Long story short (as part of my trying to figure out what the chirping in my front suspension is, dealer already replaced front left shock under warranty), the dealer is now telling me that part of the noise may be coming from the rust on the rotors and suggest i proactively do a brake job at $780 for both rotors and pads. The sensors are not tripped and the car only had 45K miles.

i'm figuring they're telling me this so they can prevent replacing parts for free under warranty and put some liability on me, although i'm convinced there's absolutely nothing wrong with the brakes; unless i go to another dealer i pretty much have to do the brakes if i go back to this one and tell them to chase down the other noises.

i called an indy and they quoted about $300 in parts and 1hr in labor at $120, plus tax, etc. they come out around $475.

looking through youtube videos and it seems like it's straight forward, pricing out my own parts i get about $330 so now i'm thinking that for $150 it may be worth it for me to pay someone to do the job instead of me trying to do this on a side of a street with a spare tire kit by myself.

what are your thoughts on the pricing and the situation in general? should i go to another mb dealer and have them evaluate the car?

Thanks

 

im not sure if you will be ablable to getcthe job done with spare tire kit... cuz u need a ratchet and diff sizes tips.
but if you got an 1hr-2hr of free time you can save yourself hella money. easy and straight forward.

 

Can you explain a little more about the noise you are trying to identify? You mention a chirping - is it only on rough roads or all the time? Only while braking? Any video or audio clip you can post? How about pictures of the rotor to see how bad the rust is?

 

is that $120 labor cost for all 4 sides? if you dont have proper tools and a place to do it (you mentioned doing the job on the side street), that cost is well worth it.

but before you do anything, can you please elaborate more on the problem?
also, +1 on the video if you have.

 

$475 for front pads and rotors is a good deal. Front brakes are easy, but if you don't have the proper equipment to do the job, let your Indy do it. Most rust on the rotor is gone after a few stops, so I don't know what the problem is with the rotors. Sounds are usually a pad problem. You could replace the pads only if the rotor still has meat on it. Front pad replacement is very easy on these cars.

 

B

 

i don't have a video, although i suppose i could try to take one.

the "chirp" is a high pitch sound that only happens when i go over a high impulse thing -- a massive pothole won't do it, neither will a speed hump/bump, but a 2-inch divide in the road (like on a bridge) it'll happen, or on rail road tracks, or small cracks/pot holes.

usually i hear this when doing 20-25mph, going slower it doesn't happen, thus why i said on a high impulse impact.

it seems to have been coming from the front, it took me forever driving around with a tech (the roads by the dealership are much nicer than where i live) to reproduce the sound, then it took them a day to find it on their own and finally "after multiple phonecalls with MB" they narrowed it down to the front left shock.

they also said they think some of the noise is coming from the rotor rust -- i'll have to take a picture of this, but essentially on the perimeter of the rotor there is rust, the rotor is somewhat worn (i can feel the pad groove in it) so i don't think the pad ever even touches the rust part of the rotor, as it's only on the perimeter.


either way it's frustrating because i can hear the chirp still coming from the right side, but they were pretty firm that they found the noises and all remains is brakes. that's why my options are to 1)do brakes and go back to the same dealer or maybe 2) go to a new dealer and have them look at the chirp issue.


and yes, i don't have all the tools and thought about buying them, but the way my parts came out honestly for $150 extra it seems like i can save myself a lot of trouble and just pay the indy. but again, i also don't want to just replace brakes/rotors if i i don't need to, thus maybe i should go to a second dealer first?

not my image but here's the rust that i'm talking about. Also, the rust on my rotors does not wrap around on the brake surface at all like it does in this picture, i only wanted to show what i mean by saying "perimeter rust"

 

$120 labor for front only, i was told i only needed to change the fronts out.

dealer cost: $780 total
indy cost: $300 parts, $120 labor + tax = ~$480total
my cost: $300 parts, $XXX tools = ~$400 total?

 

damn that rotor is bad lol
definitely need to change them out asap

 

These are my rotors to be exact, left

My right rotor

trying to figure out how I can upload or share the video?

 

Got the video working, crank up the sound and you can hear chirps at 5 and 10 sec marks
You may want to download the 46mb video


https://app.box.com/s/ovp1l3nn690yt92vvvek8ozfa2kf963b

 

Change your pads and rotors now. Not sure what's going on, but the wear is very erratic to my eye. Worth every penny you spend.

 

The edges of your rotors look worse than mine. If your mechanic thinks they should be changed, then I would do it and pay the indy for it.

However, I don't see how that is the cause of your chirp given when you hear it. And about that chirp, I downloaded the video and cranked up the volume and couldn't hear anything other than the rough roads. Sorry.

 

Wrenching is not for one job, the tools and experience will stay with you forever. It is always easier to let the shop to do it, but you will never learn the hand on experience.

 

Yeah, I just slapped on a set of rear pads on my 2011. The sensor had just come on. Cost me around $50 for just a set of Akebono brake pads. Had everything else from previous jobs. I just slapped the pads on, the rotors looked decent and there were no grooves. The worse pad was actually the one with the sensor on it, the rest of the pads looked like they had 1/3 left or more. Took me about 1.5 hours, just had hand tools so it was slower and my first time doing them so didn't really know what to expect.

 

The rears are single piston and mine also wear more heavily on the inboard pad with the sensor. That is typical. The most difficult part with pad replacement is busting the wheel bolts and getting the wheels off. Lol

 

I'm concerned the dealer replaced the front left shock just for ****s and giggles? If they thought that was the problem and it was not then I question their ability to diagnose.

Your car has 45K miles. Have you ever done any brake work to it?
I downloaded your vid, cranked up the noise and still could not hear any chirps.

The drilled rotor picture shows an accumulation of dirt and grime. If the rotor is within thickness, take off and clean. However, at MB shop[s the labor rates would make this cost prohibitive to you and most likely cheaper to toss them and put shiny new ones on.

However, by all means, go with the Indy shop on brakes and save some $$$.

Show us the thickness of your pads.

My best guess is at 45K miles your pads are worn and the chirping you are hearing is related to the "critical" noise of the rotor being vibrated harmonically at just the right "frequency" and it chirps.

Pads and rotors and your noise will be gone. However, don't get hosed go to an Indy

 

There's also many videos on the youtube that show you how to do the front brakes. Strangely couldn't find any on the rears, but it was simple enough, just had to figure out that it was a 7mm hex for the glide pins on the caliper. While it was nice that there were dust caps on them, it made it difficult to get them out, had to poke at the threads with a screwdriver to get them out. I think the conventional wisdom was that if the rotors weren't shot, you could just slap another set of pads on them, but if you think there might be some noise, just go with new rotors and pads. I don't think there's anything really special about doing them, any indy should be able to do them, when you go to people that specialize in MB, that just means they can charge you more for nothing.

 

thanks for all the advise, i'll go to the indy this time around and get it done. the 150$ difference between doing it myself and letting someone else do it seems worth it to me now since even if i bought all the tools i still don't have a garage to do it and i really don't want to be doing this on the side of my street. maybe next time.

@liam -- i don't think changing the brakes will solve any sort of chirping noise, the rotor is still plenty thick and i can't imagine that it would vibrate upon hitting a bump, but who knows. i'm not expecting it to solve anything but give me more proof on trying to get the dealer to chase down the other issues.

 

Why don't these folks who want someone to diagnose their squeaks post mileage?

At about 70,000 miles (or a big pothole) there are a couple of bushings I might suspect.

It is not the brake rotors, but they look like freshening them up certainly wouldn't hurt the car any.

 

my car has 45k miles not 70. i replaced the rotors and pads yesterday but it's too cold to drive around with the windows down and listen to chirps now so i may have to wait until late spring.

 

Where do you live? In the arctic? LOL
Good you replaced the brakes now in any event.

 

minneapolis, and crazily it's been in the 60's here this week so last night i went with the windows down on my torture loop and all the chirps are gone...

 

Just replaced the rotors & pads on my 2012 e550 last weekend - first brake job I've attempted on a car and it went pretty easily. Now I can exclaim during panic stops "don't worry, I did these brakes myself!"

With R1 Concepts' (a forum sponsor) upgraded front drilled rotors and pads, new wear sensors and rotor retaining screws I'm in around $440 in parts and supplies. Watching a couple of YT videos was helpful, and having a floor rack, wheel chocks, and jack stands made it possible. There were only two difficult bolts - the caliper mount bolts were really tight, and the angles you need to get in with make it tough to apply the right leverage/force. Next time I'll fit a pipe on my ratchet for a breaker-bar like torque that fits where I need.

The outcome was perfect - new rotors with low dust, quiet pads and better braking than I've had on the car.

-Adam

 

Might need to do the same for mine, then. What R1 part numbers did you use? And did you do rears too?