| Issue ID | 1311228 |
| Internal NHTSA # | 10897779 |
| Manufacurer | Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. |
| Brand | MERCEDES BENZ |
| Model | E320 |
| Model Year | 2004 |
| File date | 20/08/16 |
| Component | SERVICE BRAKES |
| Product type code | VEHICLE |
| Description of the problem | While driving on the freeway at around 60 mph my instrument message display suddenly turned red, started beeping continuously, and displayed the message "stop break defective stop vehicle". The car had zero breaks, pumping them did no good, and i had to immediately put on my hazards, downshift to slow the car, and pull off the freeway and park using the emergency break to avoid a potentially life threatening accident. While waiting for help i turned the car back on after 15 minutes and everything appeared to be working fine. My car is serviced regularly and very well maintained and it gave no indication of any break problems prior to this failure. It had a full break job at the mercedes benz dealer less then 30k miles ago and was serviced for another issue in the last 1. 5 years. At no time were my breaks mentioned as needing maintenance. Mercedes benz is aware of this issue, see "2004 mercedes benz e class brake foundation components tsb (bulletin sb-090930)" where it is mentioned. This is a serious life threatening issue that because of the design of the break system is completely unpredictable. My car is not within the 10 year warranty covered in the tsb referenced above. This sbc breaking system should have never been permitted on the road. Mercedes benz realized the mistake and discontinued the use of it after 3 years due to all of the issues. Any car with this system is a ticking time bomb that could put any number of lives at risk with absolutely no warning. At least with a standard break system you have some chance of stopping the car. |
| Vehicle Mileage at Failure | 144514 |
| Number of Occurences | |
| Source of the issue | NHTSA WEB SITE |
| City and State | HOUSTON, TX |
| VIN pattern | WDBUH65J14AXXXXXX |
| Was vehicle invloved in a crash? | N |
| Was vehicle involved in a fire? | N |
| Was incedent reported to police? | N |
| Was medical attention required? | N |
| Was part original equipment? | |
| No. of injured persons | |
| No. of fatalities | |
| Date of purchase | 07/08/26 |
| Was original owner? | N |
| Anti-lock brakes | N |
| Cruise control | N |
| Number of cylinders | |
| Drive train type | |
| Transmission type | |
| Vehicle speed | 60 |
| DoT tire identifier | |
| Tire size | |
| Location of tire code | |
| Type of tire failure code | |
| Was defective tire repaired? | |
| Date of manufacture | |
| Type of child seat code | |
| Type of restraint | |
| Dealer's name | |
| Dealer's telephone number | |
| Dealer's city | |
| Dealer's state code | |
| Dealer's ZIP code |