SL350 BRAKES

[MBGB]

There I was, luckily in a car park, when every light on the dash sprung up, with a message in read saying effectively, depress brake pedal now, well I did but the car still moved. Switched it off.
Recovered into dealership, plugged in and found the whole ABS unit had failed. That was replaced at £2,600 and now they can't get rid of the ESP light....................this morning they will hopefully have resolved that. Not a cheap day out!!
What happened to the days when things were so much simpler?

 

[s5tuart]

Ouch!
My first car never had those sorts of problems!



1947 Austin 12

 

[MBGB]

Stuart,
Definately didn't cost £2600 for the car lol You could have bought a Rolls in those days for that!

 

[bembo449]

you didn't shop around then ?

 

[McDonald]

the whole ABS unit had failed. That was replaced at £2,600 Not a cheap day out!!

Going to a main dealer for maintenance is one thing. Using them for major repairs shows a disregard for cost.

Most members of this forum use Mercedes specialist Indies instead of main dealers. These are often Mercedes-trained mechanics with Star diagnostic tools & a wealth of experience who charge their labour at a profitable but sensible rate. They can even update the official Mercedes service history.

Sorry you got hit with a huge bill, but a little research might have been good idea. I hope this tip saves you money in future. If you say where you live, someone will probably be able to suggest good Indies in your area.

 

[MBGB]

Issues of transportation were the deal breaker, getting it a guy I know who is really good with Mercs, but he was swamped with cars he's had for months since COVID started and trying to clear the decks, but hey ho there will always someone who can do a job like that cheaper, but one hopes at a MB dealership it has the back up on guarantee's etc where someone else might not.
I might ask for the old unit and have it tested or keep it as a spare, but the price of the units is fixed, a bit like the mechanics, replace NOT repair should be on their tee shirts ha ha !

 

[MBGB]

Appreciate all of that mate, Cambs is where I am, and as I say, I always use a guy who has all the STAR ki etc usually, and he is brilliant but snowed under currently. Need the car, and that was the solution at the time of a wet day, whilst it was at the dealers.
Love the SL but bugger, its complicated everytime, with so many avenues to go down to illiminate lights coming up!!

 

[LostKiwi]

Definitely get the SBC pump back.
The usual failure us the motor brushes wearing out which is a cheap fix.
JohnnySBC on here rebuilds them for 1/8th what you paid.

Send it off and eBay it on return or keep as a spare.

 

[John Laidlaw]

Nightmare but follow LK's advice and you might at least get something back.
Oh, and now enjoy again....

 

[MBGB]

They have fitted a referb unit but the ESP light is still up............loan car for the next few days

 

[LostKiwi]

£2600 for a refurb!

 

[MBGB]

No the price was halved!

 

[s5tuart]

Stuart,
Definately didn't cost £2600 for the car lol You could have bought a Rolls in those days for that!

IIRC it cost £60!
But for that I got a roof, bonnet and wings you could sit on, and a 12HP engine.
I think I got it up to 60mph once

 

[MBGB]

Brilliant..........nothing like simple motoring with wind in your face!

 

[Conor]

No the price was halved!

So it would have been £5200 if the repair used a new and not refurb'ed unit?

And I am sorry to hear you got hit with a large bill either way.. nature of they beast they say..

 

[MBGB]

Referbed unit used on the job at under half the new cost. All working fine, but they still have the car as they can't get rid of the ESP light now lol
Unbelievable with all the technology at their hands at top dollar and still stumped!!!
They gave me an AMG motor in the meantime!

 

[Conor]

Referbed unit used on the job at under half the new cost. All working fine, but they still have the car as they can't get rid of the ESP light now lol
Unbelievable with all the technology at their hands at top dollar and still stumped!!!
They gave me an AMG motor in the meantime!

You do need to provide a little more detail than that!!

If the unit was a refurb they probably needed to exchange the old unit for the refurb as is normal for a lot of refurbs.

 

[MBGB]

Conor,
Wish I had some, they haven't come back to me on how its all progressing. If you mean some more detail on the loan car its a GLA180 AMG looks like a fire engine, brand new looks like its been sat on an airfield for months lol!

 

[MBGB]

UPDATE if interested

SBC pump changed which they say has raised an ESP light, and believe it to be a "shorttime cut out fault" OR a CAN communications fault.
Still in the dark........and now considering changing the ESP unit!!

 

[LostKiwi]

On the basis of look at what was last changed how do they know the refurbed SBC isn't duff?