onemangang

Can anyone recommend a high performance rotor I can use to replace the factory rotors so I don't encounter rotor warping again?

norcal_cyclist

How do you know it's the rotor? Does the pedal push back? Or does the car "pulse" to a stop?

If it's the latter try a few very hard stops in a row good and hard... afterwards drive the car for a few miles allowing them to cool down, see if that fixes your issue.

SolidGranite

Had my rotors replaced under warranty recently for the same reason. Is this not an option for you?

onemangang

I already made the appointment. I have an awesome relationship with my dealer. The owner of the dealership is a personal friend. They always go above and beyond. My point is though... this seems to be a common and ongoing issue with these rotors. If they continue to replace the rotors with the same junk... Iwill continue to have the problem. I'd rather pay some extra money and get the best.

hyperion667

that's good to be in with a dealer like that eh??
I could understand wanting it to just be fixed,seems annoying.. maybe the re-occuring problem will finally get some serious attention if it hasn't already...
ever get any good freebies from the dealer?
did you buy or are you leasing? just wondering because would you get your stuff back if you have to give the car back?

norcal_cyclist

Do they actually measure run out or are they just throwing them on? New pads too? I ask because there's a possibility it may not be the rotors..

Nuru

Have them also check the alignment when they replace the rotors and pads

SolidGranite

Good point. If my brakes begin pulsing again in say 10k miles after the rotor replacement will they cover it under warranty?

M.BENZ

I have a 2010 E550 4 Matic - I HATE THE BRAKES! I just ordered a new E350W4 for that very reason. I dont trust it has been fixed on the newer model. The brakes, coupled with the AMG wheel which bends if you hit a pebble on the road, makes this car an absolute nightmare! The car vibrates like crazy. The dealer replaced brakes and rotors only about 8-10k miles ago.

sharpxia

If they don't fix this time, I am going to get a BMW i650 sedan. After 3 MB, I think MB no longer make the same quality car any more. Bye Bye MB!

SolidGranite

2012 and up received a complete brake upgrade for these very reasons. The brakes on our 2010/11 model years were just insufficient.

I love BMW but you're going to experience a whole crap ton of issues with whatever model you buy. The more the BMW costs the more issues they have. Check the BMW boards if you don't believe me!

thekurgan

Do you have any model numbers as a reference from 10/11? I don't see any differences in the specifications from mbusa.com. Sport models came with perforated rotors of increased size for the front, but specs show the same for the '12 models as the previous years. Was this just for the 4-matic models perhaps?

SolidGranite

I do not. Keep in mind this is for the 550 only.

amcguru

They brakes were plenty large from the start. I suspect if anything was changed, it was the pad composition & rotor metallurgy.

Yosheego

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...vibration.html

Had my brakes replaced under the 12k warranty and it's now vibrating again. I will have it in service very soon here and I'm hoping they take care of it again and from reading the above forum, Brando253 had said he talked to two service manager in his area and was told that the 550 brakes were undersize and it cannot be retrofitted. So to my understanding, this will continue to happen even after it gets replaced. If this is the case, I probably will take a hit and trade it in. For the amount of money I and others who are having this problem paid for, it's not fair.

sharpxia

My 12' E550 still having breaking issue just under 2k mile, I am sure it is not the under size rotor, because they have increased the front rotor size on the 2012 model. I will get my car back tomorrow or Thursday, I will see what my dealer say about my brake issue.

Arrie

Come on man,

Under sized brakes mean they cannot stop the car fast enough or that the brakes wear faster than they should. If you get pulsation on brakes it means something is wrong with the rotors material, i.e. the rotors wear unevenly around and this simply means the rotor material hardness or more precicely wear resistance is not the same around the rotor. Keep taking it back to the dealer under warranty or get after market rotors for it.

Yosheego

Yeh it make a lot sense. But who wants to keep bringing back to dealer or replace it with aftermarket ones, which will probably void your brake/rotors or something related to ir warranty .

amcguru

Both service managers are wrong. The 550 4Matic is ~350 lbs. heavier than a 350 rear wheel drive. The idea that an extra 350 lbs overloads the brakes is ludacris...especially when you consider the brakes are sized to safely stop the car from autobahn speeds.

As stated before, I believe it's a metallurgy issue...hopefully an upgraded rotor will be avalible soon.

thekurgan

I agree with this and also the actual cooling of the front brakes seems to be poor, which may have something to do with the aerodynamic efficiency in the area. I had zero issues, bedded my pads from 25 miles on the odometer and wasn't until the summer heat, did they diagnose pad material uneven on the rotors and replaced them.

SolidGranite

This indeed sucks... Has anyone had their rotors replaced yet outside the 12k/1yr warranty period? This is what scares me the most because I'm sure the cost ain't cheap.

norcal_cyclist

Maximum braking efficiency on a modern car is a function of tire adhesion. Even the smallest brakes will activate the ABS system. Brake systems that are undersized will heat more quickly and will have a higher tendency to warp.

Hot brakes fade more quickly and will warp rotors... but what do I know.

thekurgan

Most of the "warpage" reports we see aren't really deformed iron, but just the uneven levels of deposits from the pad material. It would take a tremendous amount of heat to warp iron rotors.

norcal_cyclist

This is what I thought was the issue to begin with in other "warped rotors" threads I asked whether the rotors were actually measured for runout or not. I had also posted that a few very hard stops will clear up the deposits... The issue as I see it is that the "milder" driving and the pad material is causing this issue. A change in pad compound would resolve it fairly inexpensively but that's not how manufacturers work

We're a Brembo dealer and some of our customers have the same issue. Racetech would send us a set of hawk blues and I'd run them hard cleaning the rotors. I've also done it with OE Brembo pads, just takes a little more work.

thekurgan

I agree, the runout measured are the raised deposits in most cases. The iron would have to become glowing hot to deform, I just don't see that as the case. Nobody here has abused their brakes either. There is something about the pad material and the rotors on these cars; if they heat up very quickly, and you've left your foot on the pedal (which is what you're supposed to do in an automatic anyway), the material transfers rapidly. I've heard new pads and a re-bed can scrub away the deposits, which is what I'll try before having an indie replace the parts again.