I just got my front/rear tires replaced with the new PS4S.

What pressure should the front and rear be? usually 2 people in the car.

Also, my brake pad life when they took off the rims to change tires appeared to be 40% front and 10% rear left.

Rear I should get changed ASAP i assume. Should I just order pads online and go to an indy shop?

 

I've just ordered the below front and rear Porterfield pads direct from Porterfield...

Fronts AP1291 R4-S
Rears AP1669 R4-S

Theres a few people running these on here with only good reviews.

I purchased both sets of pads with shipping to Australia for the same price as the set of genuine mb rear pads that I bought a couple of months ago from mb parts.

Brake dust is apparently reduced dramatically over the genuine pads.

 

Do i need to swap my rotors? My guy who installed tired was saying he wasnt sure if he needed a special tool for the mercedes auto e-brake? He said he had a tool for BMW/AUDI but not MBZ.


Also, my tire pressure was set to 50 front / 54 rear...

Im thinking thats WAY too high?

 

I have PS4Ss on my C63S Sedan -- the shop inflated them to the door jam spec which is at least 10 PSI too high in each tire. They are amazing once I deflated them to 38 front 35 rear or thereabouts. Big upgrade over my OEM Dunlops...

How many miles do you have on your car that you're so low on brake pads?

 

I’m at 14,000 miles.. I drive a lot

 

Should I do 45 front / 39 rear? I hit 120 MPH+ on weekend drives with 1 passenger.

 

absolute not--set them at the 38 f--33 r cold that is recommended for up to 3 people and up to 155 mph.
I just put on the Mich 4S in one up size to 255 f and 275 r and the recommendation is for same pressure as OEM size
My firsts set had perfect wear across the tread and they ride much better than the high pressures.
They will go up about 3 degrees or so when driven at normal speeds from cold .
Going into the fall and winter the temps will drop and so will the tire press so unless you check them each week you could compensate with 1 # higher cold settings.

 

So no one answered this question.

The shop guessed 10% on my rears and 40% on my front pads.

Does our car tell us when the pads need to be replaced or am SOL and pads + rotors have to be swapped if I miss the timeframe?

SD AUTO TECH (Now Carbahn) quoted me $880 for rear pads + rotors + install while MBZ dealer quoted me $1300.

 

I'd be surprised if your car doesn't have brake pad sensors, but it's certainly possible. If you see or feel wires going into the calipers, you do. Early brake pad replacement is a notorious dealer scam, especially with women. It's super easy to check the outer pads with just a flashlight, but depending on your mileage, I'd remove each wheel so you can check both outer and inner pad for life left. And if they have sensors too. Pads is not something you want to wait until they're almost at the backing plate, but no need to change them with half their life either... unless you track your car, since it's advisable to replace them at precisely that level, to minimize heat transfer. Good luck.

 

So should I wait if the guy said 10% on the rear pads? Car is approaching 15K miles by end of November

 

I'd definitely replace them with 10% left... but with only 15K miles, I really doubt you only have 10% left, unless you drive like a maniac all the time. I'd inspect them first. Just look at all the outer ones with a flashlight, thru the spokes, and report back. It'll take you a few minutes, including snapping pics. New pads are typically about twice the width of the backing plate, so that will give you some indication of life left. Somebody with specific MB experience can tell you how much you have left with a good picture, but it's more or less twice the thickness of the backing plate for OEM pads. Good luck.

 

I do go on weekend drives with some hard accelerating then hard braking... will report back with pics when I get home.

 

We're (Owners) finding the C63S is using more rear brake pad then you would think and it must be that the car uses the brakes to help vector (turn) the car along with the electronic diff. Mine were lower in the rear also.

 

My rears we're replaced recently, however, I got caught out with no sensor warning along way from home when I heard the dredded metal on metal.

Rears have only one sensor on the drivers side pad of a RHD car and my passenger side was the side that wore down to metal.

Luckily, my rotor only required a light skimming and not replacing.

My drivers side pad which is fitted with the sensor was still quite a bit away from triggering the sensors.

My suggestion is to check your pads periodically as part of your personal maintenance/washing of the car and DO NOT rely on the pad sensors...

As for the front, my last service at the dealership reported back that they wanted to change the front pads as they were low.

I didnt have them change them out as I wanted to upgrade to the Porterfield pads but inspected them once I got home.

As I suspected, front pads have at least the same thickness as the backing plate.

Im not sure if the front pads have sensors or which side its located on so I have placed an order for the Porterfield pads and will have them fitted when required.

My my personal experience with this car is check check and check brake pads and tyres...

 

FRONT DRIVER SIDE


REAR DRIVER SIDE

 

That's not supposed to happen, but thank you for pointing it out The S's E-Diff is supposedly a true vectoring unit, NOT relying on the brakes at all. That's really surprising... and disappointing. Maybe the C63 uses brake-based torque-vectoring along with the mechanical LSD, but there's no mention of that on MB's website. I honestly much prefer the mechanical diff alone, especially if the S's is using the rear brakes, and THAT much. My Porsche has mechanical diff with brake-based TV, and I much prefer not to have the latter. But pads are almost like new with 8K miles, so it's not nearly as aggressive as the Merc. Eating a rear set of pads at 15K without tracking is just ridiculous. And yes, my car has a sensor on each pad, for a total of 8. Having just on one side (and maybe just on one pad, instead of both) is just stupid. Either put them in all, or nothing IMO. But yes, I have no use for them since I regularly check them, and replace them before sensors trigger. To me, Alcantara on the steering wheel is a deal-breaker, and since apparently you can't opt out of it on an S, and now with the news it eats rear brakes for breakfast, I'd buy the regular C63 and just add the 19" wheels and Napa leather to make it just like the S, but without the more complicated E-Diff and Alcantara steering wheel. The regular S63 had plenty of power, so don't really need any more. Plus I'd just get less range, due to worse MPG on the same size tank. Also very susprisingly, the gray I want is a no-cost paint on the regular C63, but costs extra on the S. WTF? Don't need the savings, but it'd be about 4 grand with the same options. Somebody please tell me if there're any other differences between the 2 models. There's nothing else on MB's (crappy) website. Thx.

 

I put the passenger side rear pad ware (RHD car) down to the lane guidance and departure feature thinking that the left rear caliber would clamp down and pull the car back into its lane.

 

Based on that photo I would replace your rear pads immediately. If they get to 0% and start rubbing metal on metal you risk scoring your rotors and destroying the low pad sensor. I would also change the fronts, not because they need it but because you can get porterfield or hawk pads that will make a lot less brake dust than the OEM pads. If you don't want to change the fronts though it looks like you have quite a bit of life left on them. There are wear sensors on the passenger side pads, they can be taken off and put on to the new pads.

Determining if the rotors are still good is a bit tricky and the thickness should probably be measured. At 14,000 miles, even with some hard driving, I would say you should be ok. Try running your fingernail along each rotor and see if it feels smooth or rough, if there are any rough spots or scratches or anything that looks warped you'll need new ones.

If you're slightly mechanically inclined the pads are easy to change yourself. I changed all 4 of my pads for about $220 in about an hour. If not, buy the pads online from Porterfield and take it to an indie shop.

 

Carbahn (formally steve dinan auto tech) quoted me $880 for rotors + pads on rear with install. Good deal?

 

So $880 for only rotors and pads on the rear? Sounds high to me, but I'm just going off memory of what I remember when doing mine.

Rear rotors are cheap. Front are expensive ($500-$1,000 each).

For the rears I believe OEM rotors are $150 each, you can look them up on OEDiscount.com so $300 for both rear rotors plus a set of rear pads from porterfield are $120 for the set. That brings us to ~$420 in parts. Labor I would say should be 1 hour @ $150/hour. So I would say $600 for just the rear at most.

 

Or if that is $880 for all 4 rotors and pads on the rear, then yes that sounds like a good deal... There is another thread on here somewhere talking about front rotors and the general consensus is that they are at least $500 each in the front. Not sure what brand hes quoting or where that price would be from.

 

OEDiscount.com link does not exist?

The pads for rear were showing qty 1 = $120. is qty 1 = 1 set? Im a bit confused.

 

It's oediscountparts.com - They have pretty good prices on all OEM parts.

$120 is for a set. I was multiplying by 2 above because I thought your quote was for all 4 pads and 2 rear rotors. The rear pads I got from porterfield were $119.95 for 2 pads in the rear. The part number is: AP1669 R4-S

I went with Hawk front pads from Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B014ME9TH4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

But porter field may have front pads that are just as good, you can email them and ask which ones to use.

 

REAR SUSPENSION / REAR SUSPENSION / BRAKE COMPONENTS / ROTOR2314230212 - rotor
C63 Right
MSRPCore ?Online Price$150.00$0.00$112.50View Part Diagram -- Item #1REAR SUSPENSION / REAR SUSPENSION / BRAKE COMPONENTS / ROTOR2314230212 - rotor
C63 Left
MSRPCore ?Online Price$150.00$0.00$112.50

Is it these items? How long do they usually take to ship?

 

Yeah that looks right to me. Put your VIN in when you order and they'll also verify it fits your car before they ship. Everything I've ordered from them I've gotten within about a week. Depends on what is in stock though.