No, the SBC braking won't hurt your bank account because the warranty has been extended to 10 years. Ours has been dead reliable.

__________________
Kent Christensen
Albuquerque
'07 GL320CDI, '10 CL550. '01 Porsche Boxster
Two BMW motorcycles

How is braking feel? Did it take a while to get used to it?

I subscribe to four (4) car magazines, and I remember in every review of the new at the time W211 the complaints were always about how difficult it was to properly modulate braking pressure to come to a smooth stop.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

In the U.S. consumers are usually well protected against such issues (although owners of W140s never got anything back from the A/C evaporator fiasco).

Warranties around the world are usually 1, 2 or 3 years at the most, then you're on your own.

The SBC braking system is a nightmare and it has been well proven as such everywhere. So much so that Mercedes decided to revert to the regular braking system on the W211 face lift (what better proof could you have on the subject).

Among the system's horror stories, two are the most concerning: one that the system will fail without any warning (not comforting if you are down the highway at over 90 m.p.h). and the other is computer failure.

The SBC computer has an electronic counter (to set a history for every time the brake has been used). The system has a limiter to advise for a major overhaul. This counter tends to fail suddenly and advises the overhaul well ahead of time (shutting down the system for security set parameters).

The only way to cure the problem is to change the computer, which is not cheap at all.

T

__________________
A. Rosich
CL 500, 1998
S 500 L, 1998
E 320 T, 1995 [Sadly sold ]

How about gas mileage? I am a 60k a year type of guy...so 3-4 MPG matters a lot
Is there any E320 without braking by wires? I am under the impression that 2006 got the E350 with the worst MPG

__________________
New Addition to the family
2013 Passat TDI 5Miles
2004 E500 4MATIC Wagon 95k
1996 E300 Diesel 173k Sold
1993 300E 2.8 230k Sold
1994 E320 White Wagon 373K Sold
Still dreaming about ....500E


Radu Negru

My mom bought a 2006 E550, and it does not have SBC.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

I Would Double check that .....My 2006 w211 HAS SBC

W211s have SBC up until the model update W211 2007

Even with the Eight piston front brake calipers and the four piston rear calipers the brake pedal feels funny...NOT like the Old school Master cylinder only cars

__________________
MBENZNL.com

Sorry, made a mistake. It's a 2007 E550.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Mid 2006 was the turning point for the reversal from SBC to the regular braking system on W211s.

If your car was manufactured late 1995 (and marketed and/or sold as a 1996 model) or early 1996 it will still have SBC.

__________________
A. Rosich
CL 500, 1998
S 500 L, 1998
E 320 T, 1995 [Sadly sold ]

Wow..So the late run of the W124s Had SBC ?

__________________
MBENZNL.com

brake by wire sounds self-explanatory, but what does SBC stand for?

__________________
1982 240 D, 308,000 - 321,127 miles (sold)
1982 300 TD,166,500 - 226,000 miles
1998 E 320, 120,000 - 144,000 miles
2005 C 230 K, 26,000 - 77,000 miles (sold)

Sorry, somehow my mind reverted to 1995/6 instead of writing 2005/6...

Most techs here refer to SBC as ***** Brake Control.

They also contest that SBC, the 1991-1993 3.5 liter diesel engine and the 2000-2004 G 400 CDI reliability issues as the three biggest fiascos ever produced by Mercedes-Benz.

Just for fun, I would also nominate the W140 A/C evaporators.

__________________
A. Rosich
CL 500, 1998
S 500 L, 1998
E 320 T, 1995 [Sadly sold ]