youforia

Wife just called and said the local mercedes dealership charged us $1411 for new brake pads & rotors on her '03 ML500. Are you kidding me?! Are we getting ripped here or is this what the normal cost is?

Jjjakc

I just payed about the same price to fix the brakes for my 2003 ML 350 last month. The annoying thing is, I only had 13,000 miles on it. I found it hard to believe that they insisted on changing the rotors too since i hardly ever drive the car.

ViKTORiOUS

Rip off, take it to a private mechanic who works on Mercedes, I was paying around 900 for this, until my mechanic charged me 500 for the new rotors and pads.

dtxmob

Just got my brake and rotors changed for $1000 @ a local tuner shop! Although it was my S430!

Radomir

Last time I had this done I bought pads and rotors from germanstar for around 450 and paid a mechanic another 200 to replace 'em all.. so 650 total.. brembo rotors and mintex pads. right around 30k miles since then.. and still going...

m500

Same quote I got from my local Dealer. I went to Brakeworld to purchase 4 Rotex gold pad, 4 rotors and 4 sensor from my Local Mechanics plus install for around $650.00

gsfent

Did you get a written estimate BEFORE any work was done?? Under $1000 at any indy, whole job shouldn't take much more than an hour to an hour and a half.
Regards,
Jerry

Darkmann

No, you didn't get ripped off. That's the cost +/- a few at various OEM shops around the country. Like others have pointed out, local shops will do it for less and it's even better if you DIY.

Next time around, come here (or all the other ML forums) and do a search or ask about brake service. You'll find out that a lot of people, even the tool challenged ones, have done this DIY at a big fraction of the cost. The beauty with DIY on this is that you don't have to contend with the OEM pads which dust up the wheels very quickly.

Chiggro

my dad hasn't gone for a brake job yet, but its gonna be costly, plus we're in canada..

Billiken

Dealership qouted me $1300 for pad/rotors on my 2000 ML320.

"Front rotors below spec."
(At 11.6 vs 12.0, IIRC).

The pad/rotors have 30k miles on them.

Frankly, I'm going to wait for brake squeel or the sensor light.

tenmikemike

And I just saw a set of four cross-drilled rotors for the ML series on Ebay for $175. Add the cost of four aftermarket pads and do the math! YES, it is a ripoff!!

auto art

mine need to be changed very soon also. Why is everyone changing their discs, can't you just get them resurficed and do pads. My car is still under warranty, i know the pads are not covered, but i dont know about the discs.I better start lookin for deals. I wounder what midas would charge?

auto art

i just looked at the tire rack site and found front pads for 39.00 and discs for 57 ea. so the total for the front would be 153.00 without tax or shipping.

tenmikemike

Well, I've owned my '02 ML500 for three weeks and the brakes stop fine. However out of curiosity I ran my fingers over the rotors (old habit. I think it helps me assess how the previous owner treated her) and felt some SERIOUS grooving on all four wheels. It wasn't anything sharp, just rounded mountain ranges, but enough that the next change will be both pads and rotors!

hanniep

Go to a private Mech and you will pay 4 or $500 less than that, MB dealer s charge $100 per/hr private Mech's are @$85, it's the labor charge that kills you!

Tommy_s4

welcome to mercedes, you wont enjoy your stay

GordonTse

my dad got charged $90/hour CAD. $19xx, 4 pads, 2 rotors, ??/sensors. and only 25,xxx km's when it got done..

fkong777

Just did brakes on my S430. cost me $100 for pads shipped.. DIY. Done.

This is the most profitable job for the dealer.. with all new part it can be done in 1 hour. mark up on brake pads, mark up on rotors. charge 1.5 hour each axle..

BigGar

Dang

I just paid $219 for a set of 4 slotted and drilled rotors on eBay. Shipping and another $79 for the pads set me back about $330. Still not too bad. They look like a cakewalk to get mounted once I get 'em.



Gar

GordonTse

oops.. edit my ost above.. the price was actually $1,092 CAD.. 4 pads, 2 rotors, and ?? amount of sensors.. $3xx.00 of that $1,092 was labour

jdogg_scarbro

i bought pads for my 2000 ML430 for $85 for the set for the front from an aftermarket parts place and my dad put them in for free got the sensors from the dealership for 13 bucks. I asked Mercedes if they thought my dad who works on his own cars which are domestic could change the brakes on it and they were like nooo way not on a mercedes....B f'in SSSSSSSSS cost me bout 100 bucks total to change the front brakes

fkong777

Mercedes brakes that use the square shape pads are actually easier to install than most brakes out there. To to the W220 section. I did a write up on the brake change.

well here is a link.. got plenty of pics. ML brakes should not be that different. https://mbworld.org/forums/s-class-w220/169374-brake-job-instructions.html

sdanville

buy your pads on Ebay for under $100.
then bring me a 12 pack and $50. I'll have them on in an hour.
I jack it up you take off the tires- i throw on the pads, you put in the tires.

This is what I do for my buddies...without the $50. Just for a 12 pack.
I am in Michigan.

tromar1

Yeah...the cost to do rotors and brakes is costly. Private MB shop will be alot less.

Personally, I make friends everywhere I go and do biz. I strategically become friendly with the workers. This has enabled me to get both my ML350 and C240 brakes and rotors done for a headunit I wasn't using. Granted, it was an AVIC N2...That covered the C240...but the ML only cost me $50...

Next, my oil change is only $80 for both. Lesson learn, don't act snobbish when around the people that do the work we don't do...smile and always shake a hand no matter how dirty (soap is for cleaning after)...and always negotiate everything. If the dealer or shop had the opportunity to take advantage, they will. So I'm not worried if a tech tells me to bring the car later and they'll do it for peanuts. (Don't want anyone to preach to me so please keep the ethics crap to a minimum)

BigGar

Got the rotors and pads in the mail yesterday. IRotors.com off eBay. The fit perfectly and seemed to be of high quality. Easy install of the slotted and cross drilled rotors front and back. $337 to my door for everything. I was certain that the products would likely show up with "Made in China" on 'em, but they were actually of Italian decent
I'm quite pleased.




Gar