Took my car in for Service B and asked them to check my squeaky brakes and Service Advisor immediately tells me I need brake pads and rotors replaced, even though my car is 2 years old with 8k miles, which I thought was BS. He said it’s a common issue with this model and G wagons. Is this true?

When I pushed back and said there’s no reason for me to spend $2k to replace brake pads AND rotors so early just to fix a squeak, then he changed tune and was like, yeah if I were you, I’d wait till they get worn down and need to be replaced 😒 da FuQ?!! 🤬

My friend told me it’s likely brake dust build up, which seems much more likely. And from what I read, Service B also replaces brake fluid, so maybe that will help?

Appreciate any advice/feedback on this! Thanks!

 

Pretty common to have sounds from brakes, ie : https://mbworld.org/forums/sedan/868...ke-squeal.html

 

I have had an insane amount of brake squeal for 12 months since the 1st day I received the car. Just general car noise from a CLS53 2022 model as I'm driving home from work.

Has been into the Benz dealership 4 times since new to fix the noise.. without success.

Replaced bearings, brake pads and every time it just keeps making noise. I have tried to make a complaint to Mercedes multiple times (including the current) without any success. Just send me back to the dealer whose useless.

EDIT: Its a very high pitch squeal

 

My phone is not able to play the format of your video, do you mind uploading to youtube?

 

2 vids

video 1 : this is just driving along normally.

https://youtube.com/shorts/nSAEK1TAY7A

video 2: using the brakes. (ignore my voice, I'm just saying in Thai, "this is the sound my brakes make everyday on the way to work")

https://youtube.com/shorts/zT7xfwBygF0?feature=share

 

Sorry for the late reply, the second video in a certain degree is normal the first video however is not especailly if you are not applying the brakes if I heard it correctly, that is the "parakeet chirping noise" that another forum member experienced:
https://mbworld.org/forums/w213-amg/...ml#post8687839
https://mbworld.org/forums/w213-amg/...ml#post8687996
https://mbworld.org/forums/w213-amg/...ml#post8768569

 

yes, that is exactly right. Like a parakeet chirp sound. As for brake squeal, I've had it before in my other vehicles when the brakes get overly hot or are dirty. I've never had a car do it all day, everyday at any speed. For an executive saloon this build quality is way off. I doubt this car will be in my garage much longer.

Off topic, my complaint to Mercedes about this issue has not been responded to as yet. Over 100 days. 7 times I've followed up and keep being told, "we've passed your complaint to the relevant department". Consider yourselves lucky you don't live in Thailand as I do. Not a single call back. 4th Mercedes I've owned and the last.

 

Hmmm not saying I don't believe you and there is a chance things changed since then but from what I read Mercedes Thailand is one of the more responsive MB divisions around the globe: https://mbworld.org/forums/c450-c43-...t-dealern.html

At least they are way better than MBUSA as far as my experience is concerned and what I read on the forums.

I am sorry you have to deal with this issue and hopefully MB Thailand does care about your loyalty and will make you whole when you escalate it. I would also recommend contacting the staff on the private lounge forums as that seems to escalate to Mercedes Germany. https://www.mercedes-amg.com/en/home-c.html
This is the same recommendation I had for the other forum member in the other thread: https://mbworld.org/forums/w213-amg/...ml#post8559577

If you genuinely still like the brand and their products, I don't see why you should give them up yet just because of one bad experience.

As I mentioned earlier, the squeal in one of the videos can be considered as normal and you can usually lessen it or even eliminate it by properly bedding it in. Here is a good thread on this topic with a response from forum member superswiss https://mbworld.org/forums/sedan/868...ke-squeal.html

What MB Thailand needs to get fixed for you is that chirping in the other video as that is not normal.

Good luck and keep me posted.

 

You have to be hard on the brakes. If you "skim" them they're just going to do that. Porsche and Audi do this too. The fix is aftermarket ceramic brake pads. Your SA is just trying to sell you a very expensive brake package. You're going to come right back to him in 5k miles. The OE brake compounds are just noisy, messy, and it's not MB's fault. They need a pad material that is easy to modulate, stores heat, doesn't fade, and you can use in every car from the regular stuff to the AMG's for safety, not just performance. Metallic brakes have the best starting cold/wet/freezing brake torque you can get. With ceramic you have to warm up the brakes with the first stop of the day, but sometimes you just have to stop from 60+. The preSAFE braking technology also is attuned to said compounds to safely stop you in teh shortest way possible.

That said I'm ceramic all the way through. Akebono/Powerstop/Brembo/DFC Euro 5000/Centric

 

Thanks! Would you recommend any brake pads in particular? I can source them locally or import if necessary.

 

As long as they're from a reputable brand that makes great parts for other makes you're fine. I hope these aren't too expensive to ship out to you. You also typically shouldn't replace just the pads, but if your rotors look good it might work out.

 

Sorry I linked the wrong thread, I meant this one https://mbworld.org/forums/c450-c43-...n-problem.html

 

Thanks for the comments.

My concern is the MB dealership have had car for 4 visits and over 3 weeks in total to sort it out. Every time it has been handed back the sound was still there within 5km of leaving the workshop. Every time the dealership said, "the sound wasn't there when we tested it". Yet when I take them out in the car they hear it within 200 m. Its frustrating & what do you do? Take it back a 5th time? Definition of insanity is wringing in my head. Its a gorgeous style of car but is not at the standard I expect, nor the service network.

As an update on the complaint, I sent an email to the CEO of MB Thailand and within the space of 1 hour received 2 calls (from the dealer that keeps failing). So I spent 100+ days waiting for a response & 6 follow ups with nothing. Then with one escalation to the right person everyone is contacting me about how they are investigating the problem.

Still, I'm disappointed that a) its the dealer who keeps failing and that's who's calling & b) they are asking about the MB forged wheels I've fitted to the car (after the 4th repair I might add). They are concerned the new wheels are making the sound which I find amusing since they have 4 service records of the sound before the wheels where changed but hey, at least they're taking notice and I might get a car that I can actually take friends in without being embarrassed by. (Side note: the reason I changed to forged wheels is there was a 4 month wait time for the stock replacement wheels!)

As for me dropping the brand because of this? yes, I will. The CLS53 costs approx US$168,000 here. I expect more, much more for that money. 12 months of unhappy ownership and 25,000 km with 4 chances to fix the issue, then being ignored for so long with the same message, "we passed your concern to the relevant department". Nope, foolish me if I continue with the brand. Damage done here.

I can buy many other brands for similar money with far fewer issues and a much more responsive customer service. I shouldn't need to send an email to the CEO when I've followed up 6 times over 3 months. I thoroughly enjoy my BMW M5 as my weekend fun car and will be looking for something else as my daily once the brakes are fixed.

I very much appreciate the extra complaint referrals you posted as well. I may well be using them in the future as 2 calls doesn't yet resolve anything.

 

Fair enough, I totally respect that.

Either way I wish you good luck with this and if I do have any other recommendations that might help you out I will post it here and let you know, if there are any updates on your case, please do also share and let us know.

 

I'm not gonna blame the end-user for his car's failing after dealer service. I'm gonna blame the dealer for not owning up to metallic pads being super loud in a luxury car. It's just the way the brakes are and they can't recommend/haven't had any experience with whats available on the aftermarket.

 

I still have the squeaking noise after I got my car back, but after doing a lot more research, I agree with Chris that every so often, you need to brake really hard from higher speeds, and the sound goes away.

I’ve read the squealing sound happens when majority of driving is local “city” driving or high traffic environments where you ride the brakes more often vs. open road “highway” driving or even more aggressive track driving, which this car is built for and more suited to.

I live in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, so it’s always traffic and low speed driving for me, hence why I still have the issue. Try taking the car out for long open road drives and let it “stretch its legs” a bit. They say that should help alot. And the upgrade to ceramics in the future might be the best solution to eliminate the issue altogether. Hope this helps! 🤗

 

yep the city point and go driving isn't great when you have a massive pad and rotor that picks up surface rust, moisture, and dirt. The cars were designed for high-speed braking. You just gotta flatten the pads every now and then or else you get brake songs. LA and San Jose, where I'm from the people hate the brakes on these cars. You have to flatten the pad/rotor once a day just stopping late, otherwise the peaks and valleys play a nice little song like a record has those peaks and valleys it's the exact sam ething. I've been doing this song and dance for over a decade now I hope to help everybody solve their questions with specifically brakes, ATF, and oil on this site the entire time I'm here

 

Update on my situation. Dealer had the car just over a week and I got it back today.
They diagnosed the issue was due to 2 items.
A) Brakes have overheated at some point and I've 'baked the brakes' and
B) The brake rotors were completely done. I challenged this but they sent me the measurements and they are correct. So in 26,000 km I have completely used a rotor. I know I'm hard on brakes but that seems excessive to me. They gave me 20% discount on the new rotors but wouldn't go further as its a 'consumable'.

I asked about swapping to ceramic pads. Answer was no, I can't use non-standard brake pads or I void my warranty. Before everyone goes crazy about this ridiculous rule it is very common in this country. I even asked if they could upgrade the disks (Using MB rotors / pads) and no, they can't - if it doesn't come with the car from brand new it voids warranty. I'm 1 year into the 3 year warranty so not going to risk anything more at this time.

On a positive note, brakes were fantastic on the way home - not a peep out of them. Lets hope it lasts longer than the 30km ride home being gentle as I bed in the brakes & rotors.

 

i have this parakeet chirping on my car as well, i may just try to put a little lube on some of the joints (as you should do when replacing pads) if it keeps bothering me. i don't really see how it would have anything to do with "baking" the brakes it just sounds like one of the metal clips is a bit squeaky to me

 

Could be.

 

welp back in the summer i swapped my front pads/rotors with powerstop kit to see if it would help and the squeal didn't really go away. it was actually much better but not quite fixed. anyway, at my service a the dealer tech pointed out that my rotors looked to be the wrong size and they are. so heads up to you C257/CLS53 owners as i believe we share the same brakes. powerstop indeed shows ONLY rear brakes for your cars but does show fronts (K9011) for the E53 which don't fit, as our cars seem to mostly or all use the 370mm front rotors, not 360mm

both 360mm and 370mm rotors are available online and may not be obvious at the time of install that they are the wrong size. see this thread for my experience there and once i get my new dynamic friction front rotors/pads i'll install and see if that remedies the squeal or not
https://mbworld.org/forums/w213-amg/...kauto-e53.html

rock auto did ultimately end up owning up to the catalog issue and extending a refund, but thought it worth it to let C257 owners know as it seems easy to end up with the incorrect 360mm rotors