Dale

I am completing the purchase of a 1995 MB S500 Coupe. Its in great shape but needs or will need several things... the dealership said.... will need Front and Rear brak rotors and pads when light comes on, the Next Service due would be a major...

Front and rear pads no prob but why replace the rotors too? I examined them myself and see no problems.
What do they mean by Next Service would be a major?

Any other tips and sugestions as to the care and feeding of an S500 I would greatly appreciate. This is my first MB and I do plan on keeping it along time.

Thanks

Fuzzo

i don't know much about these cars but is this car an MB certified car? The only leary feeling I get from your post is that if the dealership is telling you of the issues it has, i wonder what other issues it has and that they are not telling you about... Ok that probably didn't make sense.. let me try again

from my experience with car dealers, there is never anythign wrong with the cars on their lot (according to them) they are all perfect and have gone through their 1 million point inspection and what not.. now if a dealer tells me that there is issues with the car.. i usually worry because there maybe some serious issues with the car and they are just covering their butts letting me know of the problems "they have encountered"

the good side to it is if you are getting a really really good deal on it, then the money you spend fixing/maintaining it may be worth it ....

Dale

The car is being sold by an individual. I had it taken to a local dealer and had them check the car out... the owner told me about the brakes being old and would need replacement soon.

My real question I guess is the dealer telling me that both breaks and roters need to be replaced. I can understand brake pads but why replace the rotors?? As far as I know rotors don't go bad unless they have been turned too many times and can not be turned again and that is not discovered until they are removed.

I also had the dealer check the compression and thats all ok.
Bu the AC is low, the previous owner had the in-dash condenser replaced last year and now with low AC that also has me questioning whats up with that... well I will figure that out later

But the car is priced right and looks premo so I figure if I dump 2-5k into it I am ahead of the curve. I just do not want to be taken advantage of thats all :-)

Thanks for the reply.

Fuzzo

hmmm....not really sure what to tell you other than take it to garage that you know and trust... either way you are taking a risk with buying a used car.. so it's a good thing that you have kept some money aside for the repairs that may come up.. atleast the owner seems to be telling you what he/she knows...

i would take it to place that I know and trust to give me the right information... and then if the price is right and you think it's a good deal.. i would go for it...

Hal H

Mercedes uses a harder brake pad material which seems to wear brake disc rotors. The W140 chassis is a really heavy car - I remember the automotive press complaining about the brakes being just adequate for such a heavy car when this model made its debut.

So it's not unusual; the lighter MB models seem to make it to the 2nd brake pad change and then requiring rotor replacements.

(BTW, my '92 GM car had its rear disc brake pads replaced @ 94,000 for the first time and the rotors had to be replaced - my fronts were okay for re-surfacing at 72,000 for comparison)

The A/C system probably has a small leak that wasn't detected when the system was serviced, with a 7+ year old car that isn't too unusual to have to charge up with additional refrigerant.

suginami

All Mercedes, including the 140 chasis, have great breaking ability.

The rotors and pads are very soft. The rotors are made from a softer metal, and MB doesn't allow their rotors to be turned, so when they get within minimum spec (it's stamped on the rotor), you have to replace them. Also, you need to replace the pads with original pads. If not, your brakes will squeak like crazy.

Early 140's (92-94, maybe 95) had terrible quality problems, and MB had to institute a quality program to fix the glitches. The most significant problem was the evaporator. You said condensor, but probably meant evaporator. The whole car seems to be built around the evaporator, requiring about 20 hours of labor to remove the whole dash to replace it. It's about a $4,500 job at the dealer. You'd better hope and pray that it's not the evaporator leaking again.

Regarding service, follow the prescribed maintenance in the manual. Every 30,000 miles is a major service and virtually every fluid is changed, filters are replaced, plugs are changed. All of the maintenance in Mercedes is done on mileage, and is laid out in your maintenance book, except for two items, which are done on time - radiator coolant and brake fluid replacement. Radiator coolant is to be replaced every 3 years, and brake fluid every 2 years. Stay with Mercedes coolant - it is orange, not green like most other fluids.

Also, I highly recommend using the dealer or a Mercedes Benz only independent. These cars are different are require special knowledge / care.

Good luck.

Fuzzo

Did you end up buying the car??

Dale

well so far I am happy
Got the car into my mitts yesterday after signing my life away to the bank for another 4 years...

It's quite a change from driving my Diesel PU for 4 years. In a few months I'll let everyone know how I feel it stacks up to Jaguars and BMW's (I'v had both before).

Shop Manuals - does the dealer sell them?? or is there anaftermarket supply ?? while i don't plan on doing the major work on the vehicale I like being able to figure out the problem and double check the shop that is doing the work.

Thanks again for all the answers everyone

suginami

You can buy manuals and cd roms at:

www.mercedesshop.com

Fuzzo

make sure you post pics when you get a chance... i really like the S coupes... what color is it by the way?

Dale

Well It is Smoke-Silver with a light tan interior.

I washed it yesterday and there are a few little scratches that I am going to touch up other than those and the front grill being all pitted (suspect gravel impacts) it's prety nice. The car was originally a lease in Texas then the fellow here in StL bought it last year and put about 10k miles on it. and Now it's mine

The power Antennas do not work and they look to be vacume so I just have to trace that down. So far that is the only thing that does not seem to work.

Thanks everyone for all the answers to questions. I'll post a PIC when I get one.