ddeliber

I just picked up my first MB this week, a 2010 CPO E350 (stunning and I love it). When I got it home I took a look at the service records and I noticed that they put new tires on but not brakes.

The car has 25k miles on it so I'm thinking am I going to need to do the brakes in 6 months or so. When I had them fix a couple minor issues and install some stuff I asked them to check the brake pad thickness. The CPO checklist says in the folder they gave me says replace the brakes if < 50%.

The response I got was the pads are at 8mm (fr & rear) to which I asked what is the thickness when they are new? The sales manager (the guy that sold it to me was delivering another car) said he asked someone and they told him they are 10mm new. I was like who uses 20% of their brake pads in 25k... Are people really getting 100k miles on the brakes on this car? So I tried looking it up and I found a couple places that mentioned the new pad thickness is actually somewhere between 17.5 and 15.5mm.

I am not sure if I am reading the spec correctly so can someone let me know how much pad I got left (in %)? Also, assuming I am right and they are at say 40ish % (given that they need to be replaced at 2mm), should I go after them about this? Next I get to the misinformation (inadvertent or not, but probably not), why? what are they saving here? A set of pads that cost them what 50-100 bucks and 45 min of a tech's time? Do they want my business in the future, sales or service?

What am I missing?

Thanks

Tomspo04

I hear you...it's more a matter of principal and integrity to me. If it were me, and I found they were intentially try the BS me, I would walk away from the deal...period...

I don't know what the thickness of a new pad is, but maybe you can go to the parts counter and ask the for a set of new pads, then measure them.

hyperion667

hello and welcome!
congrats on the selection!

My E has 30K on the clock and I just had my A1 service done, where the guy told me I still have like 60% of my pads left.....
I got my car brand new and have been pretty easy on the brakes.......
don't see why they wouldn't last you a lot longer......unless you brake like a banshee
and drive really fast......
I let off the gas a lot to slow down and use the CC a lot too..

find yourself a good indy shop to take your car too, sounds like the dealer did as little as possible (shocking right?) so I wouldn't reward them with more business....

ddeliber

Thanks for the responses guys. I had already bought the car when I read the VMI (or whatever it is called) and I got what I believe to be a really good deal on the car so I don't think I should return it over this. Plus I am not even sure I am right. Otherwise yes, I walk away if I catch a lie like that.

30k on 40% of your brakes, on an e550, impressive. I could never show that kind of restraint. Sounds like these E's are pretty good that way when used conservatively,is this true?

My car Is from FL, back n forth to Ma each yr (so they tell me, not forgetting the credibility issues). If this is true, many of the 25k will be hwy miles so this is good.

I am still debating whether or not I push 4 the brake job or not. It's moot unless I can get some real evidence, I don't like calling someone a liar unless I know for sure, especially someone that can b helpful in the future.

If anyone knows or can tell me where to find the specs on new w212 brake pads, I would truly appreciate it.

DCubed

IIRC the factory thickness is 16MM. 8MM would put it right on the nose at 50%.

ddeliber

Thanks DCubed, the only information that I was going on is a snippet of what I believe to be a service manual for a model 163 (M Class) and some others (see attachment). It is a bit difficult to follow - they are talking about fixed vs floating calipers - but it states that the fronts are either 17.5, 16.5 or 15.5mm and the rears are 15.5mm. then again, this is not for an E Class hence my uncertainty.

if the minimum thickness is <= 2mm then is it really 50% (probably splitting hairs) -> measured 8mm minimum 2mm total left for normal operation is 6mm your number of 15.5mm new of which 13.5mm is good => 44%

Arrie

Ok,

They perhaps cut a slight corner here but 8 mm on the pads is about half of the new ones or more. I don't remember my pads being 16 mm thick as new. They looked more like 10 - 12 mm to me. The 2 mm minimum is what they say when you should change them but it still is 2 mm left on the pads.

If they tell you the new pads are 10 mm and the truth is 16 mm I would take it to the service manager and ask about it but remember if you raise a war about this you are at the shorter end of the stick unless you have another dealer to take your business to. They will have way more opportunities to stick it to you.

ddeliber

I'm with you on this, my big issue was the possibility of misinformation from the sales manager. If someone here were to tell me that the thickness was way off from what they told me (in a way that I can verify) then I would come up with a reasonable and professional way of addressing it with them. This one is about trust moving forward with me as opposed to saving some money 2 or 3 years down the line.

On a separate note I found my blind spot assist (or whatever it is called) just wasn't working this morning... No lights in the little triangles on the side view mirrors, nothin. I checked to see if somehow someone turned it off with the multifunction display but nope, it is still on.

Anyone see this happen before?