My E350 was in having its front airbags replaced (factory recall) and Mercedes did a full inspection.

One of the points highlighted was “corrosion on the brake hoses which could cause a future MOT failure”.

I was intrigued given the car had just had a B Service and none of the issues pointed out by Mercedes had been identified previously so I asked how much it would cost to replace them …..

They quoted £1750 + VAT (with an applied 40% discount) for the 4 short pipes. When I joked whether they would be making them, the answer was Yes, because Mercedes send a length of tube and 8 connectors and the garage would need to fabricate them. Once I got home I went online and found numerous braided stainless steel brake hoses available from performance companies including Girling for about £100. I also checked the hoses myself and once I had applied a bit a brake cleaner and removed the dirt I couldn’t find any corrosion. I did however not that the passivated finish on the connectors had tarnished.

Is this Mercedes being ultra conservative or is this attempt to screw its customers?