Had new front disks and pads last June at 64k miles. Got a juddering on braking and my MB independent has just told me they need replacing again at a cost of £400+ - mileage is now 68k. They have spoken with MB who say the parts are not covered under warranty as this is limited to 1k - wtf ? Much appreciated if anyone has any experience of this issue or advice to impart. I had the car into MB main dealer in December for a recall & they did a visual inspection - I've just checked and the front pads were put down as 10mm - mileage was 66k - so the new pads/disks were fitted at 64k, still showing at 10mm at 66k and now caput at 68k - something not right here - any ideas appreciated. At first I was thinking perhaps they didn't actually fit new pads at 64k - but a seperate MB garage said they were at 10mm 2k miles later so they obviously did.

second opinion?

How much pad is left?
Did idiot brake pad warning light come on?

Are rotors warped? checked with dial indicator.

Your complaint was juddering which I think you are saying is the pedal pulsates when braking??
New pads would not fix that unless they were cracked or had chunks of friction material broken off.

Measure the pads your self. Don’t trust anyone to give you the proper answer. I doubt they are worn much unless you have been tracking the car.

Is the brake light on?
If the pads would rub to wear on 4k miles, your wheels would get warm, so get infra-red thermometer and check it after some gentle highway driving.

Either they weren't replaced the last time, they're lying to you, or you've got a problem with the caliper and/or system. If a problem, then I would start with the glide pins within the caliper itself to make sure (1) they're new, and (2) they're greased and properly inserted. If they're not new with the last brake job, then make sure they were at leased cleaned up and re-greased. A sticking glide pin can cause the pads to maintain pressure on the rotors regardless if you're breaking or not. How's your gas mileage been during these last 4k miles? You can check the car's computer in the dash to see averages of MPG's. The more resistance to the roll, the more gas it'll take to maintain and you'll see it in the MPG's. HOWEVER, if sticking pins, that would have to be some notable and easily noticeable brake drag pressure, along with a boat load of brake dust, like you entire wheel would be coated black inside and out. It would be the equivalent of like 50k miles of driving condensed down to just 4k miles of constant braking.

I think either you're still on the old ones, or they're giving you the BS treatment. If you're on the sport model (drilled rotors), having them warp/pulse at this mileage is not entirely unheard of, especially if the wheel wan't reinstalled correctly with the proper torque settings and cross torquing. My opinion only, but the drilled MB OEM rotors are garbage on this car. They acted like cheese graters for two sets of pads on mine, especially the inside pads. Best thing I've done for my car was to ditch them for the "luxury" version through FCP Euro, not drilled. Looks just as good as the drilled if you ask me.

Who did the brake job at 64k miles? If it was a Mercedes dealer job the warranty should be a bit longer than 1k miles…?!?

Anyway, not even the worst quality brake pads wear out in just 4k miles so if your shop says the psds are worn out you did not get new pads at 64k miles or they are trying to make a quick buck on you by telling you untruth. Your pads probably are close to new condition so if they show you the brakes after they “did” the job they look new pads.

Then they were checked at 66k miles and found to be 10 mm thick, which I believe is true if you did get new pads at 64k miles.

Brake judder means a disk problem so you probably have warped disk(s) and for sure this should be under warranty longer than 1000 miles no matter who sold the parts.

You might find negativity in my writing towards car fixers but after finding out dishonesty at two different MB dealer service shops and a Dodge dealer service job I cannot trust anybody fixing my car so I do everything I can myself.

Thanks for all of the replies.

A final update. It seems my MB independent put the car on the MOT brake tester & apparently that told them the discs needed replacing - so it's not about wear on the pads.

I followed this advice

Try a few high speed hard stops (70mph to 10mph, don't come to a complete stop and don't then hold the brakes on), this should clear any pad deposits on the disc, cleaning things up.

Unless I am imagining it, this reduced the judder which wasn't massive to start with.

I then got a 2nd opinion at a different MOT garage. the one that usually does my MOT. They put the car on the brake tester while I watched & could find nothing wrong with the brakes. They told me it would sail throught the MOT. I relayed this to my Indy who say they've had their equipment callibrated recently. If I were them I would have been more concerned and asked if I could bring it back in to re-test it while I watched but they haven't so far, so who knows. Anyhow I'll opt for the cheaper option of not replacing the brakes. Thanks again everyone.