agregory23

So I went to a shop today and while I am sure he may have been looking out for "my safety", I am fairly sure he was protecting his future income as well.

I am a fairly avid DIY'er. Done dozens of brake jobs, a couple clutch and timing belt jobs, suspension upgrades and have even pulled and rebuilt an engine or two before.

In talking with an indy shop owner we got to talking about brake jobs because he said I had 4mm left. In that conversation he said "Don't do the brake job on this car! The fronts are not normal because of the active braking system. The rears are the same as any other car but not the fronts. You will lose a finger! The pistons are hydraulic and can actuate fast and cut it off! I have also seen many people start it and mess it up costing thousands of dollars too. I have to connect it to the computer and disengage the brakes and the active system in order to do them properly."

While I am not a seasoned mechanic and I have not owned my car THAT long I am fairly certain I have never heard anyone on MBWorld losing a finger from doing their brakes. Nor have I heard about any gotchas in doing them on E55's. Not only that pretty much all modern cars have hydraulic brakes. And really, isn't that what disconnecting the battery is for?

So, am I missing something or do I need to find a different shop to do my next service?

E55Freak

https://mbworld.org/forums/w211-amg/...ke-change.html

This shows rear but i believe you should be ok after disconnecting SBC to do the fronts...

Elhonaz

Its the SBC(sensotronic brake control) our cars have this guy is talking about, and eighter doesnt know anything about it for real or is trying to scare you and pay him the cash. If done like MB wants, you connect the car to star and inactivate the SBC. then you can work on the car with no worries. However it is very common to just let the car go to sleep, meaning the instrument cluster has to go completly black. Again at this point it is safe to work on your car but it is VERY important not to open any doors or trunk because this will activate the SBC -> it pressurises the pistons with high pressure to check the system and here is the danger of getting your fingers etc cut. I've allways disconnected the SBC unit under the hood and let the car go to sleep when working on the brakes. I've also kept the key at a distance where keyless go isnt working just to be sure.

So its safe to work on it when:

1.The SBC is deactivated with star.

2. The car is "sleeping" and nothing is done to wake her up(lock or unlock doors, trunk, open doors etc.)

3. Option number 2 and disconnect SBC under hood. Nothing wrong with taking the trunk battery off too.

agregory23

Ok... thanks guys. Sounds like there is some truth to what he is saying. Thats good. Sounds like one extra step (#'s 2 and 3 in Elhonaz's post). No biggie on that one.

Yacht Master

+1 SBC start-up cycle is no joke.

justinwrock

I was told be an MB tech that disconnecting the SBC pump should be more than adequate to prevent the brakes from going through their "wake up" cycle while servicing the brakes.

e500slr

I lost my ***** this way....

tw2

I have heard a similar story. Just disconnect as above.

poohlvhun

Toadster

Hulk

Yup, disconnecting both batteries works also

E55Freak

You should love your car not "love" your car!

e500slr

...but it's so damn sexy

PelicanParts.com

I believe this DIY Tech Article is relevant to your brake job replacement. It provides great literature and steps as to how to go about replacing them safely, with all body appendages attached in the end result. Please review the first comment on the bottom about how to go about deactivating the SBC.

-Luccia

HeissRod

Next time, try to teabag your calipers instead.

e500slr

BAHAHA!!

cnterline

Done brakes plenty of times with this system ,just letting car go to sleep on lift,even when done ,opening door ,pushing pedal etc ,takes awhile for pistons to come back out,at least the cars I did the front brakes on,they sure as he'll didn't slam the new pads up against the rotors ,so if somebody lost a finger performing a front brake job on an SBC system he's obviously into S&M

jpohl402

I too know this to be true! (Or so I've read/heard)
Definitely disconnect SBC.
The calipers can "clamp" closed suddenly, from what I understand!