* I wasn't there* so I can't pretend to know exactly what was going on with your brakes on the Mercedes, but deactivating the ABS to solve a dragging brake seems very strange. If it worked, it worked, but one thing to keep in mind is that on some vehicles, the ABS fuse does more than just ABS, for example pulling it might also disable the speedometer or something else, and potentially set a check engine code light besides just the one for ABS, and either way if the light is coming on it may not pass a state inspection.
Good point, something I thought about. The fuse I pulled on the MB was for the ABS pump only. Yes, I got an ABS warning on the dash. But at least that right front wasn't dragging anymore! Had the car needed to be inspected I would have simply put the fuse back in.
You comment about this sounding far fetched, I actually remember the Car and Driver road test on this car (a 2006 C230 sport). They complained that the brakes seemed to release slowly and drag at times. It tells me MB had issues with the ABS system.
Another thing that POS did, it had a driveline rumble at cruising speeds at, say, 68 to 72mph. We bought this cr brand new. At the time the dealer I bought it from had a knowledgable service manager. After shimming the driveshaft a few times he finally confided in my that this model did this but most people didn't notice. He did make it clear that MB had no fix for the issue.
Between the dragging brakes and the drivetrain rumble I should have lemon lawed the car. I looked into it but there were a lot of hoops to jump through so I let it slide.
At about 75k miles we were returning from dinner at our friend's house. They live in the sticks and we left late. Halfway home, out in the middle of nowhere, it started running on 5 cylinders (it was a V6). But now the car had become a transportation appliance. No way are we walking! I made it home, about 5 or 6 miles from when it lost the cylinder.
The next day I pulled the plugs to gain a clue on what happened. One of the plugs had the electrode gap hammered closed. That cylinder (I forget which one) inhaled something. I took it to a local Euro car guy I trusted and he found a movable part of the multistage intake manifold had broken off and was inhaled by that one cylinder, hammering the plug gap closed. He put a new intake manifold on. I was DUMBFOUNDED with all the moving parts INSIDE that intake manifold. What a stupid, stupid, stupid, overly complex design!
The mechanic warned me that the MB cats were fragile and I may have damaged one by driving it 5 or 6 miles with that misfire. Well, sure enough. Just 3 or 4 days after getting the car back I needed a new catalytic converter for that engine bank. I always use OEM parts and all these MB OEM parts are expensive!
Fast forward to 100k miles. While pulling away from a traffic light I have virtually no power. I quickly find that the transmission was stuck in 7th gear. At least I was able to get home in it.
I took it back to the shop that did the intake manifold repair. He told me the "conductor body" had gone bad and this was a problem with MB's 7-speed autos. The conductor body (I think it's called that) is a complex electronic control module which sits above the valve body, so it bathed in oil. Weird design, to me at least, and another expensive repair.
The M272 engines were also known to have incorrectly heat treated balance shaft gears. The problem is they gears wear to the point it caused catastrophic valve train or timing chain failure (I forget which). There was a way to check wear on the gears. I did that and even after reaching 80k or 90k miles I didn't detect any wear. Lucky me, because the entire front end of the car needs to come off to make that repair. At the time that was a $6,000 or $7,000 repair.
Another rant. The MB POS had very limited front suspension travel. We have smooth roads in Cali but that car was ALWAYS smacking the bump stops.
Oh, here's another MB POS design "thing". Even on manual transmission cars, the accelerator had a kick down movement that you find on cars with automatics. Really MB?
In summary, I can imagine how you might question how the ABS could drag just one brake. Well, it did and pulling the fuse fixed it. Given the many engineering problems with this car I wasn't surprised at all.
Scott
