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My wife E350 has a problem where we have to go through a new set of pads and rotors every 3-4 months because of warping rotors. The dealer says that this is normal as we live in an area with hills and might be her driving style, but the strange thing is that it doesn't happen with the other cars that she drives (BMW, Porsche, and Tesla). The service rep that I talked to even told me there was a customer who replaces his rotors every 8k miles (I call BS on this).
So I was wondering is there another problem that is leading to this, also, is there a possibility the car is a lemon?
I last replaced the rotors myself 6-7k miles ago in August with Stoptech Cryo treated rotors with Stoptech Sport pads, hopefully combating the warping, but the car started juddering again when stopping in November, and now it is really bad. Also, the rotors and pads were properly broken into right after the replacement.
Struts were also replaced in August, though springs were reused on the struts.
It's been my experience that rotors warp in the presence of water on hot rotors.
Wash the car (manually or at the carwash) when cold, not after a long drive. If you hit the car wash as the last stop on the way home from your work commute or shopping, quit that immediately. Try to avoid large puddles with hot rotors, etc.
I don't see why hills should cause warping, when all the friction parts are at proper operating temperature. It's those sudden temperature differentials between hot rotors and cold water that cause warping.
What is your break-in procedure? I've been using Zimmerman rotors for about 8 months now with absolutely no warping. I live in a very hilly area as well, and go down long hills nearly every day.
Improperly torqued lug nuts comes to mind. You might try verifying all lugs are evenly torqued the next time you have the rotors replaced and any time someone takes the wheels off.
It's been my experience that rotors warp in the presence of water on hot rotors.
Wash the car (manually or at the carwash) when cold, not after a long drive. If you hit the car wash as the last stop on the way home from your work commute or shopping, quit that immediately. Try to avoid large puddles with hot rotors, etc.
I don't see why hills should cause warping, when all the friction parts are at proper operating temperature. It's those sudden temperature differentials between hot rotors and cold water that cause warping.
Hmm, I live in So-Cal, so we rarely get rain here especially in the summer, so I don't really think that is a problem. Also, I wash the car myself on weekends, so I dont think that is an issue either. Also, its weird that only this car has this problem, and my other cars all seem fine.
Improperly torqued lug nuts comes to mind. You might try verifying all lugs are evenly torqued the next time you have the rotors replaced and any time someone takes the wheels off.
I will check that next time, as I think I will have to replace the rotors again.
What is your break-in procedure? I've been using Zimmerman rotors for about 8 months now with absolutely no warping. I live in a very hilly area as well, and go down long hills nearly every day.
My procedure is 10 medium aggressive stops from 45mph to 10mph, cool down a little, and 5 aggressive stop to 5-0mph, cool down by driving normally for 5-10 miles. I do the break in procedure in an area near my house with little cars and no traffic lights with long stretches of straight road. The funny thing is that during the most recent brake job in August of the past year, I replaced the E350 and my BMW X5 with the same brand and type of rotors, as I lost hope in genuine Mercedes rotors, (obviously different seizes and bolt pattern), the X5 has no issues ever with warping, while the e350 warped so bad that I feel like I am on a massage chair when I brake on it.
Something is definitely not right here. I've never had warping rotors on any of my Mercedes cars - and my area is pretty hilly, too. Have you tried a different dealer? If you pay for a brake job at a dealership and it is having issue in only a few months I would think they'd need to cover this under the parts warranty.
Something else is up with your car. "warped" rotors is a bit misleading - the pulsation is usually from hot spots on the rotors formed by deposits from the pads when they get really hot. Do you have an IR thermometer? Check the brake calipers/rotors temps after your wife's normal drive. See if its possible one caliper is partially sticking causing excessive heat which leads to deposits forming.
In my experience with Merc dealer rotors and brakes, holes in rotor get clogged up with brake dust and negate the effects of cooling, thereby warping the rotor. Photo below.
My Zimmermans w/ Pagid pads have occasionally vibrated but a hard brake or two fixes it.
Something is definitely not right here. I've never had warping rotors on any of my Mercedes cars - and my area is pretty hilly, too. Have you tried a different dealer? If you pay for a brake job at a dealership and it is having issue in only a few months I would think they'd need to cover this under the parts warranty.
Something else is up with your car. "warped" rotors is a bit misleading - the pulsation is usually from hot spots on the rotors formed by deposits from the pads when they get really hot. Do you have an IR thermometer? Check the brake calipers/rotors temps after your wife's normal drive. See if its possible one caliper is partially sticking causing excessive heat which leads to deposits forming.
Keep us posted.
UPDATE!
The mercedes rep just contacted me, apparently, the front axle (left) has snapped in two. Maybe that is why the car is acting this way?
Is it common for the front axle to snap in E350's of this generation, or is this just my car. My wife claims that she has not hit anything, and there are no potholes where I live in Southern California, so I think that its kinda weird for it to snap.
In my experience with Merc dealer rotors and brakes, holes in rotor get clogged up with brake dust and negate the effects of cooling, thereby warping the rotor. Photo below.
My Zimmermans w/ Pagid pads have occasionally vibrated but a hard brake or two fixes it.
My e350 originally came with the non sport brakes. Because they warped, my service rep repacked them with the sport rotors (pictured above), but they still warped. So in August, I did the brake job myself, and I replaced it with slotted rotors, but I dont think it worked. My service advisor says that the front axle snapped in two, so maybe that's the reason why my brakes keep warping.
Very unusual to snap an axle in any car much less a Mercedes. Bad axles will let you know by shaking the whole car at certain speeds and even under braking. The steering wheel will not shake, but the whole car will. A sign of a bad axle. I’ll bet this has been the cause of your trouble with your brake wear on the broken axle side.
Very unusual to snap an axle in any car much less a Mercedes. Bad axles will let you know by shaking the whole car at certain speeds and even under braking. The steering wheel will not shake, but the whole car will. A sign of a bad axle. I’ll bet this has been the cause of your trouble with your brake wear on the broken axle side.
Hopefully so, the CV boot is completely torn off too. I told to dealer to do the repair, wish me luck!
My wife E350 has a problem where we have to go through a new set of pads and rotors every 3-4 months because of warping rotors. The dealer says that this is normal as we live in an area with hills and might be her driving style, but the strange thing is that it doesn't happen with the other cars that she drives (BMW, Porsche, and Tesla). The service rep that I talked to even told me there was a customer who replaces his rotors every 8k miles (I call BS on this).
So I was wondering is there another problem that is leading to this, also, is there a possibility the car is a lemon?
Thanks
Similar experience. It was cold water on hot rotors. Car wash offered undercarriage wash and also wheel wash. I opted for both.......most expensive car wash ever!
Hopefully so, the CV boot is completely torn off too. I told to dealer to do the repair, wish me luck!
Luck or not, you'll get screwed at dealer.
When torn CV boot can be replaced for about $100 DIY, the dealers "don't do boots" and will charge you probably close to $2000 for axle replacement.
Reading the topic, you need to send your wife to advanced driving lessons.
I had brake pads lasting 100k miles even on old cars, when rotors are lifetime items for me. Akebonos pads after 100k miles were at 70% of their thickness when I sold the car. Never had warp rotor in my life and I have about 15-20 brands of vehicles on my records.
But can understand the situation since my stepmom, even she is senior still drives with her left foot over brake pedal. When she swears to not touch the brake, one time driving behind her I could see brake light coming on every few seconds.
I can't fathom an axle snapping under virtually any circumstance, so all I can think of there is a wheel bearing seized up or something? I need pics and updates of this one..
Which rotor(s) are warping? Front? Rear? Just one? If it's just one you have a sticking caliper.
I can't fathom an axle snapping under virtually any circumstance, so all I can think of there is a wheel bearing seized up or something? I need pics and updates of this one..
Which rotor(s) are warping? Front? Rear? Just one? If it's just one you have a sticking caliper.
same here. Something doesn't sound right. Axel snapping in two??? that's like a catastrophic failure.
this is from autoblog.com
"
How brake rotors warp
A common misconception when rotors are referred to as “warped” is that they are no longer straight when rotating (similar to how a bicycle wheel gets warped). For cars, in order for that to be the case, the rotors themselves would have to be defective as the temperature required to make metal that resilient soft enough to simply bend would be tremendous.
Instead, the warping really refers to the flat surface of the rotor becoming uneven. Heat is the number one cause of this, and can cause warping in more than one way:
Glazing the brake rotor with material from the brake pad. This happens because brake pads, like tires, are made with different amounts of hardness and stickiness depending on the intended purpose. When brake pads made for normal road use get very hot from high-speed driving and braking, or from riding on the brakes for a prolonged period of time, the grippy material can get too soft and basically "paint" the brake rotors. This means that the brake pads won't grip onto metal when the brakes are applied once again, causing decreased brake performance that is less smooth than before."
This topic and possible causes and remedies have been discussed at great length in other similar threads, I suggest reading through those, although usually they are in relation to the 550 models, not the 350.
Maybe install 550 brake parts (if they are different from the 350). Probably available for cheap from junk yards like LKQ or on Ebay.
My vote is for Centric premium coated rotors and ceramic pads, also sold as the brand name Stoptech. Stock/dealer parts are pretty well known to be junk, at least on the 550. Also make sure all the hub surfaces that mate with the back of the rotors are clean of corrosion and debris, perfectly flat when installing the new rotors. and torque the lug nuts to spec every time. Use proper grease on the caliper slide pins every time. This was the flaw in another thread.
My procedure is 10 medium aggressive stops from 45mph to 10mph, cool down a little, and 5 aggressive stop to 5-0mph, cool down by driving normally for 5-10 miles. I do the break in procedure in an area near my house with little cars and no traffic lights with long stretches of straight road. The funny thing is that during the most recent brake job in August of the past year, I replaced the E350 and my BMW X5 with the same brand and type of rotors, as I lost hope in genuine Mercedes rotors, (obviously different seizes and bolt pattern), the X5 has no issues ever with warping, while the e350 warped so bad that I feel like I am on a massage chair when I brake on it.
yes, a correct brake bedding in procedure will usually cure the shuddering and pulsation that many people think is caused by warped rotors.
same here. Something doesn't sound right. Axel snapping in two??? that's like a catastrophic failure.
Glazing the brake rotor with material from the brake pad. This happens because brake pads, like tires, are made with different amounts of hardness and stickiness depending on the intended purpose. When brake pads made for normal road use get very hot from high-speed driving and braking, or from riding on the brakes for a prolonged period of time, the grippy material can get too soft and basically "paint" the brake rotors. This means that the brake pads won't grip onto metal when the brakes are applied once again, causing decreased brake performance that is less smooth than before."
I have the exact opposite explanation.
If you only "soft brake" and don't brake hard or firm, from time to time, glazing build up. If you don't use your brakes in a firm way, glazing builds up, as the pads are not capable of keeping the rotors clean. It will feel as if the brake pedal is pumping.
The recespie to clean glazed rotors is to do some hard braking from 60 to 0 , some 5 times in a row, and start using the brakes as they are intended to be used. It will then slowly disappear over some 500 miles.
Choosing brake pads with a higher iron content do have a positive influence on avoiding glazing build up, but are a bit more noisy.
The E class is a heavy car, and therefore the brakes are large, in order to be able to stop the car in all situations, but the disadvantage is that they easy glaze, if you have a "soft hat" driving style.
Never had a “warping” problem in any MB I have ever owned, including two of the notorious 550’s. Proper bedding procedures is key and my personal braking style is to always late brake. This causes my wife to constantly tell me I need to get my eyes checked. “Didn’t you see them stopping ahead”?
eh, whatever...
I can't fathom an axle snapping under virtually any circumstance, so all I can think of there is a wheel bearing seized up or something? I need pics and updates of this one..
Which rotor(s) are warping? Front? Rear? Just one? If it's just one you have a sticking caliper.
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