NHTSA Complaint #10450191 — 2003 MERCEDES BENZ E320

I WAS DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 45 MPH WHEN THE RED DASH WARNING LIGHT CAME ON BRAKE FAILURE STOP IMMEDIATELY VISIT WORKSHOP. THE RED EMERGENCY BRAKE LIGHT AND THE AMBER ABS LIGHT ALSO CAME ON. THE VEHICLE STARTED TO AUTOMATICALLY DOWNSHIFT INTO LOWER GEARS AND I WAS ABLE TO PULL OFF THE ROAD AND STOP USING THE EMERGENCY BRAKE SINCE THE BRAKES WERE NOT WORKING AND I HAD THE BRAKE PEDAL TO THE FLOOR. I WAS ABLE TO GET THE VEHICLE HOME USING THE EMERGENCY BRAKE TO STOP THE VEHICLE AND THE NEXT DAY WHEN I STARTED THE VEHICLE EVERYTHING WORKED FINE. I TOOK IT TO MY LOCAL MERCEDES-BENZ DEALER AND THEY UPDATED THE SOFTWARE FOR THE SBC CONTROL UNIT. THEY ALSO VERIFIED THAT ALL RECALL SERVICE FOR THIS VEHICLE HAD BEEN PREVIOUSLY PERFORMED. HAD THIS INCIDENT OCCURRED DURING AN EMERGENCY BRAKING SITUATION OR AT A HIGH SPEED I FEEL THAT THIS WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN AN ACCIDENT. *TR