thphon

Hi guys,

I posted the following question on the general C217 before because I didn't realize there was a specific subforum:
I'm considering buying a 2015 S65 coupe with 40k miles. Since I can get an extended warranty I'm not concerned about too much but there's one thing that worries me, probably out of ignorance.
The car has carbon ceramic brakes and it was confirmed by the dealer that they were not replaced and the report says they meet, at least, the following criteria:
- brake pads/shoes/hardware (shoes 2/32" min. thickness; pads 4/32" min. thickness; free of cracks, excessive tapering; clean and lubricated)
- brake rotors/drums (meets OEM min. thickness/max. diameter; no excessive vibration, free of excessive rust, grooves, pits, hot spots)
I think pads are like $4k and rotors like $20k and I'm assuming the previous owner sold it before the pads were worn, like it usually happens. Can you guesstimate how much life both have assuming it was not abused?
I believe the average lifespan of pads is 50k and rotors 100k always assuming not being abused.
As an option can be easily downgraded to conventional brakes when the time comes?
I called the closest dealership here in Central Florida and I was told that for these cars the pads and rotors should last one or two years tops and that's a really bad idea to downgrade to conventional brakes. I found a post from several years ago where a guy was told the exact same thing but in reality it was very different, it seems the dealerships didn't change their speech...

Any info will be greatly appreciated.

haa

Ceramic rotors should last at least 100K. Even the steel disks can last that long, You can switch to conventional brakes but not cheap either.
This should give you and idea on the price difference in the pads and rotors

https://mercteil.com/product/retrofi...-s-class-coupe

https://mercteil.com/product/retrofi...-s-class-coupe

https://mercteil.com/product/retrofi...-s-class-coupe

okbarnett

Ive never seen a iron rotor last 100k on any car. So I dont know if your 100k ceramic is accurate either.

thphon

I take it S63 and S65 here is the same, right?
Conventionals are less than half, so I would definitely want to take that route, specially if it doesn't last at least 100k. How involved is the switch?

Thanks

haa

I have 72K miles on my 2017 S63 Cab (Edition 130) and rotors still good. Went through 2 sets of brake pads so far. The AMG steel rotors have wear grooves (swirls) drilled on the surface. As long as you can see those swirls, your rotors are within specs.

haa

you have to replace the brake calipers and purchase the whole kit and not just the rotors and pads. Dealer would also have to reprogram your car via MB STAR system and update your VIN to non-ceramic brakes for your warranty to stay valid and your ABS to work properly.

haa

Sorry posted duplicate

thphon

I got the first part and good to know after 72k the rotors are still good, but are they ceramic? I get confused because later you say AMG steel rotors, would these be the ceramic of the conventional ones?
Sorry if it's a silly question but this is new territory to me and I'm not familiar with the terminology

thphon

ok, it's clearly doable but the dealership I spoke to told me to avoid that as if it was a really bad idea...

okbarnett

Thats not the way to spec a rotor.
All rotors have minimum thickness stamped on them; mine 34mm . I was washing my wheels today, My regular S550 has 25k mi rotors. I measured them with my primitive caliper and they are 35 'or less' Which is too thin.out of spec. So the next time the dealer sees them he is going to say I need brakes. He will be right. But S550 only cost about $1k for everything. So a S63 has much more expensive rotors. My 2 piece SL rotors were $2K each, I bet the same for S63. So they may be cheaper than ceramic but still costly. You dont know anything until you check the rotor spec then measure them, 20k mi or 100k mi. Not measured in years either.

thphon

Thanks for the info.
I didn't clarify before but the car is in CA and I live in FL, I can't tell if if they are incompetent or withholding information to be honest.
I just got pictures of the tires, they put 2 new ones and the date on them certify that and the ones already on the car are from early '18. So I'm slowly getting more info at least.

okbarnett

is it at a MB dealer? is it CPO?

thphon

it's a CarMax actually, I already experienced their extended warranty on a 2007 SL550 and they covered everything mechanical (except some specific wear and tear items), ranging from engine mounts to ABC components and hard top mechanism.
That's why I'm leaning more towards the incompetency.
I just heard back from Racing brake (in one of the post it was recommended) and they as well it should last at least 100k if not abused and that in can be converted to iron brakes for reasonable money. I think at the very least I'll flight to CA to check it out, this car is definitely worth the flight ticket and my time hehe.

haa

I have 72K Miles on the AMG steel rotors

thphon

ah ok, and you think ceramics should last longer, right?

okbarnett

Well I would only consider a car after I took it to a dealer and had them do a complete (cpo) inspection, that would include all brake specs and also see the star maintenance history from mb

thphon

you know what, you reminded me of that, I can try to take it to a dealer in the same city. There's a 7 day money back guarantee. I'll find out if I can do it once I get back home just in case but I doubt it, because I'd be putting on the car around 2.5k in that trip

okbarnett

I would tell them that is what Im going to do before I will buy it, then take it and get it inspected, if its ok I would go back to the dealer and buy it.
And Ive done it before. Call the dealer and set it up first. Ive had car dealers take it and get it inspected for me, and I talked it thru with the service dept, then we made the deal.

thphon

yeah, I can definitely try that, I don't know why I didn't think of that before... and the dealership is a mile away in this case, so it should be able to work.
Thanks!

okbarnett

I would set it up and talk with the service mgr and make sure he knows what you want. Make sure they check and report on everyting. And have it inspected before I would buy it. And they may even say it can be cpo ed. If its in the computer as qualifying, they can do it at any dealer.

thphon

I went to the store, I was about to buy the car with the loan approved and everything and I realized they wanted to charge me CA taxes, when over the phone I told them I was going to drive it back to FL to register it there...
After a heated argument, since it was their fault that I went all the way there, they agreed to pay for my useless trips plus shipping to a store nearby me. So I won't have the car for another 3 weeks (at least) and I went to LA and came back in less than 24 hours senselessly, you can imagine how mad I am...
The bright side, I can arrange with time to take it to a MB dealer nearby in advance.

TECHNICIAN

Ceramic rotors are not measured for thickness to check for wear. They must be removed and weighed to determine if they are worn out

okbarnett

youch, there must be some thickness spec to check the wear. Or some visual inspection to notice if they are wearing too much.

When you buy a car out of state, you must pay fl sales tax. It has to be pd when you get the tag at the dmv. So the out of state dealer can collect that amount or not, then they would send that $ to florida and it would be noted as pd when you get the tag. Or they dont collect it, and it is noted as unpd when you get the tag and you pay it then. So you never pay calif tax, you pay your fla tax.

thphon

one would think, but it turns out that CA has no reciprocity agreement with FL so that can't happen, or so the dealership said

thphon

interesting, do you know what's the minimum weight or any other measure to have as baseline?
Thanks