A friend of mine took his E320 to the dealership for his regular maintenance. The mechanic told him that his brake pads/rotors had around 30-40% life left and that his rotors were "cracking" (some vertical lines were becoming visible on the rotors).

Anyway he got priced at around 1k for everything being replaced and he asked me what would parts would be damaged if he didn't replace them right away? (brakes pads/rotors/wear indicators/calipers the more info the better)

When I test drove his car the brakes seemed fine, no squeaking or squealing of the pads nor did the car have any vibration when braking... Any other symptoms I might be missing?

Thanks in advance guys.

 

Srry guys i should have been more careful with my use of words there. The rotors aren't actually cracked - that was just the term the mechanic used. When I took off his wheels and ran my hands through them they are vertical lines that are only visible and can't even be felt.

 

Not surprising. The dealerships are always trying sell rotors and pads...and put the fear of God into customers.

 

Drive the car and enjoy it. The front brakes have sensors that trigger a message when theyre worn. rotors last very long on these cars. Have someone else check the brakes if you're concerned. I bought Rotors and pads online for about $250 and my mechanic charged me $120 to install

 

Yeah he took it to an indy for a second opinion and look and the guy measured and checked the rotors and told him that he wouldn't need to replace his pads/rotors for at least another 6 months. But it looks like the pads had been replaced at least once or twice before so replacing the rotors when he goes for the next pad change is a good idea.

 

At 127k miles I did my front brakes and rotors. It was the First time replacing the Rotors and third set of brake pads. The prior pad replacement was at 75k miles with Mintex pads I bought on eBay for $40. Got 52k miles on them, not bad. At that time my mechanic said my Rotors (still original) were fine. Brakes still felt fine but the Brake Wear light came on

Bought Brembo Rotors and Akebomo Premium pads on ebay for $202 shipped. I let my mechanic do the job because I figured the 11 yr old rotors would be a PIA to remove. He confirmed that they were. Charged me $120 for the job.

I did the rear pads for the second time last year. Still the original rotors.

Very pleased with the brakes on this car!

 

Yeah I did my pads and rotors as well, I paid 200$'s for 4 Ultra premium napa rotors / 2 ultra premium rear brake pads and 2 premium front brake pads / 1 Napa gold fuel filter / 1 Serpentine belt

They were a huge pain in the *** to remove, but with some effort I got em out. I then cleaned up my calipers and repainted them silver in the process so they look nice again, instead of that ugly rusted color

I bought the serpentine belt for... well, future use, and the fuel filter I havn't stuck in yet. Found the DIY but can't find where it is under the car.