Brake Dust Despite Regen and Rheostatic Braking
1. Does it actually depend on the regen mode, and if so, at what limit?
2. Voltage regen limit and / or g-force activation?
3. What is the best (optimal) condition of braking that the EQS will not use or will least likely use the mechanical brake, and in which braking condition will the EQS use the most regen and rheostatic braking?
I've test driven and drove like a granny when it comes to braking for a week in an attempt to experiment. Yet, I still get black dusting on my rims. I've turned off nanny such as the LKA (lane keep assist). I don't think it's road dust because it's quite black.
You can feel the transition from regen brakes to physical brakes through the pedal very clearly (on the 2023s at least - this should be fixed 2024+). It takes substantial amount of pedal travel and force to start dipping into the physical brakes. 99% of the time, you are using regen when you're using the brake pedal.
Like I said earlier, Mercedes EVs almost always use regen and rarely ever use the physical brakes. Pressing the brake pedal always activates regen braking regardless of drive mode or regen mode. Fact.
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You can feel the transition from regen brakes to physical brakes through the pedal very clearly (on the 2023s at least - this should be fixed 2024+). It takes substantial amount of pedal travel and force to start dipping into the physical brakes. 99% of the time, you are using regen when you're using the brake pedal.
You train yourself to stop by simply modulating the accelerator. On normal, there is also regen when you lift up, but it's only enough to mimic a normal ICE deceleration. On no regen, regen is only activated when you press the brake thus on lift off, the car simply coasts like an ICE engine on neutral gear. In efect the different modes are truely more a variation of the accelerator behaivior than the brake itself.
Thats entirely up to you! I use full regen or nomal in city driving. I use auto on the highway. On haighway dreiving saves more energy than regenerating since you rarely use the brakes anyway.
Last edited by c4004matic; Apr 27, 2024 at 02:55 PM.
The Best of Mercedes & AMG
I read the entire EQE SUV instruction manual that came with my car, in Swedish. A struggle for me, as my native language is English. My local dealer finally provided me with an English (European) version of the manual, so I'm reading it again...with a much better level of comprehension. I noted this: That when you press the button to "maximize range" the car, among other things, goes to D-Auto mode. So this tells me that MB, at least, thinks D-Auto is the best way to conserve battery and maximize range.
I read the entire EQE SUV instruction manual that came with my car, in Swedish. A struggle for me, as my native language is English. My local dealer finally provided me with an English (European) version of the manual, so I'm reading it again...with a much better level of comprehension. I noted this: That when you press the button to "maximize range" the car, among other things, goes to D-Auto mode. So this tells me that MB, at least, thinks D-Auto is the best way to conserve battery and maximize range.
If the theory is that the hydraulic friction brakes are not used unless the brake pedal is press beyond the strong regen or normal regen automated press, then what is causing the brake dust in a week's driving when I've only pressed on the brake pedal about once or twice? LKA is off. No brake squeals. Amount of brake dust is the same for all 4 rims. A nice thin film of brake dust is seen with a finger swipe. During the week of testing, I use strong regen in city, and normal or no regen on freeway. This is about a span of 200 miles city and freeway driving traffic and no traffic segments.

If the theory is that the hydraulic friction brakes are not used unless the brake pedal is press beyond the strong regen or normal regen automated press, then what is causing the brake dust in a week's driving when I've only pressed on the brake pedal about once or twice? LKA is off. No brake squeals. Amount of brake dust is the same for all 4 rims. A nice thin film of brake dust is seen with a finger swipe. During the week of testing, I use strong regen in city, and normal or no regen on freeway. This is about a span of 200 miles city and freeway driving traffic and no traffic segments.
I think overall, Tesla is far ahead in all things drivetrain and charging. Mercedes wins in every other category. I don’t miss my Tesla one bit, though it does suck to have to scrub brake dust now. I thought those days were over.
I think overall, Tesla is far ahead in all things drivetrain and charging. Mercedes wins in every other category. I don’t miss my Tesla one bit, though it does suck to have to scrub brake dust now. I thought those days were over.
It's a easy clean up of the spill with ceramic spray coating on the rims, but, man, the leak sucks when you're really not using the brake pedal and still have to clean up.

In addition, I don't think regen is ever used in reverse, I believe it's physical brakes only.
I think overall, Tesla is far ahead in all things drivetrain and charging. Mercedes wins in every other category. I don’t miss my Tesla one bit, though it does suck to have to scrub brake dust now. I thought those days were over.
In reality and during real world road trips and scenarios, all of our other EVs completely outperform the Teslas. It's no comparison.
Out of all of the EVs we have/had, the actual best charging one has been the Porsche Taycan, followed by the EQS. The Taycan and EQS have very flat charge curves and pull strongly across the whole charge. The EQS can pull incredibly high speeds at high states of charge above 80% whereas Teslas basically trickle charge at that point.
Lastly, the EQS has consistent power from 100% all the way down to 3% in normal weather or 13% in extremely cold weather. Teslas have the most power at 100% and the amount of power available decreases with battery percentage. The lower your battery, the less power you have. That is truly unacceptable and I'm glad Mercedes has got that right.
In reality and during real world road trips and scenarios, all of our other EVs completely outperform the Teslas. It's no comparison.
Out of all of the EVs we have/had, the actual best charging one has been the Porsche Taycan, followed by the EQS. The Taycan and EQS have very flat charge curves and pull strongly across the whole charge. The EQS can pull incredibly high speeds at high states of charge above 80% whereas Teslas basically trickle charge at that point.
Lastly, the EQS has consistent power from 100% all the way down to 3% in normal weather or 13% in extremely cold weather. Teslas have the most power at 100% and the amount of power available decreases with battery percentage. The lower your battery, the less power you have. That is truly unacceptable and I'm glad Mercedes has got that right.
I’m gonna have to disagree from the standpoint of owning two previous Teslas. You are correct about battery discharge performance (horsepower) vs battery state of charge with all Teslas, except for the Refresh Model S. The horsepower degradation that came with battery state of charge loss was eliminated with the Refresh S. Same thing with torque curve staying stable beyond 80 mph. That was a problem for previous Model S, but fixed in the Refresh.
Home charging with a L2 charger is slower with the Mercedes Wallbox, as compared to the Plaid connected to the Tesla Wallconnector. On a 60A circuit, the Mercedes tops out at 9.6 kw vs the Tesla 11.5 kw.
DC charging is seemless with the Tesla, not so much with the Mercedes. With the Tesla you plug and go at any of their Superchargers. It just works. With the Mercedes, the “Mercedes” branded chargers are run by ChargePoint and have continual issues. Using the third party to do the handshake fails often. I end up having to use my phone to make the handshake. It’s not seamless.
Agian, I don’t miss Tesla at all. They do performance and charging right, but that’s about it.
Just a theory.




I have had Steering Assist and Lane Keeping Assist on for my EQE SUV since day one and must say that I have not noticed any brake dust yet. But we only have about 2500 km on it.
I do know what it looks like, as our Volvo S60 produced a lot of it...and that car had hardly any assistants. Certainly not Steering or Lane Keeping assist.





