I got off phone with dealer and said that the low speed squeel from brakes was due to "Over Heated Rotors" and it will be $900 for the fronts. I said no way only 13K on car and have been complaining since 10K and it is my fault? No way. I said these are the largest, best brakes on market, my car has never been raced, if this is true I over heated from normall driving then I told him to keep the car. I was not told the brakes would squeel when I bought it.

He then said he would talk to service manager to get covered from warrenty. I am waiting to hear back.

What is your guy's thought on this? I did buy car to drive hard, but there is not much you can do on the street. If I end up paying for new brakes I will be disappointed that I did not drive the old brakes harder first. What a waste. I have grannied my car and now brakes????

I also am installing the rear deck wing, crome light trim today and next week ECU, Pulley, Headers. Does any one have the under drive pulley kit on E55? If so do you loose any thing like a/c spped or temp?

 

Unless you are excessively driving it hard, the brakes should endure it... besides, you're on the streets. You're not at the track or anything.

I think that's pretty rediculous of what your dealer's saying. Hope it turns out well.

 

Thank you for you reply. I get a new car every 2 years and I started with honda civic's, toyota camery's and trucks all those cars front brakes sucked. 10K-15K miles then new rotors. That all went away when i purchased my first lexus then my first MBZ all with no brake problems. In fact I have 99K miles on a GS400 and I can not remember the last time I changed the brakes, let alone the rotors.

Now the E55 claims best on market? I will be sure the dealer puts on new brakes and rotors. Now that they have called them out to be a problem I will bark until replaced.

If anyone else has had to replace rotors in 13K miles or less please let me know and know why? And did dealer do under warrenty?

 

I just got off phone with service guy. Said They will do a one time good faith replacment of the rotors and pads. So it looks like in about 2 hours I will have all new brakes on my E55. :p

 

low speed squeek from brakes is not a sign that you need new brakes or rotors..


I would be highly suspect of anyone who told you this let alone a service manager...

Rotors will have either visible cracks in them, or be measured for a minimum rotor thickness.

Squeeks can be caused by a multitude of things, i suggest you get up to about 40 mph and do a panic stop.. this will scrape all the crap off your rotors and pads, and probably make the squeek stop.

 

Signal is right. I'm sure a good percentage of W211 owners experience the infamous brake squeal - Even I do. I've read stories about doing a moderately high speed run on an open road and do a panic stop, which (I've heard) will kill the squeal temporarily.

 

They said the over heating makes them blue that makes the blue spots squeek at slow speed with no brake applied. I called BS as well and I think that is why they replaced. This is the 3rd time in for same noise and they had no other thing to look at to fix but to replace. I think if they admit is was a problem then all would want replaced so they said it was my fault.

 

Mine were smoked after 5,500mi and replaced under warrantie.

Regards,
Manuel

 

1) When my S55 and C32 needed brakes, both started to squeal at low speeds and both had very loud groaning sounds due to the worn rotor.

2) I love to hear people say keep the car for items that are worn out by the owner. Is a brake rotor covered past 12k miles or 1 year? No. In this you got lucky but sometimes it works better to just take the hit and move on. I went through a set of pads and rotors every 10-12k on my c32 so you are not outside normal usage for these parts. If you drive quickly (at all....) you will wear the brakes out very quickly.

When you say I don’t want the car back you put the service writer, service manager and regional rep into a position where they will go out of their way to stick it to you. Being polite and respectful has always gotten me better treatment than saying keep the car.

Luckily they covered the front pads and rotors for these things are not cheap! I see a lip forming on my rotors and I have 12k miles (mostly freeway driving). I bet I will needs pads and rotors in about 5k miles.

It looks like they did a good will repair since the rotors had JUST passed the warranty period. I think it is normal for a dealership/ mb to give one free set of rotors but I think it wont happen twice

 

What dealer are you taking your car to, if you dont mind me asking?

 

My brakes and rotors were replaced at 9400 miles under warranty after some initial hesitancy by the dealer. They changed their tune when I said to put the wheels back on because I intended to take the car elsewhere for the brakework. I had visible cracks all over the front rotors but did track the car on those rotors twice.

 

Caliber their are great and have taken care of me.

 

guys, i feel the need to clarify my post...

Worn out pads or rotors is not a nebulus vague thing. Its identifiable by science. Pads have a minimum depth, and so do rotors to be in safe operating spec. Chill tracked his car, and as he said, had visible cracking on the rotors. This will be the case when heat has been the culprit. As for just wear and tear, the formation of a lip is not indicative of worn out rotors, but it may be cause to have a depth measurement done.

Without tracking the car which could cause massive heat build up and crack or warp the rotors you should easily see 50,000 miles out of your rotors.. easily... This is not a fact, just an assertion. Driving styles and use will affect that estimate.

Brake pads are something esle, and depending on the compound could need to be changed every 8000 miles..

Hope this helps...

 

While your points are accurate you missed a key point. Brakes turn kinetic energy into thermal energy. The rotor then takes the thermal energy and try’s to dissipate it before it over heats it self. The thickness of a pad and rotor has a direct correlation to braking performance. At 50% pad and rotor life I consider the brake system compromised and recommend changing both the pads and rotors ASAP.

As a rotor get thinner there is less space for heat to be absorbed and this causes the rotor to become hotter than is beneficial for aggressive use. In a similar fashion, brake pads create friction but they also work as a method to keep heat away from the brake fluid in the caliper (and the brake system). When a pad is 50% worn it cannot keep the heat away from the brake fluid and this leads to the fluid boiling prematurely. At a recent track day we managed to cook the brakes in a 996 TT and boil the fluid. The car lost all stopping power and was useless for at least 2 hrs. After the system cooled and the air was let out of the system we drove the car once again but at a reduced level since water in the brake fluid causes the boiling point to be even lower than before. While we waited for the brakes to cool (and be bled) we noticed the pads were at around 30% but we had no replacement parts at our side. Had the 996 TT had new pads this never would have happened.

If you track a car and are looking for fade resistance, a brake system needs to have pads that are at LEAST 50% and rotors should be thick and true.

For an old lady who drives around and uses the brakes to slow for traffic lights and stops signs this is all useless information but to those who drive aggressively or at the track, it could be the difference is slowing or running off the road.

On a subjective note, worn pads and rotors can lead to more peddle travel, reduce brake feel and a reduced ability to modulate braking forces.

I have never seen a MB rotor last for 50k miles and I doubt I ever will. Even my senior citizen family members wear out rotors in 30k miles.

 

It might not be relevant because they're not the 8 pistons, but I'm at 31k miles on my original 03 CLK500 brakes

 

CynCarvin32,

Point taken, there is a difference between performance and working.. My posts were being very focused on working, not performance.

Im basing my estimate of 50k miles, on the fact that my previous experience with 6000lb SUV's show me that they have very heavy breaking needs, and the rotors can easily last 50k miles.. Thus my "light" E55 should make it that long..

 

I know its a drive for you but see what House of Imports says and also see what Mercedes Benz of Laguna Niguel says. I originally purchased my car from Fletcher Jones but since they have horrendous service and arrogant ******* workng there, I will never go there again. Besides Laguna Niguel is almost twice as close.

An uncle of mine purchased his E500 from Caliber a year ago, and he said he never appreciated the service departments willingness to help out with his 2003 E500.