Poor wet braking
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Super Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 882
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Poor wet braking
Hi folks,
Just as the north east winter is ending, I have been driving quite a bit on the C55.
I am having some very disturbing wet braking issues. When it is snowing or raining (as it does here all the time in Boston), I hit the brakes on the highway and for a few seconds, there is nothing. No sign the car is stopping, no ABS kicking in, nothing. Then if I continue to hold the brakes down, it starts to bite and then brakes very quickly as expected. It's almost like the wetness is causing a delay in braking. It also happened when I got out of the carwash. I panicked the first few times, but now just give myself a lead time to compensate.
It's an 06 with about 32k on the clock. I am not sure if brakes were done by the previous owner or not. Dry performance is fine, there are no other usual signs of bad rotors/pads, just this issue.
Could this be a brake pad type/brand issue? Anyone else see this? Remedies?
Thanks much.
Just as the north east winter is ending, I have been driving quite a bit on the C55.
I am having some very disturbing wet braking issues. When it is snowing or raining (as it does here all the time in Boston), I hit the brakes on the highway and for a few seconds, there is nothing. No sign the car is stopping, no ABS kicking in, nothing. Then if I continue to hold the brakes down, it starts to bite and then brakes very quickly as expected. It's almost like the wetness is causing a delay in braking. It also happened when I got out of the carwash. I panicked the first few times, but now just give myself a lead time to compensate.
It's an 06 with about 32k on the clock. I am not sure if brakes were done by the previous owner or not. Dry performance is fine, there are no other usual signs of bad rotors/pads, just this issue.
Could this be a brake pad type/brand issue? Anyone else see this? Remedies?
Thanks much.
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 360
Likes: 1
From: SoCal
2018 GLE350
I've never had this issues. That doesn't sound right at all. We had some pretty good rain here in southern California just a few weeks ago and the cars stopping response has always been very good. It's also quite amazing in the snow for a sports car.
I'm not sure what pads are on your car now but I changed mine out for some Akabonos. (You can find them on Amazon as well as quite a few car part sites) I'm not sure how familiar you are with working on breaks, but on these cars it's very straight forward. The shoes pull out like bread from toaster. (No need to remove the caliper) They will also eliminate the annoying break dust notorious on these cars.
I'm not sure what pads are on your car now but I changed mine out for some Akabonos. (You can find them on Amazon as well as quite a few car part sites) I'm not sure how familiar you are with working on breaks, but on these cars it's very straight forward. The shoes pull out like bread from toaster. (No need to remove the caliper) They will also eliminate the annoying break dust notorious on these cars.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 1,064
Likes: 1
From: Canada
C55 AMG, 135i, 911 GT3, GLE43 AMG
If your rotors are very wet, it could very briefly feel like there is less braking power. This happens to me too after an automated carwash. After that first brake application which dries the layer of water, the brakes feel normal again.
Super Member
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 734
Likes: 27
2021 Yukon XL Denali, 2017 GLS450 4MATIC, 1993 Chevy Corvette
This is not at all unusual. When my car sits outside of my office all day in the rain while I am at work, the first thing I do upon start-up is firmly clamp down on the brakes upon moving to remove all of the temporary corrosion that appears on the rotors.
As a matter of fact, page 266 of the owner's manual has a warning which states: "After driving in heavy rain for some time without applying the brakes or through water deep enough to wet brake components, the first braking action may be somewhat reduced and increased pedal pressure may be necessary to obtain expected braking effect. Maintain a safe distance from vehicles in front."
So there you go!
As a matter of fact, page 266 of the owner's manual has a warning which states: "After driving in heavy rain for some time without applying the brakes or through water deep enough to wet brake components, the first braking action may be somewhat reduced and increased pedal pressure may be necessary to obtain expected braking effect. Maintain a safe distance from vehicles in front."
So there you go!
