I have a 2012 GL 550 with 26,000 miles. I purchased the vehicle certified preowned at 14,000 miles. Shortly after I bought it, the brakes began squeaking really bad. Dealer A serviced it under warranty and stopped the squeaking. Now the squeaking has recurred, a rather loud and annoying squeal. Dealer B states that the rotors have a "lip" on them and he can stop the noise only by replacing brake pads and rotors (front only) at a cost of $750. He adamantly declines to cover any of the cost under warranty. He says, also, Mercedes brake components are made of softer materials than other, more mainstream automobile brands, and that I should not expect my brakes to last as long as Ford or Chevrolet brakes. In addition, he said my brake fluid was "dirty" at 26,000 mi and should be replaced also, though he did cover that under the prepaid maintenance plan.
Does anybody have any thoughts? This car seems too new to have all these brake issues. Is the dealer missing something? Thanks!

 

Depending on your driving style it "could" need brakes.


Probably the easiest way to fix it is to have an indy do the brakes for about 1/2 the dealer cost.




Brake fluid is changed by time not miles. At 2 years it is due, but should not be "dirty" and will have no effect of noise.

 

Thanks for the info. Actually, the service tech described the pads as having greater than 50% life left. He described the "lip" on the rotor as the source of the brake noise, and he said the brake stopping performance should not be affected. I agree dirty fluid is not likely to cause noise, just thought it odd that it was "very dirty" per service tech. Concerned as to what the source of the "dirt" is. Unfortunately, the first 14,000 miles were with a previous owner, and the driving style is unknown.

 

Seems a bit odd, because MB brakes (Both pads and rotors) seems very soft, adding to wear and dust, but usually cutting down on noise.
The ridge is normal and should not add to the noise.
If you are handy you can pull the bads, lightly sand them and reinstall re-bed them and see if the noise goes away.


Does the fluid look "dirty" to you?

 

Squeaking comes if the brake grease wasn't applied good on the pads outer side where caliper pushes the pad in and out, or also if cheap grease was used, I would recommend googling the best German repair indy shop in your area and just go and tell them you just bought this car few thousand miles ago and looks like Pads needs to be greased, because mostly these mechanics and service advisor take you for a ride if you sound dumb, so before even thinking of investing $750 try the $100 - $150 route and I am positive applying grease would eliminate the noise, and just FYI if rotor has a lip then whenever you brake at high speed you would get wobbling in your brake pedal, but its my 2cent I am not an expert just a suggestion, because I own a 2007 GL and it got 90000 miles and I bought it when it was 120000 miles so I am a veteran victim of these junk GL's.

And last to last the pads will also squeak if the pads are after market and I believe you got these car at 14000 miles so I am assuming it could be lease return so the pads could be from Autozone\Napa the reason is people just try to patch up the lease car with as low money as they could....Just verify that as well and if it is then you gotta spend $750.00 to get rid of that noise..

And not sure when your warranty is over so its better to find a indy and keep taking your car every 3 months to him and pay him $100 for a thorough inspection so that you can claim the warranty don't be under impression that dealers will tell you if something is wrong you gotta tell them what is wrong and they don't do a detail job in looking whats leaking and whats bad, until you are out of Warranty

And a million dollar advice if you want to keep this car for long then never keep it out of warranty...Try saving the money from today itself so that you can try to purchase the MB extended warranty if available if not then 3rd party warranty which can cost you upto $4-5000 for 3-4years.

 

Thanks for everybody's help. Don't know if fluid looks dirty. Wife took car in at out of town dealer, and dealer still has it. There is no pulsating or wobbling of brake pedal at any speed. I live rural, so there are no independent German repair shops in town. Even closest MB dealer is 80 miles away. I pretty much have decided to replace front rotors and brake pads myself. From research online, it looks like I can get quality parts for $225-250. Although servicing dealer is replacing brake fluid under prepaid maintenance plan, he will not tackle the squeak under warranty at all, not even on a prorated basis. He says MB only covers those issues for 12 months or 12,000 miles. I did buy extended warranty through MB at time of purchase, but none of that is doing me any good at the moment. Again , thanks everybody!

 

I am not a DIYer but if you can do it then why not, anyways you can get the parts for cheap from the below website they are Mercedes Dealers based of Oregon, and they ship the parts from that dealership or sometimes directly from the MB Warehouse I have dealt with them in past and they are awesome and also they give MB Warranty....

And when you order your pads and rotors make sure you order the Cooper grease packet it is usually free but just make sure you remind them or get it added, and also if you find it hard take the parts to the local mechanic and ask them to swap it

http://www.mbzwholesaleparts.com/

 

Thanks - I will check out those parts at the website. I was just disappointed dealer completely shrugged off warranty coverage and also concerned about the "very dirty" brake fluid. Thanks again!

 

Wear and tear is not covered under MB Warranty, and if they put new it is only covered for 12Monts/12000miles so they are right from their point of view, about Brake fluid get that changed because usually it goes for 2years only so better get that change the reason is for some reason your brake fails it wont be covered under warranty they will blame you for not doing periodic maintenance. And anyways its free so make an appointment for next Saturday and tell them you will wait while the job is done.

 

Thanks!

 

Just a little disappointed that I am replacing rotors at 26,000 miles for squeaking. This is my first MB. Never replaced a rotor at 26,000 miles with my other non-MB vehicles in 48 yrs of life.

 

HEHEHEHHEHEH Welcome to the Club of expenses.......Dont want to sound scary but this is the beginning.....

I am trading of my POS with LEXUS LX570 once I am back from Vacation..... I am ready to compromise with 3rd Row seat....But this reliability is getting a headache. Since 5 years there has been no 4 months gone I without visiting the Mechanic....So far I have spent 14000 on this car for Maintenance repairs and repairs not covered by warranty and for Warranty, and if I add warranty repairs then this 14000 would turn up to 24000....

You wont believe my SA quietly whispered in my ear saying dude get rid of this S.H.I.T and get yourself a Lexus you will be much happier.

 

Ah, "Lexus", where you get to pay Mercedes like prices for Toyota like reliability.


My GL320 came to me with 96K miles and in the last 14 months and 12K miles has already cost me $132 in unexpected repairs.

 

It is probably not the rotors.

 

CMARSHACK did a nice DIY on the front brakes:


https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...kes-front.html


I did all four rotors (and of course pads) on my wife's 2010 GL550 several months ago. I used Akebono pads and they have been great. No noise, no dust and same/better performance than OEM. I elected to get drilled/slotted rotors so I paid a little more.


If your front wheels get loads of brake dust, this is your chance to move away from the OEM pads and move away from dirty front wheels!

 

We drove for 25k miles (1.5years) and didn't do anything with the brakes other than visual pad inspection. They just work and they work great. But it is almost could be my driving style. I use brakes as little as possible.

 

@N_Jay that is 100% true and to the point comment I really liked it LOL.......
But again there are majority of people who got pinched by these repair expenses, and things falling apart in GL's as early as 40000 miles is a shame for MB Brand. Things use to be good until 2004 but no more....

All I can say is :- Ah, "Mercedes", where you get to pay Mercedes like prices for FORD\GM like reliability.

FYI > https://mbworld.org/forums/gl-class-...65k-miles.html

 

Thanks for everybody's help. I am going to do a DIY brake pad/front rotor job and see if that eliminates the squeak. I will update this thread with the outcome. Thanks again!

 

After some sweet talking of Mercedes Customer Care, they replaced the front rotors and brake pads free of charge. Squeaking got significantly better but was not completely eliminated. Interested to see how long the squeaking remains subdued before it cranks up again! Thanks for everybody's input!

 

Lol. New rotors because if squeaking. Idiots.

The lip on the rotors is by default and is not the source of your problem.

The problem is either a worn rear inside brake pad or dirty brakes. Do couple hard stops from 50-60mph to 20-30mph (do not come to a stop) and observe. Did the noise disappear? Dirty brakes. Got worse? Worn pads.

It could be also glazing, but I don't think the gls are taken to the track anyway so... Unlikely.

 

Thanks, alx. I will try that!