lasvegas99

(2003 E500 80k miles) I got in my car last week at the house moved about 2 feet and the MDF lit up Red "stop immediately no break power" or something similar. After pressing on breaks I had like 2% break power, barely anything. I reversed it back and had to put it in neutral to stop the car as idle reverse was too much for the breaks.

Anyway, towed it to a non dealer friend (knows MB and BMW) and said the SBC pump was leaking (Part $5-6k). I then found an old thread here not titled very intuitively where someone had a similar problem and it was the SBC pump and MB had extended the warranty on it and replace it.

I then called my friend at MB Dealer (2nd choice due to costs) and he ran my vin and said if it was the pump the warranty on them was extended to unlimited miles (other post said 100k miles). He said that due to problems with it and the cost MB decided to cover the part and labor. So I then had it towed (thanks AAA) to him at MB dealership in Henderson

They inspected it, took some pictures of it and sent to MB and they approved covering the part and labor. Part around $5,500 and another $500+ labor

Anyway I hope this post has enough key words and titled effectively for searches so if anyone else here has a similar problem they can make sure they have the dealer run their vin and see if its covered if they have a pump failure. Non dealer shops might not know about this coverage. The work has to be done at an authorized dealer I think. Also had a belt replaced and trans flush and car runs great.

KEY08

I'm at 80K in my '04 E500 and hope to never see this problem with my SBC system. Good you got it taken care of and are cruising again with confidence. I like the idea of what the SBC system is all about, but MB sure took a lot of heat with it. I don't have the vibration/noise damper on mine and it still growns a lot, but at least that noise tells me it's working

crazypotato

Parts.com MSRP shows $1,330.00 for the pump unit. $913 is the price after their discount. 0054318112 is the part number.

lkchris

Just to add to the "knowledge base..."

From your owner's manual

I'd think the towing (flatbedding) charge would be covered by the warranty, but of course let the dealer arrange it.

And, of course, it's brakes and not breaks.

lasvegas99

Thanks for the input. Never looked up the part cost as thats what the MB service guy said. Maybe he was trying to make me feel good. My spelling was bad on that one.

vettdvr

BTDT,, our E500 was flatbeded to the dealer, I refused to drive it. They told me on the phone they might not cover it. I called the flatbed truck anyway, the promptly filed a complaint with the NTSB for total brake failure. (MB did pay the truck charge.)

NUTS having these fail.!

The only way long term action can be influenced is by collecting data on failures through the NTSB highway division.

Had I checked NTSB on tires I might not have had a blow out on my truck which caused over $3000 in total damage as the tire had been previously reported as having issues.

If you have SBC brakes they will fail,, when,, as the $$ guys would say, "Past results are no predictor of future results". It will happen just as the market will go up,, but who knows when?

Yusufc

I have a 2003 E320 and had a similar issue where the breaks failed and the dash message asked me to stop the car immediately. I towed the car to a non dealer and he asked me to take it to a MB dealer since he diagnosed it as a SBC control unit failure. The MB dealers refused to admit anything was wrong with the car and asked me to replace the rotors and pads which were only half way worn.

I even called the MB customer care and they refused to help me saying that if the dealers did not find anything wrong with it, then nothing is wrong.

I feel SCARED to drive the car anymore even though I have replaced the rotors and pads just to make sure.

Does anybody know what I can do next to have MB fix the real problem since it is covered under warranty?

crazypotato

It has a fault code or DTC stored. It is different from the brake wear sensor code. You can always call the MB head office to explain the situation. They are the one who honor warranty after all.

Yusufc

I did call the MB customer care and they told me that if the MB dealer diagnosed your issue and did not find any codes (which is what the MB delaer claims) then they are not responsible to replace the SBC unit. I then asked them to provide me the contact for the District Service Manager and they refused to give that to me.

crazypotato

Dealer is right on the fault code part as the failure can't be detected. However, if there is a noticeable failure on the parts that is under warranty, they will need to fix it. I assume they cleared the code when the error doesn't show up when they test your car. So, if the SBC failure happens again, they can file a warranty claim for you.

Yusufc

Thanks for your quick responses.

I am afraid to drive the car and wait for another failure to happen before MB can fix this issue. It is a very scary situation when the brakes completely stop working. The last time it happened, I was going 65 mph on a highway. Luckily there were few cars around me and I was able to slow down and exit off the hwy. I wish someone at MB would help me replace the SBC controller/ pump since this is a known issue.

saziz

I had a similar problem with my e320 on the road while I was driving, the brake had a complete failure which was the SBC unit failing. Mercedes said that they would not cover it because all the recalls were done. I am currently trying to figure out what to do with my mechanic since he doesn't agree with them especially since it's a known issue but apparently, almost killing or injuring people isn't enough to warrant any action. I love this car but I won't be buying another mercedes. I wonder if this issue has killed anyone yet.

vettdvr

Photo the FSS showing the RED Warning. (your proof besure the photo is time/dated)
File complaint with NTSB.


There is a 10 yr warranty unlimited miles on the SBC system. If you have the RED STOP NOW you have had a failure of the SBC unit. Flat bed the truck to a MB dealer and if you have an issue call MB direct. Use your owners manual for the ph #.

johnroden

This happened to me last night on I5 going through Camp Pendleton. I was going about 80 and the SBC Brake Fail Stop Car light came on and I had almost no brakes. I wasn't going to stop on a dark freeway at night so I drove 12 miles to Oceanside. You have to brake with the Emergency brake to stop. The car kept downshifting so that I couldn't go more than 40 or 50 without going over redline.

Finally stopped in Oceanside and AAA towed me to the dealer. They confirmed SBC unit failure and will cover it under the extended warranty. They didn't mention the special warranty.

saziz

So I was told by the dealer that they will replace the SBC unit free of charge but apparently the Transmission control unit also went out which was the reason I couldn't drive it. Not sure if it's the dealership trying to make a buck. Cost of this is 1800 including labour. Not sure if I should have them order it. Was anyone else able to drive their car after the brakes failed?

johnroden

I had that unit fail on my SL500 and it was covered under the extended warranty.

samo1

Does anyone know, if the new SBC replaced under the extended warranty, also has limited using period???

155

I had the same exact problem. I noticed a clear fluid leaking on the inside of the front drivers side wheel. The leak wouldn't go away so i had it looked at by the dealer. They said it was an SBC failure and it was replaced at no charge. I thought it may have had to do with the AMG brakes i added ?

saziz

I believe the warranty is for 12 years.

gnma

This is frightening. Do I dump the car because of this even though my E500 has been great for my 3 years of ownership?

saziz

THese are great cars, if after 3 years, you've had great service, then that's alot better than most cars. I've had mine for almost 5 years with very few repairs and over 230KMs on it now so I can't complain too much. I just wish it didn't take over 2 weeks to get it repaired.

Dexion

Its going to happen, The pump is only designed to go through so many actuatioins before it shuts down. Mine happened today, thank goodness I was in a city st in NJ only doing about 25 with my gf and her son in the car. Imagine if I was on a highway.

Out of nowhere red message comes up saying "reduced braking pressure" followed by "increased braking effort" finished off with


Now as I go to the car and tap the brakes, the SBC unit under the hood just makes a noise for about 2 minutes then stops.

The failure of this unit is inevitable. Either sell it now or wait for it. It doesn't pick when its going to happen either. Luckily I am within the 10-year warranty replacement, so I will be flatbedding it to the dealer tomorrow.

WEBSRFR

I still can't believe Mercedes designed a breaking system that FAILS after a set number of actuations. Breaks are the last component in a car that should fail

vettdvr

Identical to my failure with same FSS display. Initially the dealer balked at covering the tow but finally did and covered it all. This is really poor for this to be happening. After I picked up my car all has been well but I still filed the info with NTSB because I think this is unsafe and a bit like playing with a loaded gun.

Number of cycles to brakes shutdown would be crazy to design a system that way. Even the FSS tells you how many miles to change oil, so MB builds a system to shut down the brakes with NO warning. NTSB needs to know.

vettdvr

YES I plan to get rid of my E500 but unfortunately the poor economy has but a shutdown on my trading at this time. But I won't be sorry to see it go.