Mercedes-Benz vehicles equipped with Sensotronic Brake Control, also known as an electrohydraulic brake-by-wire system, may have been greeted with the “Brakes Defective Stop Vehicle” error message in your instrument cluster. Several faults can trigger brake warnings on Mercedes-Benz vehicles equipped with SBC.

1. The operating time of Component A7/3 is exceeded.
2. Complete failure of the SBC/Electro-Hydraulic Brake System Hydraulic Pump
3. A defective brake switch could cause the same error message in a few cases. You can buy one on Amazon for less than $20. The switch is above the brake pedal and can easily be replaced by anyone.
   

The SBC control unit monitors the service life of the hydraulic unit. For the SBC Hydraulic pump. The SBC module counts braking cycles; after exiting the value of approx 300000, an error message occurs. Some of the errors reported are:

• SBC Control module failure
• STOP VEHICLE  displayed on the instrument cluster
• BRAKE DEFECTIVE STOP VEHICLE
• REDUCED BRAKING POWER – VISIT WORKSHOP (Replace brake light switch first.)

Your SBC pump is defective, and you lose all the braking or have reduced braking power. The SBC pump, which creates pressure and applies that pressure to the brakes when you push the brake pedal, is not working correctly. This fault is commonly found on SBC-equipped W211 E-Class, R230 SL-Class, and C219 CLS-Class models. After so many operation cycles, the SBC loses efficiency or can fail while driving. Mercedes-Benz specifies diagnosis and appropriate service of the SBC hydraulic unit when its service life limit is reached.

Understanding SBC (drive-by-wire) brakes.

Here is a great PDF document hosted on the Mercedes-Benz forum that explains how the SBC brakes work. Mercedes-Benz publishes this. You can also read this article from the 500sec.com website.

Get a new SBC Pump installed for free by the dealer.

The dealer has extended the warranty of the SBC to 10 years and unlimited miles. It doesn’t matter how many owners the car has had or if you have an existing warranty. If you have a Mercedes-Benz with this problem and the car is less than 10 years old, find a local Mercedes-Benz dealer and take the car to be repaired. Enter your zip here to find the dealer nearest to you. They will tell you that they need to diagnose it first. Let them do that, as they have to send a request for repair to MBUSA and get approval.

Here is a copy of the Warranty Coverage Extension (SBC/Electro-Hydraulic Brake System Hydraulic Pump) Mercedes-Benz issued.

How to disable the “Brake Defective Stop Vehicle” Warning.

Reset the operation time/cycle of the SBC Hydraulic Pump.

 

It is possible to reset the SBC Hydraulic Pump using Star Diagnostics. Please be aware that if you do this, a serious SBC fault can cause reduced braking assistance and activate hydraulic backup mode. Here are the instructions. 

Use at your own risk.

RESET SBC SERVICE LIGHT:
1st: make sure that the engine is running!!! In SD Developer mode, you need to go to:
Entwicklungsdaten (developer data) —> Ansteuerungen (control gear) —> Gesamtliste aller Ansteuerungen (complete list of all the control circuits).

See how many times the brake has been pressed.  
Bremsenzähler (DJ_GetBrLive) (brake payer (dj_getbrlive)). 

Then below you see:
Bremsenzahler aktualisieren und Lebensdauerzahler F neu berechenen (brake upgrade and lifetime payer payers recalculated f) -> click it ! Parameter uINBR = 0 then click F3 

1 line down, you see (or search for this line):
Bremsenzähler auf beliebigen Wert setzen (DJ_SetNBr) -> click it Parameter uINBR = 0 then click F3 

Then scroll down until you see the line’s: 

Lebensdauerzahler F neu berechnen (DJ_CalcLiveTime) Parameter uINBR = 0 then click F3 

Lebensdauerzahler F neu berechnen und schreiben (DJ_BuildAndWriteF) Parameter uINBR = 0 then click F3 

Log out of SBC !! Log out of vehicle!! 

 

Potentially catastrophic!

Warning: The SBC hydraulic system can retain brake fluid under high pressure. Before disconnecting hydraulic components, the SBC system must be properly deactivated using the correct Mercedes service procedure. Wear eye and skin protection.

Affected Bosch Part Numbers:

• Mercedes E Class W211/R230 SBC Repair CODE C249F – 0 265 960 012 (0265960012)
• Mercedes E Class W211/R230 SBC Repair CODE C249F – 0 265 960 013 (0265960013)
• Mercedes E Class W211/R230 SBC Repair CODE C249F – 0 265 960 015 (0265960015)
• Mercedes E Class W211/R230 SBC Repair CODE C249F – 0 265 960 018 (0265960018)
• Mercedes E Class W211/R230 SBC Repair CODE C249F – 0 265 960 019 (0265960019)
• Mercedes E Class W211/R230 SBC Repair CODE C249F – 0 265 960 020 (0265960020)
• Mercedes E Class W211/R230 SBC Repair CODE C249F – 0 265 960 023 (0265960023)
• Mercedes E Class W211/R230 SBC Repair CODE C249F – 0 265 960 025 (0265960025)

 

SBC Hydraulic Pump Error Codes

SBC – MB Number 0044314212 HW Version 11.2002 SW Version 17.2004
Code
C25D6 This fault can be ignored and erased
C26DE Hydraulic fault: Malfunction in pressure supply
C26BB Hydraulic fault: Malfunction in pressure supply

ESP Error Code
C14BE System faults: Test control module A7/3n1 (SBC control module)

 

How to Reset SBC Malfunction

 

Diagnose Mercedes SBC Faults with the UCAN-II Pro

Use the UCAN-II Pro to scan the SBC control module before replacing parts. It can read Mercedes brake system fault codes, display live data, and perform bidirectional tests. The UCAN-II Pro also includes full AI Diagnosis, built-in TPMS sensor programming, a rear VIN scanning camera, coverage for 140+ makes, 3,500+ active tests, 1,000+ special functions, no subscription, and no AutoAuth required.