. It occurred to me that as far as I could tell, most posters who loved the system have newer cars. Perhaps late 2003 on, but that's from just looking at the posts here. And that those who hated it, seemed to have earlier cars. My curiosity got the better of me, and I'm here to find out whether my suspicion was right, esp. since I am thinking of getting a car and to my mind my previous car was pretty nigh-on-perfect with the exception you-know-what. And after reading all the replies I think my supposition is a half-decent guess.

A newer car have you?

Ah you did tell me the weather! Ok. Over here it's hot sweaty and humid. 365 Days a year broken up by intermittent showers. There I've done my obligatory greeting. Now to the heart of the matter : As you are clearly in the happy-with-SBC camp, can you tell me approx. when your car was built?

All in the name of good fun glojo. And have a jolly good day! And I hate marmalade on waffles.

cyclerider

Excellent post, schnell. I hope you are able to obtain a test drive of the revamped E-Class without SBC. I would love to read your opinions regarding the feel of the new braking system versus the old.

glojo

An early 04 vehicle (one of the first to have the nano top coating) and yes I am with the great majority of owners that like SBC.

Regards,
John

jangy

I am also one of the few that loves SBC. I'll give up brake pedal feedback for the reaction time of electric current ANYDAY!!

Germancar1

Nope, the Lexus GS300 has regular hydraulic brakes like every other car on the road. The GS430 has the electronic brakes, but they're just electronically "controlled", not a truly seperate system like the brakes on the 03-06 E-Class. Big difference, but the GS300 has regular brakes. See the specs for the GS300 and GS430:

http://www.lexus.com/models/gs/430_specifications.html

M