S-Class (W223) 2021 to Present

S580 Brakes Failed

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Old Nov 24, 2021 | 12:21 AM
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S580 Brakes Failed

UPDATE: In January MBUSA finally gave written notification vehicle is classified under our state lemon law. I am now dealing with repurchase numbers and I have to say the third party claim manager is not so fun…as luxurious that Mercedes is the numbers came on a excel snippet with limited information. We have been going back and forth a bit…has anyone gone through this and/or arbitration? Any insight is greatly appreciated!

Our 2021 S580 brakes did not function and work as intended. Sitting in gridlock traffic the braking system failed causing impact with the truck in front of us. There was plenty of room to stop but NOTHING worked, No brake assist (noted by Mercedes Service department that brake assist will only work if the driver is not actively braking therefore the vehicle should have stopped) However, no alarms, no beeps, no emergency assist NOTHING and when the vehicle impacted the vehicle turned off and back on. Our vehicle is a safety nightmare and firmly believe that if we were going a high or normal rate of speed I would not be here to discuss.


Also have been notified from another Mercedes dealership that some vehicles are being sold with faulty computer chips as this was brought up based on said incident as asked if we had signed any paperwork at the time of purchase reflecting the same.

Question...

First has anyone had issues with the Driving Assistant System, Emergency Brake Assist, Brake Assist or Collision Notification?

Second, if the Mercedes as shown in the link
is true then the question becomes how did our vehicle impact with another vehicle as the vehicle should have stopped without incident.


Thoughts?

Last edited by onebigfamily53; Feb 1, 2022 at 06:58 PM. Reason: Update
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Old Nov 24, 2021 | 07:31 PM
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Originally Posted by onebigfamily53
Our 2021 S580 brakes did not function and work as intended. Sitting in gridlock traffic the braking system failed causing impact with the truck in front of us. There was plenty of room to stop but NOTHING worked, No brake assist (noted by Mercedes Service department that brake assist will only work if the driver is not actively braking therefore the vehicle should have stopped) However, no alarms, no beeps, no emergency assist NOTHING and when the vehicle impacted the vehicle turned off and back on. Our vehicle is a safety nightmare and firmly believe that if we were going a high or normal rate of speed I would not be here to discuss.

Also have been notified from another Mercedes dealership that some vehicles are being sold with faulty computer chips as this was brought up based on said incident as asked if we had signed any paperwork at the time of purchase reflecting the same.

Question...

First has anyone had issues with the Driving Assistant System, Emergency Brake Assist, Brake Assist or Collision Notification? I don't see autonomous vehicles gaining public acceptance for another decade.

Second, if the Mercedes as shown in the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fajRI44z6Q4 is true then the question becomes how did our vehicle impact with another vehicle as the vehicle should have stopped without incident.

Thoughts?
Well, this is the very video I was describing in your other thread. Sorry you had this issue.
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Old Nov 25, 2021 | 02:06 AM
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Did you have one or two accidents? The description on the other thread here is very different.

The car should never drive 3/4 of the car length from the car ahead if driving on cruise command. Did the car alert or not etc.

Anyway, hope there are not many faulty computers or chips that are not being replaced, if any. Even if there were, I doubt a dealer would say so, more likely they would blame the driver doing something wrong.

On the other thread the car did not brake irrespectively of brakes being applied at full power. Does not seem to be the case in this thread, so two different accidents with the same car? This would be dangerous, the assist systems failing should not cause any accident, they are anyway only intended to evade from an accident that the driver or other cars cause. This car just has pretty ordinary ABS brakes with full manual operation where no computers are involved. How could this part fail?
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Old Nov 25, 2021 | 07:22 AM
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Yesterday I received a recall notice for my 580. It said had to do with safety of operating the vehicle and schedule as soon as possible. I wonder if this has to do with the braking issue.
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Old Nov 25, 2021 | 05:57 PM
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Last edited by MBNUT1; Nov 25, 2021 at 06:00 PM.
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Old Nov 25, 2021 | 06:02 PM
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Originally Posted by onebigfamily53
Our 2021 S580 brakes did not function and work as intended. Sitting in gridlock traffic the braking system failed causing impact with the truck in front of us. There was plenty of room to stop but NOTHING worked, No brake assist (noted by Mercedes Service department that brake assist will only work if the driver is not actively braking therefore the vehicle should have stopped) However, no alarms, no beeps, no emergency assist NOTHING and when the vehicle impacted the vehicle turned off and back on. Our vehicle is a safety nightmare and firmly believe that if we were going a high or normal rate of speed I would not be here to discuss.

Also have been notified from another Mercedes dealership that some vehicles are being sold with faulty computer chips as this was brought up based on said incident as asked if we had signed any paperwork at the time of purchase reflecting the same.

Question...

First has anyone had issues with the Driving Assistant System, Emergency Brake Assist, Brake Assist or Collision Notification?

Second, if the Mercedes as shown in the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fajRI44z6Q4 is true then the question becomes how did our vehicle impact with another vehicle as the vehicle should have stopped without incident.

Thoughts?
My thought is why are you focused on the intelligent braking system when you are claiming that your basic braking system didn't work? Seems to me that is a far more fundamental concern. People have been driving for years and years without intelligent braking systems in the situation described without incident as long as their brakes worked.

Last edited by MBNUT1; Nov 25, 2021 at 06:05 PM.
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Old Nov 26, 2021 | 08:32 AM
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I agree with MBNUT1. This is not acceptable to just rely on the intelligent braking system. All eyes on the road and being a responsible driver to keep a distance between the car in front of you. I would not even care if the car does or does not have intelligent braking system.
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Old Nov 26, 2021 | 04:56 PM
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Operator error
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Old Nov 26, 2021 | 05:09 PM
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I just saw OPs post on Instagram.

I don't know what to make of it. If there is actually a safety issue with OPs car, I hope Mercedes realizes it.

I also wonder if OP was relying too heavily on distronic and not paying attention to the road.
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Old Nov 26, 2021 | 05:22 PM
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Confused as others about what exactly happened here. If your brakes didn't work when you applied them manually with your foot, then your car warrants immediate attention. The brakes are fully mechanical even on the W223 as far as I know. The force applied to the brake pedal with your foot is translated to the brake caliper via a hydraulic system. If that fails, then something is seriously wrong with your car. These days there's even redundancy in that there are two cylinders controlling two of the brakes each, so if one fails you still have 50% of the brakes, and you have the emergency brake, too if all fails.

If however you relied on the assistance systems to stop the car for you, then I have to say you are doing it wrong. We are a long way from fully autonomous cars. Today's systems are level 2 and they are purely assistance systems. You as the driver are ultimately responsible and need to pay attention. Always be ready for those systems to fail. They are not infallible. They are there to assist you, but the moment you let down your guard, they may fail.
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Old Nov 26, 2021 | 06:31 PM
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This place is a joke.
Generally, one should push the brake pedal to make the car stop. Put down the phone, and THEN drive the car.
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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 10:44 AM
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Originally Posted by MBNUT1
My thought is why are you focused on the intelligent braking system when you are claiming that your basic braking system didn't work? Seems to me that is a far more fundamental concern. People have been driving for years and years without intelligent braking systems in the situation described without incident as long as their brakes worked.
The fact that he was sitting in gridlock traffic is important here and not using adaptive cruise control. Driver was likely rotating from gas pedal to brake pedal and gently rolling along with each movement. Driver likely had his foot on the brake whether he realized it or not (cancelling any Active Brake Assist function) and simply didn't brake hard enough to avoid impact.

If he was using some kind of Drive Assist cruise control (not a great idea in gridlock traffic anyway), it still sounds like user error. In terms of an insurance claim, driver is still at fault. Not his car and not the person he hit.
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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 01:06 PM
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Originally Posted by LOGOSDJ
The fact that he was sitting in gridlock traffic is important here and not using adaptive cruise control. Driver was likely rotating from gas pedal to brake pedal and gently rolling along with each movement. Driver likely had his foot on the brake whether he realized it or not (cancelling any Active Brake Assist function) and simply didn't brake hard enough to avoid impact.

If he was using some kind of Drive Assist cruise control (not a great idea in gridlock traffic anyway), it still sounds like user error. In terms of an insurance claim, driver is still at fault. Not his car and not the person he hit.
The OP's post from another thread

"Yes we were in a incident causing impact with the box truck in front of us. We were in gridlock traffic for about 45/50 minutes and were following the same car for about 15/20 minutes. The box van proceeded to go as we were approximate 3/4 of car length behind with plenty of room to stop but when I applied the brakes to stop the vehicle did not stop no matter how much pressure I applied. Also the vehicle did alarm sensing the truck in front of us. The brake assist did not work however have been told by Mercedes service department that brake assist will not engage if the driver is actively braking (which I was) It is intended for when the driver possible is not paying attention or falling asleep and not actively braking which makes complete sense however emergency brake assist is a whole different assistance. As I was actively braking without the vehicle stopping the vehicle emergency brake assist should have worked. It failed causing impact. The vehicle also turned off and back upon impact."
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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 02:40 PM
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Thank you!
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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 02:49 PM
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Hi..if you are talking about my reply I gave more details about the vehicle than in my post as we have had problems from the day we purchased it. Being in and out the service department since the beginning of September then in mid October is when the accident happened. We are not on cruise command/control. When I proceeded to move forward by taking my foot off the brake in grid lock traffic, I was not able to stop by applying pressure the brake pedal. We had plenty of room to stop if the vehicle worked as intended. Upon impact the vehicle turned off. The vehicle did not alert to anything, No alarms, No brake assist (which per MB would not engage as I was actively braking) No emergency stop NOTHING! Even collision notification did not do anything. No photos, no alert. I actually have video before the accident and after reflecting issues with the vehicle along with many photos of error codes and other issues that were not working as intended.

I agree with your statement about faulty chips however per another MB dealership we were asked by an employee if we signed anything upon purchase as to knowing there were faulty chips. I stated no then was told the MB in fact are selling vehicles with faulty chips but are requiring the selling dealership to have the new owners sign off that there may be issues.
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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 02:50 PM
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Interesting. I would love to know and I will research our VIN on our end. Thank you for your reply!
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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 02:56 PM
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I agree however the vehicle did not stop when I applied the brakes. That is a huge problem for any vehicle I do not care that it is Mercedes, Toyota or Ford....I did not relying on the intelligent system, the brakes did not work when I tried to stop the vehicle. Based on Mercedes own reports, that is what the intelligent system is for. If I was not actively braking then brake assist would or should have kicked in. That did not engage as I was actively braking per MB own admission. Therefore if the intelligent system even worked then it would have stopped the vehicle when the brakes did not function. That is the issue. I will never drive the vehicle or put my family in harms way as it is a huge safety nightmare.
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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 03:01 PM
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The brakes failed. I was not able to stop also there were other people in the vehicle that can state the same since they were yelling at me to stop the vehicle and continually asking why I was not stopping all the while watching me put pressure on the brake pedal. Honestly I do not care about the intelligent drive system, my issue is that this vehicle has had issues from day one. When the accident happened it was just delivered again by the service department. We have video prior to accident and after from our CCTV cameras showing that vehicle was doing odd things along with numerous photos of error codes and other issues at hand. My point about the intelligent drive system is when the brakes did not stop the vehicle then why did the braking assist work (per MB did not engage since I was actively brake) then why did the emergency brake assist. Per reports from MB the vehicle should have stopped no matter what. Sorry but not drivers error.
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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 03:06 PM
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Yes as I commented on the other post as our vehicle has very similar issues since the day we purchased. However reading what you put in bold the next sentence is wrong. There were no alarms as I wrote. Also the vehicle did alarm sensing the truck in front of us. I left out the word NOT. So much for catching the error. I also replied to your replies. I will make in future posts that I re-read several times to ensure that I do not miss something.
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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 03:19 PM
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Originally Posted by onebigfamily53
I agree however the vehicle did not stop when I applied the brakes. That is a huge problem for any vehicle I do not care that it is Mercedes, Toyota or Ford....I did not relying on the intelligent system, the brakes did not work when I tried to stop the vehicle. Based on Mercedes own reports, that is what the intelligent system is for. If I was not actively braking then brake assist would or should have kicked in. That did not engage as I was actively braking per MB own admission. Therefore if the intelligent system even worked then it would have stopped the vehicle when the brakes did not function. That is the issue. I will never drive the vehicle or put my family in harms way as it is a huge safety nightmare.

Sorry to sound disagreeable but that is not the issue and that is not what the intelligent system is for.

The issue is that your brakes did not work "no matter how much pressure you applied."

The intelligent system is there to provide a back up for events that you don't brake for.

Lastly I fail to understand why the intelligent system would somehow magically be able to stop the car when you couldn't with all your might. It is activating the same hydraulic system that you are with the pedal. In the situation that you described you are the intelligent braking system. Clearly from your description there would have to be something more fundamentally wrong with the braking system than some electronic override. Which leads me to the next question. Did the brakes work after the event?

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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 03:21 PM
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I appreciate your comment but hard to operator error when I was actively braking.
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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 03:29 PM
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I do not think you are being disagreeable giving insight and looking at all issues. I appreciate it. I should have just made a long post on the whole event therefore it would not be confusing. My apologies. Again I am not relying on the intelligent system, I asked if anyone has had issues as I have been told by MB on how it works. Question being why did the emergency assist not engage. Why didn't collision notification obtain anything? Questions asked of me. When I was not able to stop with the actual brake pedal the vehicle impact and turned off and turned back on as the screens went black. After sitting in the lane of traffic for a few minutes, I was not able to move. I receive the code that had to applying the brake to shift into drive. I never move changed gears. The vehicle should have been able to move forward. To answer your question yes the brakes worked to get us off the street. However when driving error codes came up not relating to the accident but the electrical system.

To add to your response of The intelligent system is there to provide a back up for events that you don't brake for. I agree as this is what was explained by MB but was told that the emergency stop assist should have engaged.

Last edited by onebigfamily53; Nov 27, 2021 at 03:48 PM. Reason: add to post response
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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 03:30 PM
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What I am most curious about is how much data is being stored during an incident of this nature. If it were a Tesla I am thinking that they could provide a pretty complete assessment of the event. Not sure what data Mercedes stores and doesn't store.
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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 03:43 PM
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I just saw OPs post on Instagram.

I don't know what to make of it. If there is actually a safety issue with OPs car, I hope Mercedes realizes it.
YES there is a major safety issue that is why I am afraid to ever get back into the vehicle. The brakes failed!

I also wonder if OP was relying too heavily on distronic and not paying attention to the road. NO I was not relying on the intelligent driving system, I keep asking if my brakes (the pedal) did not work when I applied pressure then why did the emergency brake assist engage or any alarms for that matter. Mercedes strives on safety and I agree but NOTHING WORKED! Having issues from day one is also a problem. The vehicle is a safety nightmare and I ask this of anyone no matter what vehicle you own, if your brakes do not engage when you are trying to stop then would you put yourself and/or family at risk for it to happen again or better yet at a high/normal rate of speed and possibly caused an horrific accident that you may not walk away from.
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Old Nov 27, 2021 | 03:52 PM
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Our collision notification was engaged but nothing was recorded or photo taken. That is also a question of Why? I agree with you on what data is stored, I have requested the diagnostic reports (pre-accident and post-accident) but as of yet still waiting
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