2013 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Brakes Problems

rear brake lines corroded and leaking, making the car disabled

The contact owns a 2013 Mercedes-Benz E350. The contact stated that when the vehicle was taken for a routine inspection, the dealer diagnosed that the rear brake lines were rusted through. The contact was informed that the rear brake lines needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 134,000.

Excessive corrosion on rear brake lines. I've never had to replace brake lines on car before. The cost is almost $5,000 out of pocket and I believe this due to low quality products used to manufacture the original brake lines. I believe there should be an investigation into the brake lines as there could be serious injury if they fail.

Rear subframe recall and brake lines. I am very disappointed and frustrated right now. 2013 e350 has completely corroded brake lines on an otherwise relatively rust free car. The vehicle is due to get the rear subframe replaced as part of the warranty extension. The brake lines are not covered and are 4,000 dollar additional fee to replace. I can’t get the work done anywhere else for cheaper because the rear subframe needs to be dropped in order to do the brake lines, making it cost prohibitive to have the subframe and brake lines done at different shops. Something is wrong with the brake lines they used when building this car. I’ve owned cars with 10x more rust and perfectly in tact brake lines. Frames rot away before I see brake lines this bad. They should have extended the warranty to the brake lines and I hope they do so I can get reimbursed in the future.

Rear brake lines rusted and replaced. Had taken to dealer to replace rusted rear subframe for which Mercedes had covered under an extended warranty. During this repair dealer noted that the brake lines were rusted and should be replaced. This was not covered by Mercedes.

Rear brake line failure, loss of brake fluid, caused loss of braking

Rusted brake lines after Sunframe rust. All E350 models are experiencing this issue with the rear brake lines and the dealership is charging upwards of $4300 to replace even when the subframe is already removed from the vehicle due to subframe issues

The brake fluid lines rusted. The front line, due to the rusted hole, leaked brake fluid to the point that the car had little to no braking ability. In addition, the computer warning did not activate. The car was taken to the dealer, where they verified that the computer warning did not activate, and that the brake fluid had bleed out causing the vehicle to have no brakes. This is a dangerous situation! The car is a little over 10 years old, has about 54,000 miles. Had I been on the highway and tried to make a hard stop, I could have had a terrible accident. The dealer now has the car for repairs, but there are many other E350 that have posted online that they have had an identical situation where the brake fluid lines have rusted out! This leaves the driver, without any warning, to be put in a life threating situation!

Complete system brake failure. Brake lines are completely corroded.

My break’s completely failed with no warning signs while I was driving on the freeway. About 6 months ago my driver side break lines were rusted and had a leak in the line causing my brakes to fail. The line was replaced with nickel copper lines and on Sunday when driving the car at 40 mph for ten minutes and the breaks began to fail. As I pulled over to get to safety after parking the car the check BREAK fluid level warning came on the dashboard. I got the car towed to my house and the following morning I added brake fluid the following and realized it’s leaking near the rear brake line on the driver side. But why and how?

Corrosion in rear brake line. Brought car for warranty service for rear subframe corrosion at a Mercedes dealership, and the service advisor noted corrosion in rear brake line. Researched online and another complaint for same issue was denied in October 14, 2020 (85 FR 65136). A website [XXX] lists anecdotal evidence of complaints following the initial investigation. Since it is the same problem effecting same model year as the subframe, further investigation seems warranted. Before being brought in, the car fishtailed, which could have been due to the defective subframe. No lights or warnings. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Brake fluid low light came on. Brake peddle was low. I brought it to dealer and said brake line was corroded and leaking. I have read that this is a problem with this year model.

On July 5, 2023, I was driving my 2013 Mercedes E350, when a red text warning appeared in the speedometer display: "BRAKE Check Brake Fluid Level". I immediately took my car to the dealer's repair shop at Contemporary Motor Cars in Little Silver, NJ. Their mechanic inspected and found that both rear brake lines were leaking and needed to be replaced. I requested that they do the necessary repairs. The total cost I paid was $2309.18. My car has 106,352 miles driven. In my 50+ years of driving, I have never experienced such a serious failure in the many cars I previously owned. Subsequently I did some research and found the the NHTSA denied a Defect Petition DP20-004 for a complaint that had been filed by Mr. Surjit Singh for the same failure in his 2013 Mercedes E350. I also found many other on-line complaints about leaking rear brakes lines in 2013 model Mercedes E350 cars. I recommend the NHTSA re-investigate this serious car defect.

I have a pre owned 2013 Mercedes Benz E-Class 4 Matic. This car runs beautifully and has been not missed a service appt since I took ownership in 2016. September 2022, the cars break light came on, took it to Mercedes Benz Natick, Ma and they states the cars brake lines were heavily corroded and was unsafe to drive. It was leaking brake fluid as well. Upon doing extensive research it seems to be a trend with this years model due to the material that Mercedes Benz used instead of the brake lines used in previous models that had no issues at all. It is a safety issue and they are endangering lives due to the poor quality material that they used for the brake lines.

While using the adaptive cruise system (Distronic plus) on an open section of interstate highway the system will act as though it detects cars where there are none. Sometimes this will result in a slight slowing down of the car without the braking warning signal, but sometimes the braking warning signal will come on and is followed by aggressive braking for no apparent reason. This has happened several times where the system falsely detects the need to decelerate on its own when there is nothing in the road to cause it.

I I GET IN A MINOR ACCIDENT WHEN MY BRAKES FAILED AND MERCEDES BENZ CHARGE ME $8000.00 TO FIX IT . I AM [XXX] AND DRIVE ABOUT 4000 MILES AYEAR.*DT PARTS OF THIS DOCUMENT HAVE BEEN REDACTED TO PROTECT PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

I WAS DRIVING AND ALMOST HIT THE CAR IN FRONT OF ME AND THE BRAKES LIGHT WENT ON "LOW FLUID" TAKING IT TO MANHATTAN BENZ AND THEY CHARGE ME $8614.50 BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO REPLACE ALL THE RUSTED BRAKE LINES. IAM 80 AND MAX. DRIVING 5000MILES/YR

BRAKE LINE FROM MASTER CYLINDER TO REAR WHEELS ROTTEN, STARTED LEAKING. VEHECLE HAS 35000 MILES, ACCORDING TO VITI MECEDES BENZ DEALER, THIS IS AN ON GOING PROBLEM THAT THEY REPORTED IN THE PAST,NOTHING HAS BEEN DONE TO FIX THE PROBLEM.

I HAVE A MODEL YEAR 2013 MERCEDES E350 THAT HAS A SAFETY DEFECT WITH RUSTED BRAKE LINES THAT SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED BY YOUR AGENCY. DURING A RECENT VISIT TO THE MERCEDES DEALER (EUROMOTORCARS IN BETHESDA, MARYLAND), I WAS INFORMED THAT MY CAR HAS SEVERELY RUSTED BRAKE LINES THAT NEED TO BE REPLACED IMMEDIATELY AT A COST OF ABOUT $3300. I SUBSEQUENTLY HAD MY CAR INSPECTED BY AN INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP (STAR CAR AUTO SERVICE IN ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND) THAT CONFIRMED THE DEALER'S DIAGNOSIS THAT THE BRAKE LINES ARE RUSTED AND NEED TO BE REPLACE. THE SERVICE ADVISOR AT THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME HE HAS SEEN THIS ISSUE ON MANY CARS LIKE MINE. AS A RETIRED SENIOR, I HAVE OWED NUMEROUS VEHICLES (ONE CAR I OWNED FOR OVER THIRTY YEARS) AND NEVER HAD TO HAVE THE BRAKE LINES REPLACED ON ANY OF MY CARS. HAVING TO REPLACE THE BRAKE LINE ON A SEVEN YEAR OLD CAR WITH ONLY 37,000 MILES IS NOT ACCEPTABLE BY ANY STANDARD AND SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED BY YOUR AGENCY. I HAVE ATTACHED THE ESTIMATE FROM THE DEALER AND PICTURES TAKEN BY THE DEALER OF THE RUSTED BRAKE LINES. I AM CONCERNED FOR MY FAMILY'S SAFETY AND FOR OTHERS ON THE ROAD AS A BRAKE LINE FAILURE COULD CAUSE A SERIOUS ACCIDENT RESULTING IN INJURY OR DEATH. PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS SERIOUS ISSUE OF RUSTING BRAKE LINES ON MY 2013 MERCEDES E350.

I HAVE HAD A 2013 MERCEDES-BENZ E550 FOR NEARLY THREE YEARS NOW AND LIKE IT IN MANY RESPECTS EXCEPT ONE. IT BOTHERS ME EVERY TIME I DRIVE SO MUCH SO THAT I FEEL COMPELLED TO GET IT OFF MY CHEST. WHEN I SLOW THE VEHICLE TO AN IMPERCEPTIBLE CRAWL, THE AUTOMATIC ADAPTIVE BRAKE ASSIST KICKS IN, BRINGING THE VEHICLE TO A SUDDEN, ABRUPT AND JERKY STOP UNLESS THE GEAR IS IN NEUTRAL. IT IS ANNOYING, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU HAVE GUEST PASSENGERS. IT REFLECTS POORLY ON THE DRIVER AND THE EMBARRASSMENT IS REGRETFUL. I HAVE OWNED AND OPERATED LUXURY CARS INCLUDING MERCEDES-BENZ FOR YEARS BUT HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED THIS NUISANCE LIKE THIS. I COULD NOT UNDERSTAND THE JUSTIFICATION ON ACCOUNT OF SAFETY, CONVENIENCE OR COMFORT FOR MERCEDES-BENZ ENGINEER TO IMPLEMENT SUCH A MEASURE. I CAN UNDERSTAND THE BENEFIT OF BRAKE ASSIST IN A PANIC SITUATION, BUT THIS IS IN NO WAY CLOSE TO ANY SIMULATION OF A PANIC STOP. I COMPLAINED TO THE LOCAL MERCEDES-BENZ DEALER AS WELL AS MERCEDES-BENZ USA HEADQUARTERS ABOUT THIS ANOMALY AND THOUGHT THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN AND COULD TWEAK THE COMPUTER FIRMWARE TO BYPASS ADAPTIVE BRAKE ASSIST AT NEAR ZERO SPEED. THEY TOLD ME THAT THEY COULD DO NOTHING WHEN THE DESIGNER INTENDED THE VEHICLE TO ACT THAT WAY. IS THIS AN EXAMPLE OF OVER-ENGINEERING OR OVERSIGHT?