JWIV

My 2015 C63 S (bought 8/15} Break warning light came on at 17,000 miles. Dealer says needs rear break pads. My comment was "Impossible" 8000 miles were highway. This has to be a warranty issue. I never ever replaced rear pars at 17,000 Miles. There were no pads in stock in the USA and had to wait 4 days for them to arrive from Germany.
When I picked up the car I was presented a $320 bill. Comment was, no warrant on Breaks. I explain to them that I wasn't paying this bill and I need to look into it further with MB USA, Also, that I had 2017 C 63 S coupe on order due to deliver in November that I'm canceling it if I needed a $320 break repair every $17,000 miles. I mentioned , I never had this issue with 7 911's 2 M3'S, 1 Audi S5 1 AMG CLK 55 and 3 Corvette. This issue has to be a set up error at the factory. The dealer said I had valid points and would get back with me.

Your thoughts
JWIV

jkob5

surprised you got anywhere, usually its wear and tear item without recourse. Maybe it has something to do with the torque vectoring?

JWIV

I will being that up when they follow up Mon.
Seems strange that no rear brake pads are in the USA if this is a common problem. I suggested they checked the emergency brake system that May not be fully disengaging when released.

vaelin

17k miles with 9k of them city driving? That's not exactly out of the ordinary. This ain't no Honda Civic. I fully expect to need rear brake job at 20-25k.

Considering it's 'only' 320 to replace at the dealer, I think that's fairly affordable.

PeterUbers

The rear brakes work hard to correct wheel spin ... Most forget about that

this is normal for this high powered rwd car

JWIV

May be, looking forward to hearing someone who is also had to change the rear brakes and at what mileage.
My last M3 was the V-8. Just about the same 0 to 60 and never change the rear brakes till 30000 miles
17000 seems soon considering the highway miles I put on the car.

SuperNik

@12000miles I needed front and rear pads. I do drive the car very hard though.

JPMBenz

I need brakes and I have 15,500 miles on my car. My fronts were about 50%. I did swap the pads out on the front for Stoptech pads. I have rear pads on order with CarboTech at the moment. The cost for the Front Pads is $65 and the rears were $245. The W205 has a floating rear calipers which no one has a pad to fit.

If the pads have no life left on them; it will not be covered under warranty.

matt11212

I replaced rear breaks right under 10,000 miles, mix of city and highway with a few track sessions. Front pads another 2,000 miles later, DTC breaks the rear when in a slide so it can wear down the rear pretty quickly if your sliding all over the place.

PeterUbers

not same make:model so can't compare

it's not the highway miles it's the city miles and the wheel spin control from aggressive driving -- did you do any aggressive driving?

JWIV

I do drive fairly aggressively.
Never did spend any time on the track.
Sounds like MB is the only show in town for rear pad repair. As I mentioned earlier I had to wait 4 days for the rear pads they even show up from Germany

GBlansten

Wrong thread. This one is about breaks.

jimc63s2k16

I thought this was about the rear end breaking...

JWIV

Yes
Rear brakes.

JPMBenz

AS I said...I needed rear pads (brakes) at 15,000 miles.

Guilty

Everyone who has brake problems, please call MBUSA and file a formal complaint in regards to your brakes. When you call MBUSA, dial extension 7815 to reach Susan directly. Leave her a voicemail, and ask for a free brake job... or more.

My brakes only 6k miles each time.

The first time, the brake light came on at 6300 miles. I took the car to the dealer and they said all 4 corners were toasted. I said this cannot be normal. I never took the car to the track. I knew I drove pretty aggressively but in my last AMG (CL63) the pads lasted about 20-25k miles each time.

As my car was sitting at the dealership, I called MBUSA and filed a claim. They said it'll take 24 hours for them to get back to me and research the issue etc. I couldn't wait the 24hours so I gave the green light to the dealership to perform the work and paid knowing that I will 100% end up suing them in small claims if they don't make it right.

24 hours later, I get a call back from Susan. She said that the dealership (NOT Mercedes) has agreed to offer me a full brake job (rotors and pads) next time I need it. I accepted the offer and they sent it to me in writing.

5000 miles later, my pads are DONE AGAIN. I'm pissed. This is plain unacceptable. I'm fighting with them to get them to offer me a CCB replacement in the front instead. Switching pads/rotors every 6k miles is definitely not something I'm willing to do.

BMW covers the brake pads and rotors under warranty for 4 years. You'd expect something better from MB. (And yes, I know they are wear and tear items). I'm convinced there's a design issue with them.

So again, if you have had brakes issues in the past or if you have a current brake issue with your car, please file a claim with MBUSA so they know our model (W205) is horrible on the brakes.

I'd really like for something to be done in regards to this. The people at the dealership are treating me like an idiot who drives with their left foot on the brake pedal.

I hope this post helps other people in my situation. I know there's quite a few who just pay up without thinking just because their service advisor tries to convince them that it's normal since they're driving an AMG. It is definitely NOT normal.

Andyroo

Does anyone know the thicknesses of the pads front and rear from new?

PeterUbers

sorry for your experience I'm glad you got it taken care of, is there a difference between problems at 6000 miles and it 17,000 miles? In your opinion, that is?

JWIV

-Guilty- Thanks for all the good info.
My dealer service manager called me yesterday to advise that when the AMG factory rep was in a few weeks ago that AMG was seeing higher brake ware on their models, especially the C Class. They feel it is due to an increase in the auto braking systems on newer cars. My dealer did adjust my bill to parts only, $192. This may be he new i had a new Coupe arriving in 45 days and I had to wait 4 days for brake pads to arrive from Germany. Either way, i appreciated the adjustment.
My concern now is the new Coupe has the Premium 3 option with Distrionic Plus and Headlight Assist, but it also has 3 other auto breaking systems not on the Premium 2 in my current C63 S. Anybody with early rear brake ware have the Premium 3 package.?
May part of the problem

Guilty

I'm honestly no expert but I think 17k with my driving style is acceptable. 6k miles isn't. If you baby the car and only get 17k, I think that's BS. Again, my CL63 was driven very hard and the brakes lasted 20-25k miles. in 55k miles, I've only replaced the pads twice.

I also think my current pads melted because of the heat. I tend to drive very fast (100+mph is very common). Either way, not my problem. I bought an 87k car, not a civic.


I don't think it's due to the auto braking thing. I tend to drive with traction control off so ESP isn't interfering much. Collision assist has never kicked in for me.

JWIV

I agree that in my case, 17,000 is unacceptable with at least 1/2 on the road and never been on the track. As I mentioned in my original post, have owned a lot of performance cars and 20-25,000 has been the normal replasement mileage. I plan to contact Susan at MB today.

AlexZTuned

Even with traction control fully off, the e-diff is still always working. So if you're sliding around constantly and really working the rear diff, I can see how the rear pads can prematurely wear down -- but 6k miles seems awfully fast to run through a set. Seems you'd have to be dorifto though every street corner, basically driving the **** out of it to manage that.

Someone should start a thread on wear parts to see how many miles people are getting on average (tires, brakes/pads, etc) with their driving style.

Dasani

I just had my 20000 mile service done. Among other things, they check the thickness of the brake pads - the front had 8mm remaining and the rear had 5mm remaining.

JWIV

How many miles left on those rear pads did they estimate?

Guilty

The W205 C63 is the only car where the rear pads need to be replaced before the front... so sad.

It would be great if someone can create a thread with all the possible OEM/Aftermarket brake options.