SHOCKED!!! MB ABS braking
 

Tonight I was driving home in LA in the rain. There were spurts of rain and wet road combined with stop and "really go!" traffic. I am a fast, impatient California driver who has never been in an accident since I've been driving now for 28 years. Tonight, I don't recall why, but all of the sudden the lane in front of me had come to a dead stop and I was going 65+. There was no out to another lane for me (I always have my bail out strategy in place and available) so all I could do was hit the brakes hard. As I was slamming my foot to the floor board, I was wondering what kind of pile up would ensue from me rear ending the driver in front of me and him dominoing into the cars ahead since I was going too fast to slow down in time and being too close for a safe brake....but then...NOTHING!!! My 1991 300e stopped on a microchip, no skidding, no sliding (on the oil filled pavement)...just a rrrrrmmmmm....stop with room to spare. SAFE!!! WOW!!! WHAT?!?! My 2005 Nissan Altima SER would have bashed into the car in front of me with the latest ABS system available!!! I am blown away...Mercedes Performance....oh yeah!!!

SP

Was the road going up hill a little by any chance? Same thing happened to me, except I was only doing about 45 but the road was going down a bit. Different result. What tires do you have on it?

Coming from a Mark VIII with WIDE tires on a huge vehicle, I am shocked by the braking of the Mercedes too.

I cant explain it. The car just handles so well during aggressive braking in wet or dry. They sure got something right!

Get some of the 400E 4 pot calipers on the front and you will be shocked even more!! Mine stops like you wouldn't believe!

The stock system is pretty damn awesome though!

Agree with the general assessment of MB ABS braking. After driving my '88 E for 22+ years, I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I had to put the brakes on a full panic stop, and it's never let me down. It's part of the comfort zone built into these things, and for those rare occasions when it becomes necessary, I'm thankful every time!

....by the way, I had put Jurid brake pads on the front and back. Before I bought it, the kid who had it had put some cheap autozones on it and it would not stop without a hydraulic press pushing on the brake pedal!