I just purchased a 2010 E550 with roughly 90K miles on it. I'm feeling vibrations when driving at low speeds. I assume its the break pads. My rotors look fine as of now and they are cross drilled. Is there a cheap way to replace pads without spending over $500?

 

had this same problem on my 2010 E550 with 90km on it. It was the brakes. The router looked okay but when the shop took them off they were toast. Grooves on the inside part of the routers. Best to replace everything or you will kill the new pads in 10 or 20k

 

Ok, good advice. Did you get it serviced at a Mercedes Benz shop? Or did you just take it to your standard mech you trust? I'm hearing it's not always important to go to Benz with an older model not under warranty so to speak.

 

Could be a couple of things. Brakes don't usually cause vibration unless you're actually applying the brakes. Sounds more to me like a bad tire. Could have a bubble on the tread surface from a shifted belt in the tire. Or could be a loose control arm, wheel bearing or tie rod end.

 

One thing though, sounds like you bought the wrong car if you are looking for cheap brake jobs! Just saying!

 

I hear ya, I'm willing to spend whatever but always prefer to spend as little as possible lol.

 

Mine was the brakes and made the noise when turning. Once the pads get down low they cause the router to heat up more and the warp. Once that happens you get noises at different places.
I took mine to a local indy shop that does German cars. This was the first time it was not taken tot the dealer and I was happy with the service. They did use Mercedes parts. Everyone has told me you can have trouble with OEM stuff. Cost difference was about 300 CAD from the dealer to the shop

 

Makes sense. Can't argue with that!

 

Good looks. I'm going to shop around and see what the difference is on my end. I will even just buy the parts on my own if it'll reduce the cost slightly and take it to a shop I trust. This is my first luxury car so I'm learning on the fly. Thx fellas.

 

yeah, if vibrations occur while driving (not braking), then check tires first. Could be one or more is not in balance. If no vibration while driving and only happens while braking, then pursue the brakes as it is most likely the rotors.

 

+1 goodluck and update this thread...

 

I have my uncle in law whose a master technician coming by to take a quick look at it tonight after work. He should set me in the right direction, then I'll make an appointment at the best shop I can find locally. I'll update you all with my findings. I might just take it to his shop but he's quite a bit away so I rather get it done close to home or work.

 

my guess is tires or suspension, unless it only happens under braking.
"cheap" is a tough phrase to use with any MB product. At 90K miles be prepared for more fun.

 

The person I had take a quick look sad it's like a balance issue or pads and rotor. I'm going to have it looked at this coming weekend. The more I drive the more inconsistent the vibrations seems to come. Some times when I brake others at just a slow roll. Even sometimes no vibration at all if I'm braking and driving slow.

 

Troubleshooting this should not be that difficult. If it is a tire balance issue it should get worse with faster speed but you talk about feeling the vibration at low speed so it does not seem likely to be a balance issue.


If you have after market wheels it could be an issue with incorrectly centered wheel mount. MB original wheels are centered by the hole fit in the center of the wheel to the hub that many after market wheels are not. I, for example, had to have centering rings installed with the after market wheels to get it right. Changing the lug bolts did not help.


But vibrations from wheel centering issues also get worse with higher speeds so this also doesn't match what you say.


Brake rotor issues can be opposite. Usually brakes are used with higher force at slow city traffic when making stops and slowing down than on high speed driving on highways unless you need to make emergency braking from fast speed so a good troubleshooting step is to get on highway and from a good speed like 60-65 mph get on the brakes hard (make sure nobody is close behind). If you feel vibration doing this you have brake rotor issues, NOT brake pad issues but if you put on new rotors also put on new pads.


But from your answers I still can't see if the vibration happens during slow speed driving or when braking at slow speed so how is it?


There are lots of posts about the brake issues especially on 2010 vintage E550 cars that I also have and when it comes time for me to get rotors replaced it will not be MB rotors. I would not mind MB doing the job but they only install their own parts and I will not take the risk of the nightmare fighting them for warped rotors over and over again. I rather have after market rotors installed probably by myself but this can be done by any good shop.


All pads I already have replaced by myself, which is a super easy job especially in the front.

 

I have a 2010 E550 and just had the brakes done. The shop owner where I go told me these cars had serious issues with the original brakes. Mine did last 95km so I'm not complaining but for the last 10,000 I did have vibrations and some noise. He told me the current pads and rotors from Mercedes have been completely re-designed for these cars to solve these issues. So far so good and they are much better then the original.

 

Much better than the original does not mean they do not have some sort of warping issue still left. It has to be 100 % solved for many years for me to believe they got it right.


The thing is a brake rotor (disk) should never get off plane (get warped). If it does it is a bad design / manufacture for a car use under normal conditions. Race use is different where rotors glow red under heavy braking from fast speeds but even on those seldom a race is lost because of warped brake rotors.


MB has used a wrong supplier for too long for the front brake rotors at least on 2010 E550 models. I'm one of the lucky ones as I believe I still have the original brake rotors on My 2010 E550 but the car was built in June 2009 so it probably has rotors for E211 models. I'm guessing MB changed the rotor supplier going to E212 and mine being a very early 212 still got the rotors of the "old" good design.

 

I will try that when I get off of work. I've had a couple of ego races so to speak over the past few days with randoms and have had to brake hard but never a full on slam type of thing. So I'll try that today.

To explain better it has the vibration feel even when starting up to a slow roll. So the braking part isn't always apart of when it starts the vibration. It's what leads me to think it's some sort of balance issue. I don't really notice anything at higher speeds. However if I brake at a high speed then I can feel a vibration sometimes but nothing like when I'm going 10-30 mph let's say.

 

I rather have after market rotors installed probably by myself but this can be done by any good shop.


All pads I already have replaced by myself, which is a super easy job especially in the front.[/QUOTE]

Depending on the pricing, I've already checked out a site I can order the rotors and pads for a 2010 E550 that are reasonable. I planned on ordering them myself and having a local shop put them on for me. I've been advised to have the balance checked out first before I order anything. I'll check back once I find out exactly what the issue is. Thanks for you help.

 

I just left the shop and it doesn't need a wheel balance. I have to replace all 4 tires and it needs a wheel alignment. My setup is staggered. Any places reliable for ordering tires online for the E550? Thx any help is appreciated.

 

Yup. Knew it was a tire issue. Vulcantire.com is good. Tirerack.com is good. Discounttiredirect.com is cool too. Vulcan tire is usually the cheapest of the three.

 

Thx boss. Appreciate the information.

 

I ended up getting all season tires from tire rack. So far no vibrations at all so that did the trick. Also required a wheel alignment.