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Has anyone had to replace their rear brake pads on their C450/C43 early? My 2015 C450 is at ~22k miles and already at 2mm in the back and 4-5mm in the front. This seems to be WAY faster than usual - does anyone else have this experience with these cars? Why the hell are the backs wearing faster than the front! (also independent job is quoting 250 for the rear pads - is this a rip?)
traction control in these cars use rear brakes extensively to keep everything in check and depletes faster than the front brakes. Try driving the car without TC when possible.
traction control in these cars use rear brakes extensively to keep everything in check and depletes faster than the front brakes. Try driving the car without TC when possible.
Can it be assumed that putting it sport handling mode would also help, albeit to a lesser degree, than fully turning off TC?
Can it be assumed that putting it sport handling mode would also help, albeit to a lesser degree, than fully turning off TC?
I think sport handling mode wouldn't make a difference, I believe it uses the rear brakes even more to help move the car around corners swiftly. If you've cornered very aggressively with sport handling mode, You'lll definitely notice the torque vectoring which I believe uses the rear brakes a lot. 20-30k seems reasonable for brake pads. I used to change them every 10k on my previous car.
Yes, if you do a search a tone of people have done rear pads what you might consider "early".
My rears were gone at 22k as well. My fronts were only a little better, so I did all 4. I'm not sure it was any of the traction stability control in my case. We are very stop and go (I have 4 stop signs within a mile and a half to get in and out of my "neighborhood" and 3 of them had 45 mph speed limits in between, so every trip is go- stop-go-stop-go-stop-go-stop-go and then the actual driving, and then reverse). They are pretty aggressive pads, which is why they stop so well (and dust so much), so the life is a little shorter as well.
Im at 30K miles and I still have a good amount of meat left on the front and the rears but they the fronts are squealing like crazy when coming to a stop and the rears squeal slightly when reversing.
Brake sensor light came on last Wednesday at 28,800mi, so I tackled the job this weekend. All rotors were still in spec, but I'll likely swap in a fresh set in another 10k miles. I moved on to inspect the pads. Fronts still had +/-50% meat remaining, so I cleaned things up and let them be. Rear pads were shot and throwing the brake sensor light. Overall, extremely simple job. Only note worth mentioning is the addition caliper compression required, even after going through the rear caliper release procedure. I'd guess an additional 3-5mm of compression is required to clear the rotor so the caliper assembly slides back on.
All in, rear pads were $89 plus tax and +/- 90 minutes of wrenching and cleaning. Minimal technical knowledge is required. If you can change a tire, you can do this job and save a lot of money from dealer labor costs. If you don't have the tools already, buy them and DIY...the tools will last a lifetime.
Edit: Lightbulb flashed in the shower this morning - forgot about the brake wear sensor. $9, so $98 plus tax total for this job.
Last edited by RichardCranium3; 03-14-2019 at 08:43 AM.
Brake sensor light came on last Wednesday at 28,800mi, so I tackled the job this weekend. All rotors were still in spec, but I'll likely swap in a fresh set in another 10k miles. I moved on to inspect the pads. Fronts still had +/-50% meat remaining, so I cleaned things up and let them be. Rear pads were shot and throwing the brake sensor light. Overall, extremely simple job. Only note worth mentioning is the addition caliper compression required, even after going through the rear caliper release procedure. I'd guess an additional 3-5mm of compression is required to clear the rotor so the caliper assembly slides back on.
All in, rear pads were $89 plus tax and +/- 90 minutes of wrenching and cleaning. Minimal technical knowledge is required. If you can change a tire, you can do this job and save a lot of money from dealer labor costs. If you don't have the tools already, buy them and DIY...the tools will last a lifetime.
28k isn't too bad. My light came on around 20k and the rears were toast. Figured if the pads are getting done, I'd just do the rotors to save some time later down the road. Agreed on simplicity of it though. Pretty straightforward.
Brake sensor light came on last Wednesday at 28,800mi, so I tackled the job this weekend. All rotors were still in spec, but I'll likely swap in a fresh set in another 10k miles. I moved on to inspect the pads. Fronts still had +/-50% meat remaining, so I cleaned things up and let them be. Rear pads were shot and throwing the brake sensor light. Overall, extremely simple job. Only note worth mentioning is the addition caliper compression required, even after going through the rear caliper release procedure. I'd guess an additional 3-5mm of compression is required to clear the rotor so the caliper assembly slides back on.
All in, rear pads were $89 plus tax and +/- 90 minutes of wrenching and cleaning. Minimal technical knowledge is required. If you can change a tire, you can do this job and save a lot of money from dealer labor costs. If you don't have the tools already, buy them and DIY...the tools will last a lifetime.
Edit: Lightbulb flashed in the shower this morning - forgot about the brake wear sensor. $9, so $98 plus tax total for this job.
Did you go with oem brake pads or just use aftermakrts ones?
01-07-2019, 02:42 PM
Agreed on simplicity of it though. Pretty straightforward.
