PSA: 02 ML320 total brake failure ! Near fatality.
11-09-2010, 08:53 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
PSA: 02 ML320 total brake failure ! Near fatality.
So I've been putting off posting this but MBUSA has been no help at resolving this issue.
Long story short my daughter was driving our 2002 ML 320 back in August on Rt 9 here in New York.
I was following behind her in my Audi as we left together that afternoon.
Within 3 miles of leaving our friends house I noticed she turned on her emergency blinkers and my phone rings.
She's telling me her brakes don't work and neither does the e-brake. I tell her to try again, and at this point she starts balling and proceeds to veer of Rt 9 to a country road to avoid hitting the car in front of her.
My plan was to pass her and get in front of her so that she can ram my Audi and I can slow her down....but this road she took was no more than 1/4 mile long which dead ended to an old stone house.
To my horror I watched my daughter drive into that house doing at least 50-55 mph which was the speed she was travelling on Rt 9.
It was the first time in my life that I got hysterical. Totally helpless I thought she was dead for sure! I saw her hit that house and saw the ML get slightly airborne as there was an uphill lawn.
Upon rushing to the car to open the door ( I thought it was starting to catch on fire at first, but it was just the smoke from the bag deployment ) I was beyond myself to see her alive. Her face and neck were badly cut, but she was alive. Thank God almighty !!!
She stayed a few days at the hospital and is back at college. She's undergoing PT 4x week but is slowly on the mend.
According to her, she feels the Benz accelerated on its own and that when she hit the brake pedal it went all the way to the floor. She's been driving over a year with no tickets and I as well as the school taught her well. She doesn't speed and is pretty damn by the book.
Allstate allowed MBZ to evaluate the ML and I provided Benz w/ all the repair invoices from the last 12 months which proves everything was current including brakes. Tires were barely 3 months old, last brakes were done 10 months ago and were in excellent shape up until the day of the accident.
There was nothing left of the front end. Amazing how the silver star on the grill was barely a foot away from the firewall.
I really want to go after Benz for this....to at least put out some warning to ML owners that this could be a potential mass problem.
I personally drove the ML the weekend before the accident and the brakes were fine w/ a full load of stuff from Home Depot....so not sure why this happened.
The NYS Trooper accident investigator later told me during an interview that had it not been for the house being old and stone from the 1890's my daughter probably would have not survived. The stone gave way to help soften the impact.
Total damage to the home was over 80K !!! She also missed the propane tank next to the corner of the house by 6 feet. We had angels and the Big Guy with us that day, thats for sure.
So if you have one I strongly suggest you get it checked out at a dealer.
Also ,does anyone have any experience litigating against MB ?
I can post pics if anyone is interested.
Thanks and Good Luck !
Mike L
PS- We still have our C Class, and to date, we have had 8 MB's in our family and continue to feel they are great cars, but that doesn't mean I want to look the other way on this one.
Long story short my daughter was driving our 2002 ML 320 back in August on Rt 9 here in New York.
I was following behind her in my Audi as we left together that afternoon.
Within 3 miles of leaving our friends house I noticed she turned on her emergency blinkers and my phone rings.
She's telling me her brakes don't work and neither does the e-brake. I tell her to try again, and at this point she starts balling and proceeds to veer of Rt 9 to a country road to avoid hitting the car in front of her.
My plan was to pass her and get in front of her so that she can ram my Audi and I can slow her down....but this road she took was no more than 1/4 mile long which dead ended to an old stone house.
To my horror I watched my daughter drive into that house doing at least 50-55 mph which was the speed she was travelling on Rt 9.
It was the first time in my life that I got hysterical. Totally helpless I thought she was dead for sure! I saw her hit that house and saw the ML get slightly airborne as there was an uphill lawn.
Upon rushing to the car to open the door ( I thought it was starting to catch on fire at first, but it was just the smoke from the bag deployment ) I was beyond myself to see her alive. Her face and neck were badly cut, but she was alive. Thank God almighty !!!
She stayed a few days at the hospital and is back at college. She's undergoing PT 4x week but is slowly on the mend.
According to her, she feels the Benz accelerated on its own and that when she hit the brake pedal it went all the way to the floor. She's been driving over a year with no tickets and I as well as the school taught her well. She doesn't speed and is pretty damn by the book.
Allstate allowed MBZ to evaluate the ML and I provided Benz w/ all the repair invoices from the last 12 months which proves everything was current including brakes. Tires were barely 3 months old, last brakes were done 10 months ago and were in excellent shape up until the day of the accident.
There was nothing left of the front end. Amazing how the silver star on the grill was barely a foot away from the firewall.
I really want to go after Benz for this....to at least put out some warning to ML owners that this could be a potential mass problem.
I personally drove the ML the weekend before the accident and the brakes were fine w/ a full load of stuff from Home Depot....so not sure why this happened.
The NYS Trooper accident investigator later told me during an interview that had it not been for the house being old and stone from the 1890's my daughter probably would have not survived. The stone gave way to help soften the impact.
Total damage to the home was over 80K !!! She also missed the propane tank next to the corner of the house by 6 feet. We had angels and the Big Guy with us that day, thats for sure.
So if you have one I strongly suggest you get it checked out at a dealer.
Also ,does anyone have any experience litigating against MB ?
I can post pics if anyone is interested.
Thanks and Good Luck !
Mike L
PS- We still have our C Class, and to date, we have had 8 MB's in our family and continue to feel they are great cars, but that doesn't mean I want to look the other way on this one.
12-01-2010, 11:07 AM
#2
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1998 C280 Sport many mods, 1991 SL500 many mods, 1999 ML430 in progress, 1991 GTR (parted)
thanks for posting this! I just bought my ML430 and have been wondering about what could go wrong with this car, especially the older ones that were built before the Alabama factory's upgrades.
When I was researching around I Googled "W163 know issues" and it brought me to some forum with really angry people with similar problems. I think it was mercedes-benz-owners.org or something like that. There may be some help on taking on Mercedes Corporate on there.
Other than that, I'm glad your daughter's okay and please keep us updated with what the problem was and how MB is gonna handle it. Thanks!
When I was researching around I Googled "W163 know issues" and it brought me to some forum with really angry people with similar problems. I think it was mercedes-benz-owners.org or something like that. There may be some help on taking on Mercedes Corporate on there.
Other than that, I'm glad your daughter's okay and please keep us updated with what the problem was and how MB is gonna handle it. Thanks!
04-06-2011, 11:15 PM
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
After seeing the front cover news here on MBWorld and the findings of the NHTSB I am going to go ahead and hand over my accident files to them and put MB on the hook for what they claimed was a non-issue.
As much as I love the brand, we still have 2 MB's, their continued disinterest in customer service is appalling.
I will try to get the pics of the ML after the accident. It will make anyone cringe at how my daughter lived through the horrific crash.
PLEASE !!!!!! get your w163 checked by a MB dealer and not an Indy.
As much as I love the brand, we still have 2 MB's, their continued disinterest in customer service is appalling.
I will try to get the pics of the ML after the accident. It will make anyone cringe at how my daughter lived through the horrific crash.
PLEASE !!!!!! get your w163 checked by a MB dealer and not an Indy.
09-24-2011, 03:35 PM
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ml320
So I've been putting off posting this but MBUSA has been no help at resolving this issue.
Long story short my daughter was driving our 2002 ML 320 back in August on Rt 9 here in New York.
I was following behind her in my Audi as we left together that afternoon.
Within 3 miles of leaving our friends house I noticed she turned on her emergency blinkers and my phone rings.
She's telling me her brakes don't work and neither does the e-brake. I tell her to try again, and at this point she starts balling and proceeds to veer of Rt 9 to a country road to avoid hitting the car in front of her.
My plan was to pass her and get in front of her so that she can ram my Audi and I can slow her down....but this road she took was no more than 1/4 mile long which dead ended to an old stone house.
To my horror I watched my daughter drive into that house doing at least 50-55 mph which was the speed she was travelling on Rt 9.
It was the first time in my life that I got hysterical. Totally helpless I thought she was dead for sure! I saw her hit that house and saw the ML get slightly airborne as there was an uphill lawn.
Upon rushing to the car to open the door ( I thought it was starting to catch on fire at first, but it was just the smoke from the bag deployment ) I was beyond myself to see her alive. Her face and neck were badly cut, but she was alive. Thank God almighty !!!
She stayed a few days at the hospital and is back at college. She's undergoing PT 4x week but is slowly on the mend.
According to her, she feels the Benz accelerated on its own and that when she hit the brake pedal it went all the way to the floor. She's been driving over a year with no tickets and I as well as the school taught her well. She doesn't speed and is pretty damn by the book.
Allstate allowed MBZ to evaluate the ML and I provided Benz w/ all the repair invoices from the last 12 months which proves everything was current including brakes. Tires were barely 3 months old, last brakes were done 10 months ago and were in excellent shape up until the day of the accident.
There was nothing left of the front end. Amazing how the silver star on the grill was barely a foot away from the firewall.
I really want to go after Benz for this....to at least put out some warning to ML owners that this could be a potential mass problem.
I personally drove the ML the weekend before the accident and the brakes were fine w/ a full load of stuff from Home Depot....so not sure why this happened.
The NYS Trooper accident investigator later told me during an interview that had it not been for the house being old and stone from the 1890's my daughter probably would have not survived. The stone gave way to help soften the impact.
Total damage to the home was over 80K !!! She also missed the propane tank next to the corner of the house by 6 feet. We had angels and the Big Guy with us that day, thats for sure.
So if you have one I strongly suggest you get it checked out at a dealer.
Also ,does anyone have any experience litigating against MB ?
I can post pics if anyone is interested.
Thanks and Good Luck !
Mike L
PS- We still have our C Class, and to date, we have had 8 MB's in our family and continue to feel they are great cars, but that doesn't mean I want to look the other way on this one.
Long story short my daughter was driving our 2002 ML 320 back in August on Rt 9 here in New York.
I was following behind her in my Audi as we left together that afternoon.
Within 3 miles of leaving our friends house I noticed she turned on her emergency blinkers and my phone rings.
She's telling me her brakes don't work and neither does the e-brake. I tell her to try again, and at this point she starts balling and proceeds to veer of Rt 9 to a country road to avoid hitting the car in front of her.
My plan was to pass her and get in front of her so that she can ram my Audi and I can slow her down....but this road she took was no more than 1/4 mile long which dead ended to an old stone house.
To my horror I watched my daughter drive into that house doing at least 50-55 mph which was the speed she was travelling on Rt 9.
It was the first time in my life that I got hysterical. Totally helpless I thought she was dead for sure! I saw her hit that house and saw the ML get slightly airborne as there was an uphill lawn.
Upon rushing to the car to open the door ( I thought it was starting to catch on fire at first, but it was just the smoke from the bag deployment ) I was beyond myself to see her alive. Her face and neck were badly cut, but she was alive. Thank God almighty !!!
She stayed a few days at the hospital and is back at college. She's undergoing PT 4x week but is slowly on the mend.
According to her, she feels the Benz accelerated on its own and that when she hit the brake pedal it went all the way to the floor. She's been driving over a year with no tickets and I as well as the school taught her well. She doesn't speed and is pretty damn by the book.
Allstate allowed MBZ to evaluate the ML and I provided Benz w/ all the repair invoices from the last 12 months which proves everything was current including brakes. Tires were barely 3 months old, last brakes were done 10 months ago and were in excellent shape up until the day of the accident.
There was nothing left of the front end. Amazing how the silver star on the grill was barely a foot away from the firewall.
I really want to go after Benz for this....to at least put out some warning to ML owners that this could be a potential mass problem.
I personally drove the ML the weekend before the accident and the brakes were fine w/ a full load of stuff from Home Depot....so not sure why this happened.
The NYS Trooper accident investigator later told me during an interview that had it not been for the house being old and stone from the 1890's my daughter probably would have not survived. The stone gave way to help soften the impact.
Total damage to the home was over 80K !!! She also missed the propane tank next to the corner of the house by 6 feet. We had angels and the Big Guy with us that day, thats for sure.
So if you have one I strongly suggest you get it checked out at a dealer.
Also ,does anyone have any experience litigating against MB ?
I can post pics if anyone is interested.
Thanks and Good Luck !
Mike L
PS- We still have our C Class, and to date, we have had 8 MB's in our family and continue to feel they are great cars, but that doesn't mean I want to look the other way on this one.
Interesting.. I trust you know about the braking system having a function that detects a panic brake which then asserts the brakes automatically and over rides the normal system ,I experienced this once and the brake pedal sunk right to the floor board, also I have received a recall for the cruise control .Wonder if there is a connection
09-24-2011, 03:36 PM
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ml320
Hey there.. interesting.. I trust you know about the braking system having a function that detects a panic brake which then asserts the brakes automatically and over rides the normal system ,I experienced this once and the brake pedal sunk right to the floor board, also I have received a recall for the cruise control .Wonder if there is a connection
02-15-2012, 07:37 PM
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glk350
My daughter used to drive a 1999 mercedes ml320.. Her story was almost identical.
The car accelerated on its own at a high speed as she was driving around a corner. The brakes did not work while the car was accelerating and the car ran off the road and ran into large boulders. There is a recent recall on this age car for brake and
cruise control issues. The car ended up straight up in the air with the front tires still trying to drive the car mid air after my daughter got out of the car. I believe that this year car did not have brake override. Four other people drove the car and experienced the same unwanted acceleration. My son drove this car to the repair shop and was not happy that I asked him to do it, because it was so unsafe to drive. I did not realize the full extent of the issue at the time or I would never have asked him to do so. The guy who repaired the car also experienced an accelerator surge when the car was stopped at a light. At the time, our insurance rates went up even though the accident was not my daughter's fault. Also mercedes benz gave us the runaround and they were not very helpful. A lawyer told us that if we found other people with similar problems, then we would have a case. He told us this before I found out about the recall on the brakes/ cruise control. I did find other people with similar stories. A couple of them were in my area. But, i never found their contact information. Please let me know how we can contact each other to help with this situation.
The car accelerated on its own at a high speed as she was driving around a corner. The brakes did not work while the car was accelerating and the car ran off the road and ran into large boulders. There is a recent recall on this age car for brake and
cruise control issues. The car ended up straight up in the air with the front tires still trying to drive the car mid air after my daughter got out of the car. I believe that this year car did not have brake override. Four other people drove the car and experienced the same unwanted acceleration. My son drove this car to the repair shop and was not happy that I asked him to do it, because it was so unsafe to drive. I did not realize the full extent of the issue at the time or I would never have asked him to do so. The guy who repaired the car also experienced an accelerator surge when the car was stopped at a light. At the time, our insurance rates went up even though the accident was not my daughter's fault. Also mercedes benz gave us the runaround and they were not very helpful. A lawyer told us that if we found other people with similar problems, then we would have a case. He told us this before I found out about the recall on the brakes/ cruise control. I did find other people with similar stories. A couple of them were in my area. But, i never found their contact information. Please let me know how we can contact each other to help with this situation.
