SL55AMG Brake judder

[jsbajb]

Hi,

Just bought my first Mercedes, a 2004 SL55 AMG I had it checked at my local Mercedes dealer befor purchase, I told them it had a brake judder under light braking, they said it was OK discs not worn pads 50%, having now driven the car a few hundred miles it has definitly got a judder, any ideas? also what is the replacment cost of discs and pads?One more thing what is the cost to up date the sat nav to the latest Europe disc and which part number is it?

Thanks John.

[markbe]

jsbajb said:

Hi,

Just bought my first Mercedes, a 2004 SL55 AMG I had it checked at my local Mercedes dealer before purchase, I told them it had a brake judder under light braking, they said it was OK discs not worn pads 50%, having now driven the car a few hundred miles it has definitely got a judder, any ideas? also what is the replacement cost of discs and pads?One more thing what is the cost to up date the sat nav to the latest Europe disc and which part number is it?

Thanks John.

Brake judder is usually caused by warped discs. Replacement cost of £500-£800.[discs and pads].
Also look at steering damper if it has one and wear in the front suspension.

Mark.

[Gouki]

I had this on my SL55 when I bought it, I was able to live with it for 19,000 miles without a problem prior to buying a new set of front pads and discs before a european road trip which cured the shudder. I didn't feel that the braking improved with the new set just felt more reassuring minus the shudder.

But I think the shudder is back now, and I really didn't push the car that hard on the trip :/


edit new front discs and pads were fitted by Autoclass milton keynes for £440.

Edited by Gouki on Monday 7th June 14:15

[jsbajb]

Thanks for the replies so far, I thought it may be the discs only the judder goes if I apply more pressure. If the discs are warped but not worn, should I be able to claim them on an extened warranty?

John

[goldblum]

Its's the discs.90% sure.You don't feel the judder so much under hard braking because the pads are not bouncing off the disc as when light braking occurs.If this was happening when you bought the car the garage should replace the disc/discs foc.Sales of Goods Act.

[jsbajb]

Bought the car off a private seller but had it checked by a Mercedes dealer first, it also has an extended Mercedes warenty.

[goldblum]

In the eyes of the law The Sales of goods Act only applies to Trade (ie garage).If you buy private it's caveat emptor.As the seller gave you the chance to have the car checked over and you took it then there is nowhere to go with the seller.You COULD go with the warranty and it's nice to have that.BUT because Mercedes didn't spot the warped disc/discs you can actually take action against them,because on their advice you bought the car...you with me? However if you go back to Merc and say check the discs again they could say they're ok,you say not...blah blah blah.Depends how determined you are..Next time don't buy a car until all issues are sorted!

So on the scales of hassle vs soonest repair it looks like a warranty claim might well be the easiest option.

Edited by goldblum on Monday 7th June 17:39

[Marlon]

Very unlikely to be "warped disks"...

http://www.stoptech.com/tech_info/wp_warped_braked...

[goldblum]

Actually read that site myself about a year ago when my Audi RS6 developed the same symptoms.Yes,there can be a build up of pad material and the way to get rid of this is the standard disc cleaning routine: 8 stops from 60 - 20 then 2 from high speed down to nearly zero.But don't come to a complete halt.What we're talking about is nearly full emergency stops.

I did all this and nothing helped.Changed the discs under warranty and the problem had gone.Also more likely to happen to drilled discs which are inherently weaker.

[richardxjr]

Mate of mine had this for years (at least 5) with his C43. Lord knows how much Mercedes spent replacing his disks and pads every 3 months. (on top of the yearly rust rectification)

Anyway, eventually it was found out to be a wonky wheel.

[chiefski26]

I had it with my c43 new discs took care of it.