tomd

I know I'm beating a dead horse, but I'm hoping someone can offer some advice on the topic of brake dust. It seems that my 2009 S class gives off even more dust than my earlier MBs.

So much so, I am switching from the standard wheels (7 split spokes) to the S600 wheels which should be easier to keep clean. Up to now I was cleaning the wheels every 2 days and it takes about 20 minutes to get all the dust from between the spokes in the standard wheels.

I am using Wheel Wax (which helps) and I am aware of Brake dust covers, but would prefer to avoid them.

Mercedes won't even admit to the annoyance of their asbestos free pads. (European evironmental extremism). Nowhere near the problem with American or Japanese pads

Any ideas????? Thanks

AustinGuy

I too had the same issue with my 08 S550. I too put on wheel wax but it didn't help at all.

I just bought an S63 and after a 3 hr. drive from Dallas to Austin the wheels were covered in brake dust - so much so that they looked completely grey. I'm hoping this was just from the initial break-in since the car only had 7 miles when I drove it off the lot...... Also.... the S63's rotors/pads seem to be twice the size of the S550, so it probably produces twice as much dust

RajwanyS550

[QUOTE=tomd;3025172]I know I'm beating a dead horse, but I'm hoping someone can offer some advice on the topic of brake dust. It seems that my 2009 S class gives off even more dust than my earlier MBs.




its probably initial problem, after 4000 miles, i do not have the dust problem.
patience

AustinGuy

That's good to know!

I guess I better start driving it. The only issue is that the place where I work (where my client is located) does not have a covered lot + I don't want my clients to know what I drive - sends the wrong impression and probaly makes people look at you a little differently...

WSH

030 wheels have inner edges painted a dark ?titanium...hides the brake dust to some extent...

15K mis on my current CL...still produces same amt of brake dust as when <1K mis....but IMO brake dust is honorable patina of exuberant driving...

AustinGuy

vig168

i just learned a thing or two from the porsche guys. basically you can't eliminate brake dust unless you have ceramic brakes. but you can reduce them greatly by using ceramic brake pads such as Carbotech's BobCat. i am trying to find out myself what ceramic brake pads are out there.

trumpet1

I wonder if Pam cooking spray , lightly applied and spread with a cloth, would help make it easier to get off between cleanings? The dust might not adhere as easily either. I put it on the front fairing of my motorcycle to keep bugs (and splattered guts) from damaging and sticking to the paint. Lovebugs here in the south are really bad this time of year and they will literally eat the paint off of your car/motorcycle.

lkirchner

And you can probably cook a burger after hard driving with pam on your wheels. The pam will only keep the dust adhering better to your wheels. The only good solution is to change the pads. I put Akebno (spelling?) pads on my car and the dusting problem is almost non existent. The wheel wax is an absolute joke!!!

trumpet1

I guess I'm just lucky because I don't have a brake dust problem. HOWEVER, my wife's C350 has a notorious problem with it on her rear wheels only. In the past, she had problems with it on the front wheels. I also think she is a very aggressive driver (drives too close to the person in front of her and probably is a jack rabbit driver. And men have the higher insurance rates Don't get me started on this topic.

tomd

You know it! I am a computer consultant and will not drive either the S550 or CL550 to a new client's site. I take my Pilot.
And on the road, people are a lot less hostile when I drive the Honda.
I had a 70ish year old woman give me the finger yesterday when I was just driving the S550. Of course the "McCain 08" hat in the back window may have had something to do with it. But my Pilot has one as well.

vig168

one very effective way to clean it is using a leaf blower, as i just found out

tomd

Now THAT is a unique idea! Gotta try it. Thanks

trumpet1

This is eerily strange and odd. About 6 months ago, I had something weird happen to me very similar to your story. A car with 3 people in it had a 60+ year old in it on the passenger side and she flipped me off too. I still don't know why she did this. They strongly tailgated me on a 40mph zone road and I knew something was going on. After she flipped me off, I got out of my car to see if someone had placed a bumper sticker or some other type of offensive message on it . I wanted to chase them down and rip them a new one but they were behind me and zipped off a turn and traffic was thick so I had no room to maneuver.
I still have no explanation for the rage she /they had towards me. I did nothing and they didn't seem to look like the jealous type or anything. I actually thought it might be someone I knew that was playing around but this was 30 miles from my house.

I'm a dentist and I get flack all the time about my car. People are just pitiful sometimes.

vig168

i was at one time concerned about the 'perception' problem from my employees and neighbors by driving expensive cars, my controller suggested i ordered a name plate that says I TOOK RISKS

tomd

I did see a bumpersticker on a large SUV that I liked as well. It read "MY carbon footprint is bigger than yours"

IngenereAMG

I have been using Porterfield's R4S compound on most of my cars and the brake dust is greatly reduced, but the stopping power isn't.

jagata

I agree 100% I been using porterfield on all my past and present cars, they are very low dust and stop excellent.