I have a 2003 w211e55 that I have owned for 16 years since 25,000 miles. This car is a rebuilt salvage from trip over a curb. I had the gas tank issue, and while my wife’s 06 cls55 with clean title was getting the gas leak fixed under warranty, I asked about my car. The dealer said it wasn’t covered as it is a rebuilt salvage car.

My e55 now has no brakes and the red icon on. The pump doesn’t seem to come on when opening the door , car has 75,000 miles.

Has anyone gotten the sbc replaced under warranty with a rebuilt salvage car? I believe unlike the gas tank leak, the sbc and sunroof are safety recalls and under law must be done regardless of title status.

My son just got his 06 c55 roof replaced under warranty and it’s rebuilt salvage. Just wanted some information, as I believe the dealer is not going to be very receptive to this.

 

How or why would the dealer know it has a salvage title unless the owner volunteers the information?

 

They run the vehicle history. They know

 

Not covered under warranty, you do not spend the money for the replacement, no brakes, no car.

You pay for the replacement SBC, brakes work, and you have a car.

Seems like an easy choice to me. How much is your life and the lives of your family worth? $10? $1000? $10,000?

Having said the above, I don't have an answer for you. I do not know who has the answer. Is it worth a call or letter to the regional MB supervisor? Yes. It worked for me on another model and make decades ago for a failure that occurred in England but was covered under warranty in the USA. I paid up front for the repair in Avon-on-Trent, England, and was reimbursed about 24 months later. The repair was worth every penny to get my vehicle back on the road to get me back from England to Germany. I will admit the initial letter from the manufacturer stating the warranty only covered vehicles in the USA really, really, pissed me off! It was their product, manufactured in the USA, shipped to Europe where it broke, and because of the geographical distance the warranty was refused? Grrrr! Stayed calm, contacted the regional supervisor when back in the States, and was reimbursed for my expenses in England. It took a while but all was good.

If necessary, pay for the repair, then seek reimbursement. You'll have a functional car, less frustration, and you may receive a nice check to reimburse your previous expenditures.

 

Seems like an easy choice to me. How much is your life and the lives of your family worth? $10? $1000? $10,000?

Well since the car went from fine to no brakes within 30 seconds, if I really wanted to be safe, I would get rid of these cars I have with SBC. It’s really a bad system and fails with no warning. If I were in a situation that I needed to stop quickly it wasn’t going to happen. Nothing like putting an auxiliary battery in the car to power the SBC, but when the unit fails , you have no brakes.


Between that and the air suspension that drops to the ground when it fails,and the fuel
tank that leaks on the exhaust, nothing of it really is safe.

 

how were you able to stop? Limited braking or zero braking power?

 

My limited understanding of the SBC system from when I owned an '05 E320 is that even if the electronic brakes fail completely the last bit of travel in the brake pedal will engage the backup hydraulic brake system which still allows limited brakes on the front wheels.
Gotta say I found the brake system to be absolutely outstanding and far superior to any other brakes on any other car I've owned. That said, I've not experienced a failure like the OP.

The SBC is well within the realm of DIY for less than a thousand, IIRC. Considerably cheaper than an ER visit.

 

Luckily I was traveling on a Sunday morning with little traffic, on a 35 mph road. The reds brake light came on and I pressed the brakes to slow down. The brake pedal went almost to the floor and gave about 10 to 15% braking power. If I needed to stop in normal traffic that wasn’t going to happen.

I am the driver that makes sure to leave plenty of distance between me and the car in front of me, but for most of the drivers I encounter there would be no way to stop this car in time with failed brakes. I have experienced faikwd brake lines in vehicles that give more warning and has more stopping power than this system.
Not sure why we are discussing ER visits and the safety of family and things of this nature? It should be understood if you.value your like and your family’s life , get rid of this car or any one with the SBC system. The car is not drivable without it working, so don’t worry I have other more reliable cars to drive.
Back on topic, has anyone gotten the SBC replaced under recall warranty with a rebuilt salvage title?

 

There's several terms that are misapplied throughout this thread. There's a difference between an extended warranty which is what the SBC brakes are and a recall. With a recall, it has to be done regardless of whether it's a salvage or not. With an extended warranty, that's basically up to the manufacturer. They don't have to honor an extended warranty on a salvage vehicle but have to honor a recall repair. The SBC brakes just has a 25 extended warranty, there was no recall. One way around a recall is to just offer an extended warranty, cheaper than a recall and sometimes enough for the safety board to skip ordering a recall. The sunroof issue was a recall and had to be fixed regardless of salvage status. The rebuilt pump is almost 1k but I suppose you could find a used one on eBay for even less if you want to DIY. But my guess is that if you call MB corporate and they say it won't be covered, that would be the end of it. That is one of the drawbacks of a salvage vehicle, you can't have it both ways. Long time ago I decided that the discounts for a salvage vehicle wasn't worth it especially if there was ever any extended warranty on anything later on.

I think you would need a star system to reset the brake counter if you replace the SBC pump yourself. Otherwise you'll get another warning at some point when the counter hits a number where it thinks you need to replace the pump again.

Also regarding paying for the repair and seeking reimbursement, that typically only works before the extended warranty is issued. So if you got something repaired that should have been covered by an extended warranty that was issued later, MB will reimburse you. But if you get it fixed somewhere else and try to get it covered after the extended warranty is in effect, it would be denied, they'd tell you that you should have brought it to the dealer for coverage.

 

I have a 07 E350 with salvaged title (I rebuild myself). I received the "recall" letter from MB regarding the sunroof issue. I took the car to the local MB dealer, and the service advisor also told me (and showed me the writing on the computer screen) that since my car is salvaged title, the recall doesnt apply/cover. I dont know the legallity of the issue... but that what was happened to me.

 

You should call MB corporate. The manufacturer doesn't have to honor any warranty but if there's a recall, the salvage status isn't supposed to apply as it's a safety issue. Probably the dealer got the status of extended vs recall mixed up. Corporate should be able to tell you whether it's covered or not. I suppose if you got nowhere on that, the last step would be to contact the NHTSA and see what they say as they're the ones who tell MB to issue the recall.

 

That makes sense, I was incorrect when I thought it was a safety recall, time to replace the unit.