brought my car in for the service A and because my brake sensor light came on in my 2016 C450. Car only has 7k miles on it and dealer is saying I need to pay to replace the rear pads and rotors and soon the front pads and rotors in a few months.
i haven't tracked the car but do drive it like an AmG. Have had many Mercedes and Bmw m cars and never had to replace pads in the 3 years of the leases let alone the first 8 months.

how do I fight this to get the warranty to cover under abnormal wear and tear?

 

7k is about right for brake pads.. I changed mine at 6k because I use the parking break button to stop the vehicle instead of the break pedal.. I don't like to use my foot unless absolutely necessary

 

That does sound pretty poor, I wonder if there is some issue with the brakes?

 

7K is way too low to replace the pads and way way way too low for rotor replacement. I just did my 20K service and the pads still have at least 80-85% left. Of course l have a 300 and don't drive it like an AMG.

Just a question, aren't parking brake and reg brake have different pads? So in theory you shouldn't need reg pad changes as often.

 

Holy hell are you mega trolling right now? I hope so because everything about that post made my brain hurt

 

Same caliper/pad. Certain high performance systems have a separate e-brake caliper.

 

BTW, OP, how many threads are you going to make on this?

Best to just make one thread to keep it clean around here as well as it's easier for the community to work together to help you out.

Btw, me, how many posts am I going to make in a row? haha

 

OH i most definitely agree. I usually just downshift enuogh so that when i rear end the car infront of me its slow enouogh not to do any damage, but still stop my car without using my foot. Way too many calories lost otherwise.

 

With the amount these C450 brake pads throw dust, I'm not surprised they would only last 7,000 miles. I don't beat on my car too much, so I'm hoping to get at least 12,000 miles from the pads. My last two BMW vehicles averaged about 25,000 miles before needing rotors & pads.

And if I still own this car by the time it needs a brake job, I will most certainly NOT be installing the same dusting stock pads...I'll be going aftermarket.

 

7k seems crazy. Although with the lane keeping, stability Control and AWD system all using the brakes they'll go quicker than what they used to.

We discussed how expensive this job would be in a few threads a while back, but at the time we didn't have actually numbers. We now do and it isn't too bad, so FWIW, here are the list prices for OEM parts if you are having the dealer do it

MSRP
Front Pads: $109
Rear Pads: $80
Front Rotor: $167 (x2)
Rear Rotor: $77 (x2)
Sensor $9.25 (x2?)
Total: $696.50

Plus misc stuff you get charged for (fluids, hazardous waste, etc) and labor.

 

yeah the dealer quoted me $638 without tax just to replace the rear rotors and pads.

 

Good to know. Still expensive (but expected at the dealer), but at least we can put the rest the rumors of $6,000 brake jobs....

 

I realized no one answered your original question. If the dealership is not willing to help you with this being warranty, it is probably a tough battle, as they usually have final say. That said, I would ask the dealership if there is a regional service rep you can talk to, or even call the MB customer service number. You don't have much on your side, as it will only be covered if it is not considered normal wear and the dealership has already said it was. What is the status of the front pads? Were all 4 of the back pads (both sides, inboard and outboard) equally low?

 

I had a high performance Audi previously.... Never heard a car eating pads like this...ever.

 

OP needs an independent opinion. Sounds to me like either premature wear that should be covered by warranty OR stealership tactics to get money out of you. Take the car somewhere else.

 

Ok thanks guys, so far I have submitted a claim the MBUsa customer affairs center. Asked them to send a regional service rep and I'll have an independent Mercedes dealer look at the brakes Monday.

i just don't understand how they can tell me it's normal wear and tear. I've had an SL55, CLK550 and 3 M3s over the years and none have had any brake work even mentioned until at least 20k miles. Hell I tracked the M3s on the stock pads and didn't need replacements until 23k miles.

The SL55 and CLK550 which had heavy V8s in front didn't need pads during the 3 year lease terms. I've had the C450 for 8 months and they are telling me that all 4 rotors and pads need replacement! $2k every 7k miles is an expensive price to pay to drive this car if it is "normal" wear and tear!

 

Serious question: do you live in a hilly area?

I had an Audi that did this, and getting to my home involves going down a series of long, steep hills.

 

OK so listen to this: my brake pad warn sensor is on. I just brought my car to and independent Mercedes only service place and this is his conclusion:


rotors on all 4 corners still have 60% front and 70% rear of life in them. Good until at least 20k miles

Front exterior pad: 50 % life on each side
rear exterior pads:60% life on each side
however:

rear passenger interior pad: 60% life
rear drivers side interior pad 20% life which is what triggered the sensor.

he said it is 100% abnormal to have 1 interior pad that degraded this early on.

He he said that when it came time to replacing the pads that he would charge $250 installed for front and $200 installed for rear with the Mercedes pads.

now keep in mind this is a very reputable independent service place.

They ONLY work on mercedes cars and are a very big shop. He will write me a report however what else can I do. Now I'm going to go after MBUSA to replace the entire braking system including calipers and rotors, pads everything for defect. Any advice on what else I can do to make that happen?

 

Two words that make them crap: class action.

Oh, they record phone conversations.

Don't do it.

Find a lawyer who makes a demand, ending with "Stronger letter to follow."

 

The prices you provided probably are correct, the OP has an upgraded brake system which calls for different parts that are more expensive.




Your shooting for a lot on the first shot in my opinion. how do you know it is the braking system and not the pads or rotors causing the in difference in wear? I would go to Mercedes with this information you got from the independent shop and have the dealership examine the pads and rotors and have them come to the same conclusion. Once that has been done, I'm sure they would replace the pads under some warranty. I would also have them make an internal note on the situation within their system so its on file and if this rare occurrence happens again maybe it can be examine further.

 

just pissed off that a dealer told me I had to replace the front rotors and pads which had another 12k miles on them and the rear rotors which had about the same left.

Just a complete con job from Keyes European in Van Nuys.

 

I 100% agree with how you feel about that. I was told by an independent shop (Merchants Tire now known as NTB) That my 350z pads needed to be changed right now. They made a huge deal that I am in danger of the brakes failing. I did not listen to them, I just felt like they were trying to make a sale instead of service my one request. Funny thing is, before I left them, they told me to drive safe and be careful. I went to good year a few days later if not the same day and had them do a break inspection. It came back totally different than Merchant tires inspection. I had more life on all my pads than the other shop represented and didn't need to change the pads "right now" but soon. I was so pissed off I told myself I would never give them a dime of my money.

This makes me question Mercedes now. You would think that Mercedes would display more integrity and ethics than most independent shop.

 

One would think the a$$-raping prices Mercedes Benz charges for their parts & services would be enough, but like every other car dealership, Keyes European in Van Nuys is in business to make as much money possible.

That's good advice from DapperStyle, always get at least a second (if not third) estimate from a different shop before plunking down big money on any work performed.

 

Pad life boils down to a measurement of the remaining material vs the manufacturer's specs. MB does use very soft material for its rotors so it's not unusual to replace pads and rotors simultaneously.

It's possible the shop measured wrong, or got the manufacturer's reference specs wrong, and the brakes still have a ways to go. It's possible the shop was just flat out lying to sell a job, and it's also possible the OP actually did wear the brakes out at 7k. It's a (remote) possibility that the brake pads are defective.

The answer lies in the measurements of the eight pads. What were those actual numbers, and at what remaining thickness does MB consider the part to require replacement?

 

If the shop is correct (no reason to think they aren't) I would first go back to the dealership, and go look at the pads with them. You and the service advisor can watch while the measure. It should be simple. If only one pad (the inner rear driver's) is low, this almost certainly points to a problem there, and will require more investigation (my guess would be a sticking caliper, but could be a number of things).

Whatever that turns up, is what you should ask to be fixed, along with the set of rear pads and rotors. That's just MB replacing a failed parts and parts that were impacted and should be a no-brainer. That said, (again, depending upon what is found to be the problem) it is, in my opinion, unreasonable for you to ask them to replace any not-effected parts, which would likely include the entire front system, and the passenger side caliper.

IF the original place if difficult to work with, go to another dealer, and work with them.

Not sure what this means. The OP made no mention of "upgraded" brakes, and if he did his own upgrades, of course, it wouldn't be covered under warranty. If you refer to the OP having a C450 instead of a C300, the C450 parts were quoted. I suspect the C450 prices are more than the C300, but I didn't bother checking any other W205 variant. Maybe that's what you meant already (that the prices I listed are more than another W205), sorry if I misunderstood anything. The prices listed are for the OP's car if it is stock.


I know getting a lawyer seems to be the default response to just about any problem on the internet, but to me, it seems a bit early to go that route at this moment. The OP has more information now and should review that with the dealer and/or MB corporate. Also, the absolutely worst case at this point is the OP is out $638 to replace rear rotors and pads, or if he uses his other shop, just $200 for pads. Can't imagine a lawyer being cost effective for that kind of $$. That said, since he likely has a bigger issue, it is more important to get to the root cause of the likely premature pad failure instead of throwing money at pads. If the OP can't get anywhere with reasonable discussions with a dealer or MB, maybe consider a lawyer at that point, but I would have those discussions first before making the relationship overly adversarial.