Mercedes-Benz Australia has issued a recall for more than 17,687 vehicles in the country that may have a potential issue with the fitted brake booster and the brand has asked customers not to drive their affected vehicles.
The recall concerns certain ML-Class, GL-Class (164 platform) and R-Class vehicles (251 platform) from model years between 2005 and 2013 and up to 2016 for privately imported cars.
The recall process will involve inspecting the potentially affected vehicles and, depending on the results of the inspection, replacing the parts where necessary. Until the inspection takes place, the brand is asking its customers not to drive their vehicles.
Mercedes-Benz has found that in some of the vehicles the function of the brake booster could be affected by advanced corrosion in the joint area of the housing.
After extended time in the field and in conjunction with significant water exposure, this corrosion might lead to a leakage of the brake booster. In this case, the brake force support might be reduced, leading to an increase in the brake pedal force required from the driver to decelerate the vehicle and/or to a potentially increased stopping distance. This may be accompanied by a hissing or airflow noise when applying the brake.
Additionally, in rare cases of very severe corrosion, it might be possible for a particularly strong or hard braking manoeuvre to cause mechanical damage to the brake booster, whereby the connection between brake pedal and brake system would fail. In such cases, it would not be possible to decelerate the vehicle via the service brake. Thus, the risk of a crash or injury would be increased.
The function of the foot parking brake is not affected by this issue.
Owners with questions or concerns are asked to please contact their preferred authorised Mercedes-Benz Service Centre. Alternatively, information is available at mercedes-benz.com.au
Affected vehicle models by model year
| VIN (First 6 digits) | Model | YEARS |
| WDC164 | ML 280 CDI | 2007-2010 |
| WDC164 | ML 300 CDI | 2010-2011 |
| WDC164 | ML 350 CDI | 2005-2012 |
| WDC164 | ML 350 | 2005-2012 |
| WDC164 | ML 420 CDI | 2006-2010 |
| WDC164 | ML 500 | 2005-2012 |
| WDC164 | ML 63 AMG | 2006-2011 |
| WDC164 | GL 320 CDI | 2006-2011 |
| WDC164 | GL 350 CDI | 2011-2012 |
| WDC164 | GL 450 CDI | 2006-2013 |
| WDC164 | GL 500 | 2006-2012 |
| WDC251 | R 320 CDI | 2006-2011 |
| WDC251 | R 350 | 2006-2012 |
| WDC251 | R 500 | 2006-2008 |
| WDC251 | R 63 AMG | 2006-2010 |
| WDC251 | R 350 CDI | 2010-2013 |
1 comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Quite frankly Australia needs to catch up with the rest of the world in relation to imported vehicles.
As a repairer and compliance centre operator in NZ for several years it was the best thing to happen to the industry both in terms of employment and in getting a lot of older cars off the road not to mention the employment opportunities for the workforce
Wake up smell the coffee Australia and catch up .