Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (service brakes, ABS, rotors and pads, parking brake).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2005 Mercedes-Benz E320 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
While driving in highway, SBC brake failure warning and failure. Fortunate to be able to come to a stop without crashing into a car ahead since had plenty of time and distance to slowly come to a stop even with reduced braking power. If traveling in rush hour would likely have rear ended a stopped car in front and potentially causing serious injury and damage! This is a known issue with Mercedes, and there is an extended 25 year warranty on the vehicle but for some reason, my vehicle was not included in the recall: NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID: 04V296000 2005 Mercedes e320 automatic sedan. …
There has not been an incident report, however, my brakes failed while driving and I pulled over. This is the fault the SBC System which has an Extended 25 year warranty. I brought it into Mercedes prior to complete failure, but they only replace the Pressure Reservoir. It must be returned to Mercedes for the SBC UNIT replacement.
car break looses 70% of its pressure and only left with 30% break. It happened 3-4 times already. break booster malfunction sign comes up. When i restart the car, malfunction sign goes away and it run ok for few days till it happen again. I am not driving it right now. it can cause serious accident at high speed
Break booster malfunction sign popped up 3-4 time while driving and I lost 70% of the break. Luckily it happened on local road at speed under 30mph. It is very dangerous and can result in an accident
While driving 2 days ago (2005 E320) I suddenly got a brake warning, bright red "stop" 'reduced braking power depress brake fully' and the brake pedal goes to the floor with little or no stopping action, it was very scary. I was only going with 15-20mph but there was a red light in front of me when this happened. I couldn't stop in time and had to hit the barrier to stop the car. Luckily no one is injured, but my car was a serious threat to me and others. I contacted the mb service and it is related with sbc unit and it is out of warranty. They want $2700 to fix this issue. I think mb needs to realize this isn't like the glycol contamination or something not that serious, this is a major problem in the actual braking system of the car!!! …
I was driving 40mph on a city street, when the car dash flashed in red, "brake malfunction, see workshop soon". A red light was coming up, so I went to press brakes & absolutely no brakes! I swerved in a church/school parking lot to my right so I wouldn't go further ahead & be in a major intersection. Because of the quick turn, I hit a tree in an island, which stopped the car, but totaled my car. I had my car for 12 yrs & always serviced it & had it in excellent condition & no recall, etc was ever on this car for this deal. My husband looked on line after & saw others had the same thing happen, with same make./model & older miles.
The sbc braking system totally failed while driving. Dong road at 35 MPH only way to avoid running into someone or cars was to drive this into tree. I could have killed someone or me. The problem is the same with all these models. Their needs to be a recall on theses models before to many people die. This model is know to have complete brake failure especially on the Mercedes forums. Someone can inspect the vehicle because I can wait to fix to make sure this can never happen to anyone again or cause a death.
A warning in Red came up on the dashboard which said something like "catastrophic break failure" ..I was going slow about to stop at the Red light and the brakes did not work and I hit a mini van
This vehicle is equipped with sensotronic brake control that has a service threshold. When this threshold is reached, the vehicle's brake system defaults to non power assisted hydraulic mode to the front wheels only. This occurs without any prior warning and results in greatly increased stopping distances along with much longer time interval for vehicle speed reduction due to loss of brake effectiveness. Mercedes (hereinafter referred to as mbusa for Mercedes Benz USA) service bulletin s142.46-p-0012a addresses this issue. Mercedes discontinued installing this type brake system on new production vehicles at the end of my 06. Suggested cure - mbusa should issue a mandatory recall to interrogate these vehicles with star das to determine how close to the service threshold (I.e. Brake failure) the sbc unit is. …
I received the red dash warning at the same time as the complete braking failure (not before) and there was maybe 2% braking capability remaining (useless hydraulic fail safe). That's with the pedal on the firewall at 5 MPH. Even with force enough to push the pedal into the firewall it was still a gradual slow down. This was at around 5 MPH! Now imagine coming off a steep off ramp from 70mph that ends abruptly and perpendicular to a busy intersection when this happens... Not good. After sitting in the car off for a few minutes I decided to start the car up again, the message was gone and full braking pressure restored. Talk about a game of russian roulette, I have no idea when this time bomb is set to go off again. This is not even remotely acceptable and is incredibly dangerous. …
Brake complaints in other E320 years
Frequently asked questions
How common are brake problems on the 2005 Mercedes-Benz E320?
NHTSA has 54 complaints about the brakes of the 2005 Mercedes-Benz E320, 23% of the model year's 231 complaints. The component named most often is antilock/traction control/electronic limited slip (1 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2005 Mercedes-Benz E320 brake problems?
No. NHTSA lists no brakes recall for the 2005 Mercedes-Benz E320, though it has 3 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2005 Mercedes-Benz E320 brake problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 100,000 miles, and 10% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 4 crashes, 1 fire and 4 injuries to brakes problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.