ja1031

My first road trip in the SL was from San Antonio to Corpus Christi. That was two weeks ago and the car is still in the Mercedes dealer in Corpus Christi suffering from brake failure. Total mileage...260. The dealer has replaced the brake pump twice which has not fixed the problem and now tells me that they simply don't know how to repair the brakes. What to do?? Has anyone had this problem with their 2003 SL 500? Can someone give me a clue as to who I can contact at MBZ to make sure I really spent 90 grand for a car with brakes? Until the brake failure I must say that the first 260 miles were awesome, this is truly an incredible car.
jeff

jl88

I've never heard of that problem occuring on SL500's.

Sensotronic was first released on the SL500's.. I hate to say it, but that's the risk you take when you buy a first year car.

Hopefully MBUSA will resolve the problem. Remember, if it fails one more time, you can lemon law it.

ja1031

Looks like we're up early this morning! Thanks for the reply, and you're right, a first year car is likely to have some bugs and gremlins but I could'nt resist buying one, however, less than 24 hours and 260 miles was a mighty short ride. I have been searching the web in the hope that I would find someone out there with a similar problem but to no avail. In the 70's I was a Mercedes and Porsche tech so I've got a grip on things mechanical and electrical but this electrohydraulic system is obviously new to me. Sure would like to see a schematic for it though as the dealer thinks the "most likely" failure point is the brake pump... someone is missing something here. I need to look into the lemon laws here in Texas, what little I know relates to repeated failures, so what about ONE failure of a safety related system with no fix in sight? Does my SL turn into a pumpkin (paperweight) at midnight?

blueSL

What message are you seeing on the display? I assume the brakes still work but require much more effort than normal.

Generally, replacing the same item more than once is a sign of desparation and total ignorance. If they replace an item and there is no change, their initial diagnosis is wrong so they must look elsewhere. The dealer is clutching at straws.

Faults this early in a car's life can often be silly things like the wires not properly inserted into a connector, or a connector not properly seated, or a blown fuse.

If I were you, I'd pick up the phone and make a lot of noise directly to MB corporate customer services and tell them you want some action. Remember the plant should be able to dial into your car to diagnose problems when hooked up at the dealer. If your dealer is not up to it, find one who is.

Keep us posted!

ja1031

Thanks for the interest. The dash display is a real eyecatcher, got a large red stop sign, audible warning, script that warns not to drive the car etc. It's impossible to conclude that you have less than meltdown occuring. Interesting point, in my first call to the dealer I was told that if the display was in blue lights it was OK to drive the car but since the display was red lights the car should immediately towed to the shop for repair. There is a backup brake system, likely a manually operated master cylinder (?) that I was told operated only the front brakes and my brief experience tends to confirm this. The brake pedal can be easily pushed to the floor at a standstill but does provide marginal and erratic (pulls right) braking. Feels like trying to stop the car with a hand brake that operates only on the front wheels...this does not inspire confidence so I took the mans advice and had the car towed. It's been a real heartbreaker to have such an incredible yet undriveable car gathering dust 200 miles from home. I agree with your contention that the replacement of two brake pumps (so all three are defective?) is a shot in the dark yet the system is a new design and I'm sure that very few techs have had the opportunity to diagnose one yet. I suspect, as you do, that the problem is related to an electrical rather than a mechanical anomally, especially since the car is so new, I too have seen some "big" problems boil down to electrical connectors crimped over insulated (not stripped) primary wire right from the factory. As the days roll on I expect to become more aggressive in my search for a cure and I will keep you all posted as to my progress and hopefully the ultimate fix.

blueSL

Wow! Looking through the manual, I can see the message you mean... I've had a red message when I have not closed the hood properly. The recommended action is Stop the vehicle, do not drive any further, call a breakdown service, so you were correct in your action, it seems pretty serious.

Certainly wish you luck in getting it resolved. The SL has been around for more than a year now with something like 15-20000 cars produced so the new technology is well bedded in. Sounds like you have a rogue failure.

As for the diagnosis, the computer they plug in should be able to diagnose to the failing component level but it has to have the proper level of diagnostic software on it.

I think you need to start making lots of noise to get it resolved....

ja1031

Diagnostic software could be an issue, according to the tech the diagnosis has been a malfunctioning valve in the brake pump on all three pumps (the original and two replacements), and the brakes still don't work.

mookie

It never ceases to amaze me how people alow other people to jerk them around. Kick their ***, yell and scream, call the district man, call, call, call, then stop by and politely yell yell, and yell some more, u would be suprised how that will help u get to someone who knows what they are doing instead of a slub. Squeeky wheel gets the grease! Go get em

ja1031

Guess I better go postal on 'em Mookie !!! Just got off the phone with the service advisor and it seems that what they were calling a "brake pump" is actually the SBC control unit. The two are not the same. It's like saying the problem is in the gas tank when it's really in the carburator, related parts of a system for sure but the communication dumbs down quickly when they can't keep the nomenclature straight...or do they know the difference??? An out of town Benz regional tech hero is going to the dealership today or tomorrow to try and solve the problem for them. And the beat goes on...
jeff

vraa

hey! i wanna call some people too! we've gotten HORRENDUOS service.. i mean.. not even funny! who should i call in the houston area. If i can get back on good terms that means a G55 and a S600 are on their way and then after a while my sister gets a SLK32 and a ML55 for my uncles.. thats a lotta cars they throw away for not treating a single SL500 customer right!

ja1031

I operated my own business for 25 years and I can't say that I subscribe to the old saw about the "customer is always right" because sometimes they aren't. When they aren't they usually know it. Giving them the "your'e right" attitude made most of them feel as though effective communication had just ended and that the only substance remaining was the physical act of paying (or not paying) the bill. They may have gotten what they asked for but certainly not what they wanted. I found that timely performance, honesty and clear communications make for the development of mutual respect. Once we have that then we work together through situations over which we have no control. One of my customers taught me how to do that. "Be a good customer and you will have a good dealer" he said. Who to call in Houston? I thought Huston was better than where I'm parked at the moment... Oh well.
jeff

vraa

I'm not saying that i know it all (lol) but its just when you have a car in service for two weeks (we got a c240 loaner for the mean time) just because they couldn't find a key is kinda sad. Sure its our fault for losing the key (keyless go card) in the car but they lied to us. The service manager said the machine that detects the keys said the key was in the front of the car while our salesman said the key was detected as being in the center of the car. Turns out the key was INSIDE the seat. yes inside. Apparently they said the key crawled up from the floor to the seat.. how's that happen?