I’ve had the same exact thing/feeling happen in my E39, as well as a big ‘check brake fluid level’ warning in red, so I knew exactly what the issue was. There’s so much pressure when you press the brake it doesn’t take much of a hole to lose it. I don’t think it’s unusual.
I also had a minor advisory on a very recent MOT, but I didn’t think it would last so little time. Should have dealt with it immediately, of course, so it’s my fault.
The very next day after this happened I got into my other W212 E-Class to give my friend a lift to the station. This W212 has had an easy life and been babied, very low milage. It had been sat for a week or two.
As soon as I hit a bump on the drive I heard a rattle noise from the front - almost as if I'd left a spanner or socket in the engine bay, rattling around. This continued for a while, every now and again I'd get out and expect to see something hanging off the car, I even tightened the wheel nuts just to be sure, checking the engine bay multiple times...
After a couple of miles, I heard a big clunk and whatever was rattling around fell and hit the bottom of the car, onto the road. I pulled over to go check out what it was... see pic.
Apparently this car decided to lose part of its front spring - I have no idea how as it didn't hit a pothole and has just been sat for a while without use, and there were no rattles or bumps.
In fact what's weird is that the car drives perfectly, you would never know. No knocks or noises, no strange driving dynamics. To the point I even questioned if it was a spring of someone else's car that I found on the road, and it actually was a spanner.
So, a very expensive two days. It's almost defeating me - as in, I'm almost read to sell them both and get whatever the most reliable, boring econo-car is.
