Premature rear brake pad wear
 

I have a 2015 GL350 with 45k miles. Recently, the Check Brake Wear warning light came on. I pulled the front wheels and there is plenty of pad left, perhaps 40%. Certainly at least 30%. In either event, not enough to turn on the warning light unless MB is trying to make a few bucks changing pads that don't really need it.

I then pulled a rear wheel and found that the rear pads are, indeed, getting down to where they need replacement. I find this odd for two reasons. First, 45k miles seems a bit early to wear through a set of pads, though I'm sure stopping a 5600# truck tends to wear out pads. The second thing, and I find this even more odd, is that it's the rear pads that are wearing out long before the fronts. I'm thinking that just shouldn't happen.

I tow more than occasionally and that certainly could contribute to faster than normal brake pad wear even though the trailer has brakes. But, it's still very odd that the rears are wearing quicker than the fronts.

Does anyone have any idea why the rears would wear faster than the fronts?

If you tow - and or "fully loaded" 45K is admirable - and front brakes good at 45K are exceptional.

At weight - brake system is compensating with more force/blance to the rear brakes for load balance - with tow/hitch - rear SAM is compensates on the individual rears as needed to prevent as lateral rear load with trailer changes - to prevent see/saw.

Keep in mind that this car with options like lane keep assist over works rear brakes all the time. I have the same issue with both tire wear and brake wear for the rear. Also I notice in mbs when the rotors thin out due to wear you may get this message which unfortunately means both pad and rotor replacement.

Also at those Milages you are doing better than most, tow or not, as Fab mentioned.

Rear pads wear faster. It's heavy. More than normal for pads at 45k front or rear... or much, much sooner. Nothing mysterious other than you need to get them replaced.

I did some googling and some people are saying MB uses thinner pads on the rears now? I wonder if going with non-MB replacement pads in this case might be worth considering.

Okay, thanks, though what's "rear SAM?"

Smaller & thinner rear pads....basically yes, on the newer vehicles. Stability control (whatever they are called these days) uses brakes and other mechanisms to basically keep the vehicle safely on the road. Aggressive driving, especially taking corners fast or driving on slippery surfaces, will put the stability control to work, thereby increasing brake wear. Clear as mud?

35k miles on my 2013 and I just got the brake pad wear alert. It's for my rears too. I was surprised like DogHauler. I always thought fronts wore out first.

After reading this thread....I now know the real deal.

It was bizarre to me too, but I had to replace the rear pads on my GL 550 at 30,000 miles. The front pads are still going strong.

Rear pads at <30K, front pads/rotors just now at 34+k ..

GL63 here and I'll be dammed if I get 10,000 miles out of my rear pads before the light comes on for pad wear. Usually about that time I need new tires also.

We're on our 3rd GL and I can tell you that the GL goes through tires (and brakes) fast. Our '15 GL450 has 18k miles and it needs new shoes already. Soft OEM Continental tires + heavy vehicle=quick tire wear!

41K miles, just installed 2nd set of rear pads compared to none for the fronts.

Bumping a slightly old thread my rear pads recently went at 24K on '14 GL350. I assume it's from my city driving but I am not impressed with the life (or the replacement cost). The front are still about 1/2 there.

Just changed our rear pads last week. 28K miles. DIY, not hard.

What I realized was that ONLY the passenger rear inner pad was worn. Coincidentally, this is the one with the sensor. The rest of the pads had at least 20k miles left on them.

Went with OE from getmercedesparts.com. Not cheap.

In my case, it was lane keeping assist pulsing rear brakes. This is my wife's car so no comments...I turned off LKA.

350gunner: Do you have LKA turned on?

Does this void your warranty?

Not sure how this will void warranty. Please elaborate.

Not sure either so I cannot elaborate. My question is, will it void the warranty?

I don't know. It's just brake pads. I used oe pads and sensor. Have receipts. Many forum members have done this replacement. I sure hope Mercedes is not trivial to void warranty over a brake pad change, esp when using oe.

I had the same issue where only rear/passenger/inside pad worn out. I blamed on a stuck sliding pin. MB replaced rear pads at their cost. I did too turn off active lane tracking.

I have noticed that if I have Cruise Control (non active) on and go down a hill, the brakes will slow down the speed if it exceeds the set speed.

Now I turn it off and let it speed up a little.

Uneven brake pad wear-inner wear most plus uneven wear
 

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...8b16b8c51.jpeg

W222 S63 Uneven rear brake pad
 

This is the second time changing the rear brake pads at 41K while the front ones are still going strong. What I I don’t get is that why are the driver side pads wearing out unevenly, mostly the inner pad while the passenger side pads has barely any wear. I then resurfaced my rotors and changed the pads. Now I noticed the same uneven pattern wear on BOTH driver and passenger side pads..

I found this video. My calipers are good.
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...69959ff9b.jpeg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...4b6ff7927.jpeg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...a4925e46a.jpeg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...695228c5f.jpeg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...351a60339.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...a6bdea00b.jpeg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mbw...d5a3c53a0.jpeg
Not sure if the pins could be the problem.
local repair guy says it’s the lane assist that’s causes uneven wear? Is that true? What could be the problem here.

GLC300 rear pads and rotors
 

32k kms, rear pads and rotors, $700 Canadian. I was told it’s normal by the Mercedes dealer. Ouch!