So, here I am driving to work this morning when I stop at a red light and a bright red message pops up on car’s display informing me that my breaks have worn out and the breaking distance could be affected. This is not a big deal, I thought to myself, since this could be either one of the brake pad sensors broken or the brake switch is acting up.

But listen what happened next! I start moving forward and all of a sudden I get the next red message that I need to STOP immediately since my brake system is defective. There is a beeping sound coming from all of the speakers and the car got stock in the second gear (thank God for that one). This type of warning got my attention and I was trying to pull over and stop. Well, as it turned out I had NO brakes to stop with. NOTHING! Pressing the brake pedal just didn’t do anything for the car. At this point I am getting a bit nervous and looking for a good spot to stop. With a little luck I spotted a parking spot at Porsche dealership, rolled onto the lot and came to a stop by applying emergency brake and thanking God that my speed wasn’t very high.

Shot the car off. Sat there for 30 seconds thinking about what just happened and pretty much considering buying a Porsche to continue my drive to work. Restarted the car and heard a lot of noise coming from under the hood in the area where the SBS pump is located. Pressed the brake pedal, felt good pressure in the system and no error messages came up. I said a little prayer and continued driving to work very carefully, checking my brakes every 5 seconds. Everything seemed to function normally. How is that for a morning drive to work and the wonderful Brake Back Up system that MB promised us? Be safe out there!

 

The SBC hydraulic unit warranty runs 10 years with no mileage limitation. Bring the vehicle into any MB dealer to have them check for stored fault codes and possible replacement at no cost. Furthermore, if you have not already done so have them check VMI to see if all applicable recalls and service campaigns were completed.

 

good story, glad it ended without a big crash

 

Hahahahaha; that's awesome

Glad that you are OK and you didn't have to rub up against anything to stop. When you take your first driving course on the Nurburgring and you go over the safety aspect of things they teach you that if your breaks overheat and pumping them doesn't work the only way to stop the car is to rub up against the guard rail. They actually make you do that a couple of times. Let me tell you; the metal on metal sound is the most horrific sound a car driver can ever hear. Glad you didn't have to resort to any tactics like that. Keep us posted about what the problem was. That is some scary stuff.

 

Here is how the story continues. I took the car to the dealer and asked them to check for fault codes. One code came back indicating that there was air in brake lines. The dealer bleed the system and replaced the brake fluid. I was told that at this point there was no need to change SBC pump per MB instructions. However, a new software update was loaded into the pump as well. The dealer tested the car on the road four times and the brake system operated normally.

Now, I did change brake rotors and brake pads about 6 months ago. This is the only time that I could think of that air could get into the system. However, it's strange that that problem didn't appear sooner. We'll see what happens next.

 

With that software update the counter on the SBC unit basically resets the number of cycles the SBC pump kicks in. The original SBC pump doesnt fail per say but the cimputer thinks it needs replacement when in actuality it doesn't.

 

So is it a good thing? Or is this a way for MB to avoid replacing the what-maybe-faulty SBC pump and save the cost of doing business?

 

This is a good thing. Originally they thought that people would never cycle the pump 10,000 times, but they soon realized this could very well happen and had to write a new program to allow for greater usage. The pump itself is very reliable. When this problem first occured the dealers and MBZ themselves thought the pumps were going but, but that wasn't the case. It was just a simple software fix that needed to be addressed.

It is true that some people will never see 10,000 cycles of the SBC pump.

 

FYI – Dealer is to replace the SBC Hydraulic Unit if the production number [b] is within the range listed below for the relevant part number [a] in accordance with campaign 2005070007 MAY06:

A0054316812: 392/09/1/0496 - 392/12/1/0641
A0054310512: 391/24/1/0680 - 481/08/1/0290
A0044318212: 392/10/1/0244 - 392/18/1/1198
A0054310612: 392/01/1/1152 - 481/08/1/0165
A0044318312: 392/08/1/0525 - 392/08/1/0534

 

Is the warrant for the SBC unit covered outside the US? I bought a 2003 E320 2 years ago and it's shipped to Lebanon, Middle East.

 

Glad to hear nothing happened.

So from what I'm getting hear is that the pumps don't fail, but the computer thinks the pump doesn't work after 10,000 cycles and switches over to backup mode. Do you know when the software came out? I had my pump replaced back in June for a new one by the dealer. I wonder if they replaced the software as well? Also, if they replace the pump, does one need to have the dampers installed again, or the dampers still stay in place when the pumps are changed out for new ones?

Lebanon... if I could travel to one place in the world, that would be it.

 

Can you explain what you mean by that? Does that mean people never hit their break 10k times or what does that mean?

@Konigstiger: Is this SBC software update a free thing in case a car falls into this campaign?

 

Yes.

 

Thank you!

 

I am having the same problem in my 03 Sl 500 and i suspect that there is air in the line... Does anyone know the correct Procedure to bleed the SBC Brake System? It looks like there is no fluid in my front driver's side caliper but when i try to bleed from valve at the top of the caliper, no fluid comes out.

 

Yes, it's in WIS ... the service DVD.

It requires dealer equipment.

 

It's not likely as there won't be any way for your dealer to bill MBUSA and it's very likely they won't even bother to think about it.