I had a rear brake line rust out and it cost me $2800. I never reeived any type of notice about this, just found out per chance when having my car maintained...will MB reimburse me ??? I was just reading about this on a site and apparently I'm not alone there are many people with this same problem...With a Mercedes you'd expect better quality...I was told that they are using cheap metal and so it rusts out instead of using a non rust product....anyone have an answer please. thanks.

 

I do not believe Mercedes will cover the cost of brake lines, at least if it is out of warranty. The rear brake lines in my 2010 W204 look a bit rusty and corroded so I looked into replacement cost. From my understanding Mercedes will not cover the replacement cost because it is not considered a safety issue, meaning the brake lines are not failing and causing accidents. Doesnt rise to the level as rusted rear subframes does, at least not at this time. The lines dont seem to just burst out of the blue, instead they slowly leak and it is something that is noticable when the car is regularly maintained.

Im guessing most people do not report rusted brake lines, instead they just have them fixed and move on. Unlike rusted subframes where people are complaining since they really shouldn't be rusting out and breaking when people are on the highway.

Location probably has alot to do with it. My W204 is a New England vehicle and ive been replacing things under the car due to rust, like springs and shocks. I like to buy used Mercedes parts from California salvage yards and the parts look so much better from out West. I bought a set of rear shocks listed with 40,000 miles and they look almost new. Even the same with the exhaust, i recently noticed an exhaust leak at the manifold which I think is the gasket, I bought a used manifold from an Arizona salvage yard and it cleaned up great.

In my research for replacing Mercedes brake lines I came across https://www.linestogo.com/collection...es-brake-lines , they sell the brake lines already bent, just have to get them installed. I inquired and it is meant for the entire brake line to be replaced. I'm guessing you can probably splice the lines if you wanted to, like just replace the rear section that is rusted. I havent personally done it so I cannot comment on the quality of them. Since i like to do all the work myself this is the route I would probably go, buy the kit and try and install myself.


Heres what the underside looks in the winter with all the road salt:


used exhaust manifold i got from Arizona and cleaned up:

 

I had a 2000 something or other C240, one of the best cars I ever had until I gave it to a guy (the rust underneath it had rust).

The brake lines rusted out at about 220,000 miles. I got some copper tubing, the flare thing and all in all had it fixed 100% in about three hours and a total cost under $100 or so. It was not rocket geometry at all.