Took my c450 to the stealer
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 488
Likes: 7
From: HELL A
GLC 2026
Took my c450 to the stealer
because it kept saying check brake pad wear and the brake light kept coming on in the instrument panel. My car on has 23k miles on it and the stealer says its time to change the rear pads. From the picture it doesn't look llike it's close to changing. Are they trying to rip me off?
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Joined: Mar 2015
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From: Mass
2026 GLE 53 Coupe
Looks like there's plenty on meat left on those rear pads.
I would have thought the dealership would be saying the front pads would need replacing since the front pads do 70% of the braking.
I would have thought the dealership would be saying the front pads would need replacing since the front pads do 70% of the braking.
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 488
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From: HELL A
GLC 2026
Super Member
Joined: Jun 2015
Posts: 630
Likes: 188
C450, GLS 63 and a few other things
A couple of things:
I believe the sensors are inboard (and one side only), so you probably need to look at the pad that has the sensor. Someone posted a few months ago they had the sensor light come on at only 7k miles, and it was just that one inboard pad that was low, the others were fine. It should not wear that way, but you wouldn't be the first to experience it.
Also, the brakes are now used by everything (traction control, stability control, lane keeping, 'virtual' limited slip differential, actual braking, etc.) so what pads wear first (front/rear or even side by side) will no longer follow traditional mechanisms and may be different from driver to driver. Plus they may just be biased that way as well. Remember the pads on the back are smaller, so even doing less work, they may be biased to bite more if the chosen front rear sizes didn't result in the desired braking.
I believe the sensors are inboard (and one side only), so you probably need to look at the pad that has the sensor. Someone posted a few months ago they had the sensor light come on at only 7k miles, and it was just that one inboard pad that was low, the others were fine. It should not wear that way, but you wouldn't be the first to experience it.
Also, the brakes are now used by everything (traction control, stability control, lane keeping, 'virtual' limited slip differential, actual braking, etc.) so what pads wear first (front/rear or even side by side) will no longer follow traditional mechanisms and may be different from driver to driver. Plus they may just be biased that way as well. Remember the pads on the back are smaller, so even doing less work, they may be biased to bite more if the chosen front rear sizes didn't result in the desired braking.
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Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 33
Likes: 1
From: CO
'17 C43 Sedan (gone), '08 Evo X MR, '20 C43 Sedan
Each caliper should have two pads. Your picture only shows 1 pad from 1 side, so there's 3 other pads that could be low.
As z28lt1 mentioned, it's possibly only 1 pad and even only 1 pad on 1 side may have the sensor.
Check the 3 other pads and ensure there isn't one dangerously worn. It could indicate the caliper piston is stuck or some other problem.
I've seen on a couple vehicles (one which was a '11 C300) where one pad of the 4 in the rear showed extremely heavy wear, while the others were only fairly worn.
As z28lt1 mentioned, it's possibly only 1 pad and even only 1 pad on 1 side may have the sensor.
Check the 3 other pads and ensure there isn't one dangerously worn. It could indicate the caliper piston is stuck or some other problem.
I've seen on a couple vehicles (one which was a '11 C300) where one pad of the 4 in the rear showed extremely heavy wear, while the others were only fairly worn.
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Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 488
Likes: 7
From: HELL A
GLC 2026
A couple of things:
I believe the sensors are inboard (and one side only), so you probably need to look at the pad that has the sensor. Someone posted a few months ago they had the sensor light come on at only 7k miles, and it was just that one inboard pad that was low, the others were fine. It should not wear that way, but you wouldn't be the first to experience it.
Also, the brakes are now used by everything (traction control, stability control, lane keeping, 'virtual' limited slip differential, actual braking, etc.) so what pads wear first (front/rear or even side by side) will no longer follow traditional mechanisms and may be different from driver to driver. Plus they may just be biased that way as well. Remember the pads on the back are smaller, so even doing less work, they may be biased to bite more if the chosen front rear sizes didn't result in the desired braking.
I believe the sensors are inboard (and one side only), so you probably need to look at the pad that has the sensor. Someone posted a few months ago they had the sensor light come on at only 7k miles, and it was just that one inboard pad that was low, the others were fine. It should not wear that way, but you wouldn't be the first to experience it.
Also, the brakes are now used by everything (traction control, stability control, lane keeping, 'virtual' limited slip differential, actual braking, etc.) so what pads wear first (front/rear or even side by side) will no longer follow traditional mechanisms and may be different from driver to driver. Plus they may just be biased that way as well. Remember the pads on the back are smaller, so even doing less work, they may be biased to bite more if the chosen front rear sizes didn't result in the desired braking.
Junior Member
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 33
Likes: 1
From: CO
'17 C43 Sedan (gone), '08 Evo X MR, '20 C43 Sedan
The crazy thing is I did my 20k maintenance last month and my front pads were at 7.5mm and rears were 7.0mm. I was shocked that the brake lights went on already. It seems that they did not measure the rear inner pad. Something seems wrong with just one pad being worn that fast.
