eahearn

Picked up a 2014 E350 with 22K miles on it and the AMG wheels. Have since more than doubled the mileage. Before I purchased the car, the dealer replaced the front calipers and pads, due to a pulsation (assume warped calipers). The pulsation came back after ~ 10K miles, and the dealer again replaced the front calipers and pads. It's now been another ~ 20K miles, and the pulsation has returned.

Has anyone experienced this problem?

Any ideas on how to resolve?

Thanks!

KEY08

Replace the rotors

eahearn

Thanks. Every 10 or 15K miles!?

KEY08

What type of driving is putting on the miles? Stop and go city driving? Hard on and off the brakes? Various MB cars have had brake rotors issues. Maybe go aftermarket on rotors and pads for one round to see if you can eliminate the warp issue. Many vendors here can help you with suggestions.

eahearn

Ok, I'll check it out. Thinking that if the rotors warped twice, they'll warp again. I do mostly highway driving, some stop and go but not much. Generally not hard on the brakes unless I have to be. Thanks for the help.

550x2

Sadly, it is common on E550s. Use aftermarket rotors like Stoptech or you will be doing it again and again.

designzio

I had the same problem. Went with some front cross drilled rotors from Napa and they are perfect. A friend who owns a MB shop thought I was crazy for going aftermarket... Whatever works!

belarus27

Centric. (Got premium ones August 2016 in front and standard rear may 2017) so far so good.

Or revised/upgraded OEM rotors (old ones tend to warp)

Tump43

I got the same premium Centric rotors front and back with ceramic pads. No problems; much smoother than OE. Should last a lot longer -- higher carbon content than OE. No need for two piece rotors or other brake upgrade on the E350.

belarus27

yea man , cant beat the price and quality.

when i was looking for rotors at that time , i read somewehre that StopTech is using blank Centric rotors and they just add more to it. so i would assume its a good deal with centric

eahearn

All great input - thanks a lot!

Zavato

Warped calipers? That's a new one. The symptom the OP relates is classic warped rotors. Brakes wear can tremendously vary. Sometimes is seems (but can't say it's really so) that it takes just one exceptionally hard brake application to warp the rotors. Heat is the enemy and by their nature brakes work by converting mechanical energy into heat.

GuestFromTampa

I got R1 premium series cross-drilled rotors from www.r1concepts.com with EBC red stuff ceramic pads. So much better than OE.

iGeorge

I just ordered both front and rear Centric rotors and pads to replace my 2nd set of OEM rotors which seem to have warped in less than 15,000 miles. My odd question is this; the Centric web site says the rotors are 36 pounds each, and the MB rotors are 18 pounds each; quite a difference in weight.

Does anyone know if the rotors are really that much heavier, and if they are, what is the change in performance I can expect from that greater unsprung weight?

550x2

They are not 18 pounds, more like 18 kilos! I couldn't tell the difference between the two by hand.

belarus27

Yea , maybe a typo on web site

had my centric front rotors for exactly a year.. so far so good.

Betoni

I have had same kind of experience, after service brakes work fine, but e.g. after 10.000 kilometers those start to pulsate, especially when I had used much DISTRONIC system. I have just now a theory that there is grease and maybe some stuff from highways, because the phenomenon desappeared suddenly after when I washed my car and especially wheels a couple of times using warm water and appropriate chemicals.


W212, MB E350 CDI 4Matic A

nc211

When I bought mine about a month ago (14' CPO w/ 22k miles), I noted the front rotors were warped already even on the test drive. Used that to negotiate.

I just changed my rotors and pads today, all OEM. Here are some thoughts on this.

First, unrelated to the brakes but likely a contributor to mine being warped and pulsating getting worse and worse by the mile - the lug nuts were WAY over torqued and all over the place on torque setting. Not kidding here, I had to get my breaker bar out to get a few of them off, it was that messed up. I know the dealership did it, because they put new tires on the car. They're supposed to be 97lbs of torque. I had some that had to be nearly 200lbs.

Second - MB could learn a thing or two from Toyota on how to make a floating caliper setup. There are two flaws with this setup if you ask me.

(1) There are no spreader springs for the pads to the rotors. Meaning nothing to assist keeping them from constantly rubbing on the surface of the rotor no matter if you're on the brakes or just cruising down the highway.
(2) plays into (1) above and what I consider to be the biggest flaw of all. The pads sit on these metal posts on each side of the rotor. Think of a stack of dimes about 1 to 2 inches tall. That's what they hang on and appear to be designed to slide on. However, they're completely exposed to the elements and mine were completely caked with grime, brake dust, and what not. No way were these pads moving at all with that much muck on those pins. I cleaned them up and rubbed a little grease on them before reinstalling the new pads.

All in all, not a major project and was easy to figure out. But I do suspect I'll be doing the brakes on this car far more than on any other car I've owned in the past. Hopefully I'm wrong about that, but....

Unrelated to the thoughts above, I also think one of the reasons why these rotors warp so quickly is because of the "hold" feature with the brakes. Coming to a long stop, heating up the rotors, and them immediately have the car automatically "hold" the car in place, seems like a great way to get a hot spot set into the rotor. I personally tend to stop, then inch a little to let the heat dissipate. But with no spreader springs on these pads, not sure how effective that technique will be.

nc211

Almost forgot....

The pads all around weren't that bad, maybe 40% used up at most (replaced them anyway). The rear rotors weren't too bad either. But the fronts were surprisingly bad off. Deeply grooved down, which given weight of the car, I can understand under certain driving habits. But what really surprised me was the rust on them, especially inside the hub itself. They were flaking already. I suspect road salt and utter lack of washing the car during winter. The previous owner was local (leased). His insurance card was still in the glove box (oops MB dealer), so I googled him. Car likely sat outside in apartment surface parking lot too. Had some rough winters past 3 years here. But still.. flaking? That was disappointing to find. Will be garaged while under my ownership!

So that leaves the GTI up next (did wife's Highlander two weeks ago). My 43 year old back is on fire.

iGeorge

An update, the new rotors and pads are installed. When they were delivered I was stunned at how heavy the front rotors were, easily the 36lbs quoted by Centric, if not heavier. The mechanic who did the work however says the OEM disks were of very similar weight. In comparison, the rear disks were much lighter. Wish me luck on the life of these disks!

nc211

I can assure you that the OEM front rotors are approximately 40lbs each as well. They're substantial pieces of metal, that's for sure.

iGeorge

How critical is the bedding process for the new pads and disks? And at what point have I lost the opportunity to bed them in correctly?

Mud

I think it never hurts to go thru the process but honestly, how many brake jobs get done every day including dealerships where that doesn't happen with no bad results?
My last brake job:
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...2011-e350.html
I'm pretty sure these are centric rotors as well, except I got rid of the drilled and went with blanks.

nc211

I agree with Mud. I wouldn't go out and stomp on the brakes if you can avoid it for may 20 miles or so, just nice and easy stops. I see you're in Herndon, I'm in Leesburg and commute into Tysons M-F. Drove the car on Friday for the first time since new brakes were put on to/from work. Noticed initially they weren't really biting at all, so took it easy. By the time I got to the office and back, all was fine. I take the Greenway and depending on traffic, will either get my cup of coffee at the airport and cruise in that way, or stay on the toll road (you know about that airport trick, :-)).

After changing mine, the groaning noise I was hearing at about 70mph went away, as did the shimmy in my steering wheel, and certainly no more pulsing of the brakes. I think the groaning noise was the very tip of the rotors rubbing along the sides of the pads. Like on a Toyota, the pad cover the entire surface of the rotor. But on MB, the pad leaves may a ½ mm lip along the outer edge of the rotor. Strange, but I think it's a german thing, as I notice my VW does the same thing too. I'm getting a groaning noise from the back passenger side on that car at about the same speed, and noticed it's got a lip on the rotor as well (albeit cheaper rotors in general). Certainly not the tires, as I recently changed over to Michelins on that car with no real change in the noise. Not bearing related either. So money is on the rotor lip grinding away on the top side of the pads. Can't tell on the inside yet, but suspect it's worse (was definitely the case for the benz on the wheel that was groaning - front passenger side).

jonUF02

I was having a pulsating feeling when I come to an easy stop, not a wobble in the steering, but a forward to back pulse. Since this tells me the front are not warped, I decided to start with rear brake replacement. I bought Carquest rotors and Platinum (best) pads from Advance Auto Parts. I was considering the StopTech rotors, simply because they are painted in the center to prevent rust, and the ones I bought are not. So I know the centers will rust, and already have rust spots after a couple of weeks, but I could not justify 3x the cost for some paint. I believe the ones I bought are probably the same as Centric base level, just re-branded. Rear OEM rotors are not drilled or anything, but they have the gray euro anti-rust coating. Since everyone says OEM is garbage on these, I figure for less than $100 after rebate for the whole package, I can't go wrong.

The pulsing has gotten better, BUT, I believe that some of this feeling comes from the transmission down-shifting through all the 7 gears when I come to a stop! I can put the car into neutral when I begin braking, and the feeling is smoother. I'm due for transmission service, so maybe change of fluid will help some???

Now that the rear are smooth as silk, I can feel the front are not perfect either. They looked basically new when I purchased the car only 11K miles ago. The rear did not look as new.

The whole rear brake job took me a couple of hours, going slow and double-checking everything. I was thorough to grease everything and remove the rust from the hub with some steel wool, then grease as the DIY post says. The sensor can be re-used if the light has not come on yet (worn into sensor). It's not any harder than any other vehicle.