Davel

Has anyone taken their vehicle in for the recall? How long did the repair take? I understand its just a software upgrade

SAguirre

When I brought my car home for the first time, I immediately wondered what that vibrating noise was when I pulled the car out of the garage. The delivery lady said that it was the 4 Matic (I did not believe her). When I mentioned to the head mechanic what I heard, he immediately offered a retro fix.

My car was not affected by the recall, it was made in March 2004. They said that there is a "vibration damper" that goes in a brake vacuum line and that would make the noise go away for the most part. They ordered the part and I was going to have it done the next time I went to the dealer.

When I got home, I noticed that there was clear oil on the floor (which is otherwise totally clean in spite of parking my Audi with 260,000 miles on it in that spot) I called the dealer and went in for the oil leak repair and the SBC retrofit.

The oil leak was the axel seal for the front right drive axel. Not to good concidering that the car was 2 weeks old. They put a vibration damper and told me that replacing the brake fluid line did not make a difference and was not worth the trouble.

When I got the car back, the oil leak stopped and the underside of the car was as good as new. The SBC system is now barely noticeable. About 90% fo that vibration is finally gone. The dealer said that that fix is only done if the owner complains. O, they also changed the brake software, but swore that it was not because of the recall, they said that it wass because there was a newer software version.

I recommend the fix, it makes the car much quieter,

Steve

Otto

Davel,

according to the recall mail, it takes 2 hours but my dealer asked to leave car there for 2 days due to tons of cars need to be updated software. I am very unhappy about it.

Otto

BudC

Why not just make an appointment for when your dealer can get to it? This is not a crucial safety issue.

SAguirre

My dealer is new in Colorado, I knew them from Florida though. They are very slow and take your car right away. They even raised the car immediately after I got there to see where the leak was coming from while I was there.

It took them one day to do, but they were also installing the satelite radio, sat Nav and cell phone.

I also heard the the recall was not crucial.

Steve

HotWheels500

Apparently not all W211's need the fix. According to my dealer, my VIN shows that the car already had the new software from the factory. See my build date below.

Zandorf

Will the SBC software upgrade affect the dvd movie playing capability of the '03 command?

MB Fanatic

No it will not. SBC has to do with the braking system. They are in no way going to touch the COMAND system.

SDChargers

Davel,

I just took my '03 E320 into the dealer two days ago for the recall fix. The service advisor initially told me (when booking the appointment) it would be done by lunchtime but once I got there, she mentioned it would be done by end of the day - due to the backlog of other E-classes coming in for the same thing.

I got the car back at the end of the day so everything turned out OK.

The only thing that bugged me was the fact that I had regular service maintenance done mid- to late September. I wish MB would have performed the recall fix at that time instead of me having to bring it back in a month later. Especially since the recall news first came out months ago so they should have known in advance.

Good luck!

hlkc

What production year of the W211 recall for SBC brake? or is this for all W211 regardeless year and model?

Thanks!

konigstiger

Campaign # 2004050014 OCT04
Programming SBC Hydraulic Unit

Models 211.065/070/076/082/083/026/265/283/282, 230.474/475/476
Model Years 2003 through 2005

211 – Chassis End Number (VIN); From A014562 to A586891, X097696 – X163060
230 – F001748 – F085469

211 – Up to Chassis End Number A279911, X102857 Bleed hydraulic braking system

hlkc

konigstiger,

Thanks for the info.

BudC

Do you have any idea exactly what the software change accomplishes?

Thanks in advance

HotWheels500

dealer told me the already had the fix from the factory, and I received no recall letter. see my build date below.

hlkc

Same here. My build date is August 04 and they told me that it has the new software already.

Thanks!

konigstiger

This Recall Campaign has been initiated because DCAG has determined that on affected vehicles, in certain instances, the Sensotronic Brake Control (SBC) pump motor may run out of permissible tolerances, thereby triggering the hydraulic back up function mode. In the hydraulic back up mode, the driver has braking power sufficient to stop the vehicle, although greater brake pedal pressure is required and the brake pedal travel will be noticeably longer which could lead to a vehicle crash.

Approximately 140,387 vehicles are affected.

BudC

OK, but WHAT does the CHANGE do? I've heard that it counts the number of brake applications? Will it tell the driver to take the car in for service? Does it make it less likely the system will go into backup mode?

Exactly what does that programming change do?

rickyfanmdr

I took my car in this morning for routine C Service and also to get this computer upgrade, as my car is part of the recall. They told me that it takes about 2 hours to download the upgrade to take care of the recall problem. I made an appointment 24 hours in advance and ended up sitting around over an hour waiting for a loaner car. They said they were innundated with people bringing their cars in for the recall. They'll have my car until at least tomorrow afternoon (if I'm lucky). I'm driving a Chevy Malibu. BudC, what the programming change does is that it fixes the problem--as I understand it, it is just a computer glitch, but one that has the potential of causing a problem.

jim256

If this is the same as other software updates I've had, the dealer has to individually contact Germany via an email-type system with your car's VIN, and the request or problem, then MB sends back the software for that car specifically, and the update has a 24 hour expiration window. Apparently it has to do with maintaining integrity of emissions and safety systems, so an improper fix is not applied to another car. In prior instances, it has not been "load the software from a CD MB sent us"--it's far more complex and when they say they are waiting because of others in for the fix they may mean that in a nationwide sense, awaiting the download for your car. (As explained by my service team manager.)

I go next week, we'll see.

BudC

Well, I know what the problem is but I am still waiting to find out what the *fix* is. I'm just going to sit tight until I find out what the software change actually does.

So far, no one on this forum has a clue (at least those of us in the US).

Let's review what we know..

• Of nearly 700,000 W211's a little over 1% have experienced a problem with the pump out of spec. In other words a worn pump. This occurred mostly with vehicles with very high brake application counts such as with taxi's.
• When the pump wears bubbles appear in the brake fluid and something recognizes that there is a problem and puts the system into backup mode.
• Going to backup mode can be dangerous depending on the skill of the driver and the situation in which it occurs.
• Daimler-Chrysler have issued a recall. This was eventually followed up by one in the US. At some point in production (mid 2004) vehicles no longer require any changes.
• In the US, vehicles up to VIN number A279911, X102857 get a brake fluid change. This indicates that there is probably an engineering change for a part on these vehicles and the system has to be de-pressurized to allow the part to be changed.
• Early vehicles would probably get a software change as well.
• Later vehicles get only a software change. No one knows what it does including the technicians who are installing it (or no one has asked them).
• So what could this software change do? It could simply count brake applications and alert the driver to take the car in for an inspection well before the pump could wear out. It could also change the criteria for switching to back-up mode.
• It's clear that the early vehicles requiring a brake fluid change are the most at risk. Later vehicles aren't likely to have a problem anytime soon so the change isn't crucial.

If anyone knows more detail, please post it.

Otto

this was what my car got

CAMPAIN NUMBER 2004050014
PERFORM SBC HYDRAULIC RECALL
COMPLETED CAMPAIN NUMBER 2004050014
DAMAGE CODE 4391027

QTY FP-NUMBER DESCRIPTION
1 QLABLE00008 LABEL
1 BKF-LUI-D0-016053 BK FLUID REC

I can feel that my brake is more sensitive after job done.

because too many cars need to be updated. I think mbusa sends out mails periodically so dealers can handle them in their workloads.

as konigstiger said all the following models have this problem

Models 211.065/070/076/082/083/026/265/283/282, (E)
230.474/475/476 (SL)
Model Years 2003 through 2005

most of w211 should be included in this recall list unless you just got your car recently. the reason that you have not received a recall mail does not mean your car is ok, it only means mbusa does not want you to send the car in to increase its dealers workload at this moment.

this takes my dealer 2 days to do this 2 hour job.

BudC

What does the label say?

konigstiger

I have not actually had the programming done yet but the procedure as it pertains to labeling reads: “Visually inspect whether the pump motor of the SBC hydraulic unit has a white Q11 sticker on it. If this is the case, programming is not required. If a Q11 sticker is not present, continue with procedure. Attach Q11 sticker to the pump motor of the SBC hydraulic unit in a clearly visible position. ”

BudC

I friend of mine has confirmed that the change adds a counter of brake applications and when it reaches 100,000 it tells you to have the brake system inspected. I'll let him supply the details.

This is what I assumed all along and verifies that people don't need to rush to a dealer to get the change installed. As I said in a previouis post, we probably won't live long enough to wear the pump out.

rickyfanmdr

I got my car back yesterday. Bleeding the hydraulic brake system was part of what they did. They also did a "system brake flush." A PLATE Q11 was also listed under parts, in addition to brake fluid. So I guess what they do depends on your particular VIN.