W211 SBC issue ?

[MJH]

Had the dreaded message come up on the screen today

Service Brake - visit workshop or words to that effect.

The brakes still seem to work OK still but I can't say I've heard the pump go at all either Pads and Disks are all in good shape so I'm assuming it's the SBC counter.

Any one had an SBC unit reset or replaced FOC by Merc lately ? are they still doing goodwill swap outs ?

The car is a 54 plate E320CDI with full history (merc/indy) and 145K on the clock.

I'm dropping into my indy 1st thing to get it on STAR so I'll know more tomorrow.

Thanks

Mike

 

[developer]

I believe the dealers will sort this FOC - worth a call.

 

[donubenz]

Mine showed the warning 3 months ago. The dealer was set to replace the pump FOC but said it was just the counter needing a Star reset. Told it was a free life time replacement pump as Merc had lots of issues with SBC. Brakes were no different before or after warning and reset! May depend on dealer?

 

[MJH]

Well as suspected it's the SBC counter, my Indy did a print out for me and off I went into Drayton Mercedes in Shrewsbury.

5 minutes later I left after making my feelings known. A young'ish woman, knew nothing about the issue and wasn't interested in anything I had to say. To the extent she gave me the printout straight back and said someone elses printout is no use to her and what other people thought the issue was, was irrelevant !! Unfortunately I wasn't in the mood for messing about so I essentially told them to stick it where the sun doesn't shine and I'll go elsewhere Which probably went down quite well in a showroom full of customers !!

So anyway, this afternoon I spoke to Drayton Mercedes on the phone but this time in Stafford. I spoke to a lovely lady called Lucy who took time to listen to what I had to say, knew exactly what the problem was and after speaking to her service manager, has booked me in for a quick diag check on Monday morning to confirm the fault. They will take it to Merc if a new pump is needed otherwise they'll reset the counter

Chalk and Cheese but needless to say, that's the last time I'll ever set foot in Drayton Mercedes in Shrewsbury and I'll be advising my father to take his S class into Stafford in future too. He's had nothing but problems with the car since he bought it as a low mileage approved vehicle last year. Recently the same dealer also damaged a wheel while replacing a tyre on mums C coupe during a service and the old man has had to argue the toss to get them to repair it. So to be honest, this latest episode will be enough to stop our family using them altogether and I'll be telling everyone I know. If Drayton group didn't have the monopoly around here I'd have given them a miss altogether So I hope Stafford can come up with the goods and restore my faith !

All this because of one persons attitude

 

[MJH]

I hope Stafford can come up with the goods and restore my faith !

Goods delivered and faith restored

The E's been in today, I was given a courtesy car, SBC unit's been re-coded to remove the limit and the charge .........

Nil, Zero, Null, Nuffink

Great people and great service from Drayton Mercedes of Stafford

 

[markevo]

Mine has passed it's service life and MB UK wont replace FOC due to the car originally being purchased somewhere other than the UK !!!!!......you would think it would not matter where the car was bought as it is still the Mercedes Benz brand

 

[Dieselman]

Mine has passed it's service life and MB UK wont replace FOC due to the car originally being purchased somewhere other than the UK !!!!!......you would think it would not matter where the car was bought as it is still the Mercedes Benz brand

Why not ask Mercedes Gmbh then?

 

[evdok]

They replaced mine

 

[markevo]

They replaced mine

good for you

 

[markevo]

Why not ask Mercedes Gmbh then?

Letter sent ......still waiting on a reply if any .

 

[C a r s e]

The SBC pump failed on my w211 last week and the best Edinburgh Mercedes will do is half price........£890 doh!

Not happy to say the least, should all MB customers not be treated fairly?

 

[markevo]

I have total sympathy MB seam to move the goal posts for each case ! How can a taxi with no history get it done foc yet mine had full mb /indi. yet the same garage turned me down . All i get from mbuk is excuses

 

[John]

Have a read through this if you've not seen it already:

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/gene...main-dealer-again-itll-too-soon-shysters.html

 

[C a r s e]

I contacted, Mercedes-Benz UK Ltd - Head Office, based in Milton Keynes, who quoted there have been no recall's on the Mercedes SBC, which is weird cause thats not what the VOSA website confirms: Recall Details for MERCEDES BENZ - E Class and SL=
Recall Details for MERCEDES BENZ - E Class and SL=
Recall Details for MERCEDES BENZ - E CLASS AND SL CLASS=
Recall Details for MERCEDES BENZ - E CLASS AND SL CLASS=

 

[John]

Why those wacky comedians at VOSA - telling porkies again.

Such jokers.

Lol.

 

[markevo]

I written to a few motor mags but none seem interested in what I think is a unit which is not "fit for purpose" .
I can only go on my experience with regard to the E320 Taxi firm getting it done FOC and myself not getting it . All I can think of is the local taxi firm bought a fleet worth of E320's .
Still sucks ......but I for one will never use MB for any servicing ,it is just not cost effective .
Rant Over

 

[John]

In all honesty, if you avoid MB servicing, you will save more than enough to pay for a replacement pump anyway - so their 'FOC' replacement is not really anyway.

 

[Satch]

I contacted, Mercedes-Benz UK Ltd - Head Office, based in Milton Keynes, who quoted there have been no recall's on the Mercedes SBC, which is weird cause thats not what the VOSA website confirms: Recall Details for MERCEDES BENZ - E Class and SL=
Recall Details for MERCEDES BENZ - E Class and SL=
Recall Details for MERCEDES BENZ - E CLASS AND SL CLASS=
Recall Details for MERCEDES BENZ - E CLASS AND SL CLASS=

Nothing wierd about that at all: you were speaking to an idiot.

Try again. Press harder, Try to speak to someone with a brain.

 

[johnsmith1980]

Unfortunately there has never been any form of official extended guaratee on SBC units. There are a number of common misconceptions including an automatic 10 year warranty on them which is not true. For each and every case outside of the manufacturers warranty, the dealer must go through the same procedure as it does for any goodwill payments - in other words it was a form of goodwill.

I have worked for a Mercedes Benz main dealer for the past 5 years and up until about 8-10 months ago we had never had an SBC replacement refused. So much so that it was almost a given that as soon as the warning came up, the unit would be replaced or reprogrammed and the cost would be zero to the customer.

Then one day, I had a very similar conversation to the one on the other thread mentioned here - when asked by a customer if it would be covered, I replied that we had never had one refused before. I was rather taken by surprise when it came back declined. Not even 50%. The reason was a substantial lack of main dealer history, a bit of a must for normal goodwill payments. The customer was naturally very unhappy as he had taken it that I had said it would be covered.

Since then, only vehicles with a full MB main dealer service history have been approved, if service history is mainly main dealer then 50% and if it has been serviced elsewhere for years then it is declined.

Although he complained to MB, they refused to honour any form of goodwill.

 

[John]

MB Bromley certainly advised me that SBC units had a 'lifetime warranty' on them - which I questioned as my car had no MB warranty on it but they confirmed still.

It's no wonder the end customer gets confused with the contradictory statements flying about.

At least we know the score although I think that was the conclusion we'd got to anyway.