2005 Mercedes-Benz E500 Brake Problems

Mileage when the problem started

• Under 25k
  26%
• 25k–50k
  13%
• 50k–75k
  38%
• 75k–100k
  822%
• 100k–150k
  2056%
• 150k+
  26%

Owner reports

Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2005 Mercedes-Benz E500 owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).

Per incident was back glass detached from window and broke all over the road and on the back of my car while driving. 2: Sbcc pump goes in and out admittedly and type of a no brake issue at all hard as a rock will not move car only has 180,000 miles on it and it's been doing that since 140,000 miles Which did cause me to get in a minor accident on the right side of the car the passenger side where now I've had to replace a fender and still have problems because of it

I was traveling at about 60mph and started to slow to turn off the highway. Suddenly a red brake warning light came on and it took tremendous pressure to slow the car down and I overshot the turn. Then the car had no power. I was 36 miles from my home. I limped at 5-20 mph to a friends house and had the car towed to my home. There was absolutely no warning of any kind of brake problem. The car was driving just fine before this happened. I believe it could have been a much worse situation had I been in any kind of traffic.

This is not about an accident. It's about the vehicle's condition. Precisely, about the brake service warning. Red warning with beeping on dashboard saying I need to bring it to workshop for service. My wife was driving this car when she felt something was wrong with the car and she brought it to her trustful mechanic for check up right away sameday That mechanic gave up to look any further suggesting a visit to MB dealer.

Have vehicle for 4 months and was unaware of mercedez Benz extended 10 year warranty, before this incident. While driving approximately 30 miles per hour the instrument cluster flashed red with "decreased braking power, stop driving and visit workshop". Unfortunately, I was travelling at mid day in traffic and could not stop the car, without pressing the brake with both feet to the floor, and I still managed to blow through 2 red lights, but not kill anybody.(it took over 3 blocks to stop.) this is obviously a recall issue, as 750 TSB's have been filed against this model. If owners choose not repair this malfunction(5000 cost)...people will die,,,kids will die. Brake systems such as these have been eliminated by car makers because of the dangers. …

Mercedes E500 2005 126,000 miles while travelling 40mph on city streets the car flashed a red warning message indicating "reduced braking power depress brake prdal fully". This is in relation to the sbc braking system that in the event of a failure resorts to a emergency hydraulic emergency brake back up that Mercedes claims allows for adequate braking stopping distance. I would like to stress that the aforementioned statement is not true as I had to swerve on to a sidewalk to avoid an accident. Depressing the brake pedal fully is not suffice and the system loses 90% braking power with only the front axel brakes as operable. The condition and circumstances described herein are not in compliance with the fmcsa in regards to brakes being operable at all times and emergency braking situations. The red warning message cleared upon the next time the engine was engaged which is also of note. …

Upon exiting a highway, a red brake failure warning and beeping noise appeared. All braking capability was absent, so I was able to safely roll to a stop. This happened twice (odometer during these incidences exceeding 120,000) and I now have a white message appearing when I start the vehicle which notes "brakes - visit workshop". The times that the brakes seized up on me I was always able to turn the car off and start up again with no message ever to appear for months at a time, which made me think it was some sort of computer error message. I had the brakes checked and the mechanic could not see anything wrong with them, so I was always sent on my way with no repair work done. I have reached my limit with this vehicle. I do not feel safe and it is unfortunate I had to experience such trauma twice. …

This vehicle is equipped with sensotronic brake control that has a service threshold. When this threshold is reached the brake system defaults to non power assisted hydraulic mode to the front wheels only. This occurs without any prior warning and results in increased stopping distance. At the very least, Mercedes should issue a mandatory recall to interrogate these vehicles with star das to determine how close to the service threshold the sbc unit is and replace them for free. This is a major safety issue that needs to be addressed. We are too scared to drive the vehicle because we don't know when the brakes will go into failure mode. Mercedes extended the warranty period for 10yrs which has expired. Even under that warranty period Mercedes only replaced sbc units that had failed. …

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 Mercedes-Benz E500. The contact stated that a warning message to take the vehicle to a repair shop illuminated concerning the brakes. The vehicle had been previously serviced several times for various brake failures, but there had not been a permanent remedy. The dealer (Mercedes-Benz of valencia, 23355 valencia blvd, santa clarita, ca 91355, 661- 753-5555) and the manufacturer indicated that there was an extended warranty for the sensotronic brake control (sbc), but did not specify if they would provide a solution covered by the extended warranty. The dealer indicated that there was a malfunction with the sbc unit and the pump, which both needed to be replaced. The manufacturer indicated that there was no recall on the vehicle and they refused to cover the vehicle with an extended warranty. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000.

Tl* the contact owns a 2005 Mercedes-Benz E500. The contact stated that the brake pedal was depressed and traveled to the floorboard. In order to stop the vehicle, the contact downshifted into park and coasted with the park pedal depressed. The contact stated that the brake warning indicator illuminated and 'the vehicle does not have sufficient power to stop' appeared. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the pentatonic brake connection failed. The contact stated that the vehicle exhibited the same symptoms as listed in NHTSA campaign number: 05V133000 (service brakes, hydraulic). The manufacturer was notified and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 133,000.

The Mercedes model e class from 2003-2008 have a defective sbc unit which control the brakes on the car, this unit is prone to fail at anytime time without warning, I have researched this and it has happened to thousands of people, I will be shocked if this hasn't caused a fatality, Mercedes is aware of this problem and they issued a 10 year warranty to fix this, but if the unit fails after the 10 years they will charge you over $2500 to repair something that they manufactured defective, which is insane. This is a repair that should be covered for the life of the vehicle, I guess to them, a life is only important for 10 years. Something should be done to correct this before lives are lost (or more lives are lost) because of this ludicrous error on the part of Mercedes.

Brake complaints in other E500 years