Advice on a 2005 W211 E class

[m dev]

Hi All.

Would be grateful on some advice please.

I am planning to buy an old w211 eclass (2005). It is mint condition. Not airmatic suspension and has only 24000 miles on the clock.

I think it was the electrics updated (2004 production line) as it has a mess grill on the dashboard.

Full service history and checked the MOT records.

The only thing bugging me is about the SBC pump. Been reading this in detail and I know it can be a pain to repair and replace.

Question is, shall I take the gamble in that 24000 is such low mileage or do you think the SBC pump can fail even at these low mileages. I know it’s number of pedal presses and at such low mileage it’s probably been used for town driving, but I would have thought it may still have quite a bit of life in it.

Thoughts please?

 

[Blobcat]

Hello and welcome,

I'd be concerned about the low mileage - how genuine is it and what servicing has it had?

 

[m dev]

Hi.

I have checked the mileage against the MOT records and service stamps in the book and it seems to stack up and be genuine.

Its been serviced at 5, 8, 11, 14, 18, 21 and last year at 24k.

First 3 at MB the rest independent.

If the mileage and servicing seem genuine, would it still be a concern?

 

[Wighty]

I believe SBC pumps can be reset which prolongs their lifespan and also that the overall cost of the pump has come down .
I think around then , there was issues with coolant getting into the Auto gearbox fluid via the Valeo radiator .

 

[Wighty]

Have you got a link for the car advert ?

 

[m dev]

I think the Valeo radiator issue was fixed in 2004 when they moved to the BEHR radiators.

I have called a few indies and they tell me that they have never seen a SBC pump fail at that sort of low mileage so that’s reassuring.

Would anyone back this up from experience?

 

[malcolm E53 AMG]

Quite a dilemma - the facelift car is much better sorted especially 07-09 and without SBC

 

[Wighty]

I think the Valeo radiator issue was fixed in 2004 when they moved to the BEHR radiators.

I have called a few indies and they tell me that they have never seen a SBC pump fail at that sort of low mileage so that’s reassuring.

Would anyone back this up from experience?

How much buddy ?

 

[m dev]

£5,000

 

[m dev]

If it wasn’t the SBC issue playing my mind, I wouldn’t hesitate in picking it up. Lovely car inside out.
Trawling through the forums, the lowest mileage mentioned regarding SBC failure was around £60K.
I am hoping I have a few miles on it before it goes !!!

 

[m dev]

Sorry meant 60k miles

 

[m dev]

Any final views on the SBC issue?

Anyone heard of it failing at low mileage?

 

[Wighty]

Any final views on the SBC issue?

Anyone heard of it failing at low mileage?

They are 200-400 quid on eBay , so not hugely expensive , I think you are worrying unnecessarily

 

[m dev]

I don’t think they are. The options are to reset the SBS counter but this ideally should only be done officially or at least from a qualified indie. It will be very dangerous and indeed reckless to reset a braking system without knowing if indeed the system has any life left in it.

If the the actual number of brake presses has indeed passed the threshold, then a new SBC is around £1800 including the full bleed of the braking system from MB and a little lower at a Indie.

For a £5k car, I don’t want to use it for a few months and then find I need to spend £2k dealing with a repair albeit a consumable item.

Appreciate other things can go wrong but that’s beside the point. You don’t know what you don’t know.

Hence my question reaching out to anyone who has experienced a SBC failure.

Anyone seen this happen on <25,000 miles regardless of age?

 

[00slk]

With all due respect, don't buy it if you are that concerned about the SBC!

 

[sonic]

I think low milage cars are overrated, buy nature they will have only done short journeys. Its not a premium I would pay.
A few years back I bought a Golf GTI 16V with 100K miles on the clock with full service history 3 years old. Kept it for 2 years did 30K miles nothing went wrong, except for one flexible brake hose.

 

[sonic]

I think the Valeo radiator issue was fixed in 2004 when they moved to the BEHR radiators.

I have called a few indies and they tell me that they have never seen a SBC pump fail at that sort of low mileage so that’s reassuring.

Would anyone back this up from experience?

They were fitting both at the same time, it was pot luck. I had a CLK 2003 with a Valeo radiator, did 115K miles fortunately it didn't fail.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Regarding the SBC with all respect the views of the indies will mean more than ours - the only reply you’re trying to elicit is someone almost hopefully having early failure...in my time on this forum I’ve never heard of such.
I’ve only had one SBC equipped car , no failure at 60k+, but a fault in that the SBC hold never worked.
@JohnnySBC can do real resets should it come to it

 

[jp williams]

Speak with Ollie at P.C.S. in Horndean and ask his advice. One the UK`s leading Indies.

 

[m dev]

Spoke to Ollie @ PCS.

A extremely helpful and professional guy who helped answer all my questions and has put my mind to rest.

I’ll be taking my car there for all it’s needs now even though it’s a few miles from where I am.

thanks JP Williams for the lead.