thephantom

I brought my car to the dealer today for a road force balance and alignment and the SA told me my pads are at 4mm and may need to replace the brakes soon (@29,950 miles). I asked what the pads' thickness was in September and it was at 7mm. Naturally I was curios what the dealer brake job cost (front rotor and pads) and he said... $920! Called my indy guy and was quoted $550. $550 sounds fair, right?

pamiboy

550 Sounds fair to me.

AkaSigFreak

You can get OEM Rotors for under $90 each and the pads are under $70. So...$250 for parts and $300 Labor for one of the easiest brake jobs? I'd ask the Indy shop how much they are charging for parts.

thephantom

Indy said they'll use Akebono ceramic pads and OEM rotors. So I guess $300 for labor. I wish I was more mechanically inclined... and more patient.

cetialpha5

Best price on Akebono is going to be Advance Auto with their coupon codes at retailmenot. Also grab a quart of Pentosin super Dot 4 brake fluid. I just slapped some pads on my W211 recently, paid the indy $70 and that included bleeding them, took him just a little over an hour. I think MB makes their rotors thick enough that you can just slap another set of pads on them once instead of replacing the rotors every time. Just have the indy check the thickness if you're worried about it.

AkaSigFreak

Unless they are warped- rotors should not need to be replaced at under 30,000 miles. I've sat in the dealership waiting room and listened to what they tell customers. I can't help but chuckle and think 'WOW- they really like screwing people'. They told this lady with a W203 C-Class that it was going to be $1,900 for front and rear pads and rotors. Then, they went down the rest of the list. She was close to $5K for general maintenance items.
I recommend contacting another Indy and ask how much they would charge to install the parts.

aquinob

Unless the rotors are warped or scored badly, they shouldn't need replacement at 30k. Pads are an easy job. You probably need to bleed the system as well, thats a bit more involved but not terrible. Any good brake shop should be able to do your car, not just a MB specialist. But you do need the correct MB fluid which can be a bit pricey (last I bought it was about 17 for a pint).

For 550, there should be a brake bleed in there as well as rotors and pads. I would find out what specifically they are charging for before proceeding.

The G Man

I am in the MA area as well, do you mind me asking who is your indy? My wife's car needs rear brakes, the dealer wanted $1100. So far the best price I got from an indy was $700.

sleeperZ96BT

Not directly related, but my wife's 2014 GLK 350 was ~$500 at the dealer for the fronts. I know the rotors are smaller as 17's fit the GLK where they don't fit my E550.

thephantom

Northboro. They've been around forever started solely focusing on European vehicles. They've recently started working on Japanese, as well.

European Car Service
http://europeancarsvc.com

Chris is the owner; he's very nice and patient, unlike many others in his line of business.

belarus27

id say around 400$ should be the most for rotors and pads , and about 500 including the bleeding.

but damn its still a lot , if you do all the labor yourself you can save atleast $200.

rotors are around a $100 a piece and a set of brakes also around there. so 300 is whats its actually cost for the front brakes + watever indy or dealer charges you if you go that route

The G Man

Thanks for info.

beejAMG

dealership will always, and i couldnt stress it enough....always charge you an arm and a leg as soon as you drive in and get something worked on your car.

an indy would be cheaper but they dont just charge you for labor. they jack up the price for parts as well as they outsource that too. cheaper to bring your own parts and just pay for labor. of course cheapest way is to diy but if youre not mechanically inclined like you mentioned, ill get the parts then take it to my indy.

R1Concepts is a vendor here and gives discount to members. try to contact them and ask for a quote.

cetialpha5

The rears were really easy, couldn't wait for my indy so I did them myself. Took about 1.5 hours because I don't have air tools. Hardest part was removing the rear tires because the rear pads can be changed by just removing the glide pins and you can slap new pads on them.

Pentosin Super Dot 4 is about $14 for a quart at Advance Auto and with a coupon code, around $9.

iridium7777

$920 sounds really rich, even for a dealer.

a few months back i replaced my fronts and rotors in the low 40K.

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

since i don't have a garage to work in and i didn't want to be doing this on the side of my street in 20 degree weather i went with the indy and am very happy on how things worked.

i'd shop around, but definitely not go to the dealer for this job.

Tump43

BeejAMG is correct. I bought Centric high carbon cross-drilled front rotors, R1 high carbon cross-drilled rear rotors and Centric ceramic pads (from links found in this forum) for all four corners for about $250 on sale around the holidays and had my Indy install all this stuff for $250. I did my own pad/rotor break in after the job. $500 for the whole job, parts and labor, with better quality pads and rotors than OE. The OE stuff started to vibrate around 30k. If it was warmer outside I would have installed them myself. This stuff is simple. Not only is the dealer overpriced for basic maintenance, it is not necessary. The dealer is very good and in fact, the only alternative for dealing with other aspects of maintaining/repairing our MB's though.