Mercedes C Class Brake Disc Issue (W205)
Discussion
Bit of advice please. I have a 2016 Mercedes C Class AMG Line 220D. This is on lease with Mercedes finance on a 3 year contract (20k miles pa). Up until recently, this has been a great car to run. Car was serviced at 16k miles at Warrington with a service cost of £350.00 and the paperwork stated that there was minimal wear and tear on the brakes as I would expect.
In January I took the car to Mercedes Preston for its 32k mile service. Fully expecting another £350.00 and some further wear and tear. I get a call saying that the car needs new windscreen wipers, rear pads and front brake discs at a total cost of £1100.00. To say I was shocked was an understatement. The front pads are originals and have 7mm left on them and the rear discs are fine.
This begs the question, how can this be right? Surely the pads should be the wearable part? There is a massive lip on the front disc so they are not trying it on.
This car is driven daily, sensibly. 50/50 with motorway and town driving. I am not heavy on the brakes at all with this car. I regularly have the kids in the car and have a dash cam fitted so pushing it would not be a good move. I have other vehicles for “hooning” and this car isn’t mine and will be subject to a final inspection and has therefore been treated as so.
After speaking to the dealer and Mercedes customer services, I am being told that it is “about right”, or the reason for premature wear of the front discs is down to “driving style”.
For reference, my previous Audi A4 S Line did 59k miles in 3 years and only had the front pads replaced at 54k. No rear pads or discs. My Volvo V60 did 58k miles, and had rear pads at 34k and from pads at 51k. No discs replaced in the 3 years I had it.
I haven’t had the work carried out due to the feeling something was obviously wrong. I am now just wondering if it is a weak spot on the car in true Mercedes fashion, they are passing on the inadequacies of the product to the customer.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
I am planning on speaking to the Motor Ombudsman service but don’t hold out much hope..!!
Paul
In January I took the car to Mercedes Preston for its 32k mile service. Fully expecting another £350.00 and some further wear and tear. I get a call saying that the car needs new windscreen wipers, rear pads and front brake discs at a total cost of £1100.00. To say I was shocked was an understatement. The front pads are originals and have 7mm left on them and the rear discs are fine.
This begs the question, how can this be right? Surely the pads should be the wearable part? There is a massive lip on the front disc so they are not trying it on.
This car is driven daily, sensibly. 50/50 with motorway and town driving. I am not heavy on the brakes at all with this car. I regularly have the kids in the car and have a dash cam fitted so pushing it would not be a good move. I have other vehicles for “hooning” and this car isn’t mine and will be subject to a final inspection and has therefore been treated as so.
After speaking to the dealer and Mercedes customer services, I am being told that it is “about right”, or the reason for premature wear of the front discs is down to “driving style”.
For reference, my previous Audi A4 S Line did 59k miles in 3 years and only had the front pads replaced at 54k. No rear pads or discs. My Volvo V60 did 58k miles, and had rear pads at 34k and from pads at 51k. No discs replaced in the 3 years I had it.
I haven’t had the work carried out due to the feeling something was obviously wrong. I am now just wondering if it is a weak spot on the car in true Mercedes fashion, they are passing on the inadequacies of the product to the customer.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
I am planning on speaking to the Motor Ombudsman service but don’t hold out much hope..!!
Paul
Are the front pads the original ones? It's not uncommon for discs to he replaced at every other pad change as the change in pad materials wears the disc more than the older pads.
Has anybody actually measured the disc thickness and how does that compare with the stated minimum disc thickness?
You're probably onto a loser trying to prove any poor quality issues. How many miles, is it 32,000 or is that just the 2 year service? Do the pads actually have 7mm of 'material' left on them? I have seen them before where somebody has measured them, declared them fine only for it to transpire that they included the metal backing plate.
The discs are clearly worn as you have described them. 2 years or 30,000 miles is not unreasonable for discs, it all depends on too many factors to say whether it's right or wrong. For some people discs can last 100,000+miles, other people, in a similar car, 5,000 miles.
The dealer might be saying that, at the current wear rate, the discs will be below minimum-thickness before the next service is due. They're criticised if they say that and criticised if they don't and a customer ends up with badly worn discs in 9 months time - 'Why didn't the dealer do anything?'
I think you're going to end up by just replacing them and I doubt there's anything 'wrong'.
Has anybody actually measured the disc thickness and how does that compare with the stated minimum disc thickness?
You're probably onto a loser trying to prove any poor quality issues. How many miles, is it 32,000 or is that just the 2 year service? Do the pads actually have 7mm of 'material' left on them? I have seen them before where somebody has measured them, declared them fine only for it to transpire that they included the metal backing plate.
The discs are clearly worn as you have described them. 2 years or 30,000 miles is not unreasonable for discs, it all depends on too many factors to say whether it's right or wrong. For some people discs can last 100,000+miles, other people, in a similar car, 5,000 miles.
The dealer might be saying that, at the current wear rate, the discs will be below minimum-thickness before the next service is due. They're criticised if they say that and criticised if they don't and a customer ends up with badly worn discs in 9 months time - 'Why didn't the dealer do anything?'
I think you're going to end up by just replacing them and I doubt there's anything 'wrong'.
As above, probably the dealer being cautious and/or touting for big margin easy work. Who knows.
I would keep an eye on them, and have them checked at an Indy prior to the next service. If they need doing, get the Indy to do it. You should probably use genuine Merc parts but I very much doubt the lease co will check on return unless they look like really shonky parts. There’s nothing fancy about the brakes on a W205.
I would keep an eye on them, and have them checked at an Indy prior to the next service. If they need doing, get the Indy to do it. You should probably use genuine Merc parts but I very much doubt the lease co will check on return unless they look like really shonky parts. There’s nothing fancy about the brakes on a W205.
At its last service on my wife's A class the MB dealer phoned me to say that the front discs needed replacing. Three year old car had done 22,900 miles.
As I didn't have time to debate or argue I told them to go ahead and replace but to tell me what the wear was on each disc and to send the old, worn discs back when they returned the car.
I checked the discs myself and found MB's measurements to be incorrect. In fact on current wear rate and usage they were probably being replaced 18 months too early.
I went down to the dealership with the discs and measured them with one of the technicians; turns out there were some 'calibration issues' with their measuring tool and they agreed that they hadn't needed to be replaced at that point.
As I didn't have time to debate or argue I told them to go ahead and replace but to tell me what the wear was on each disc and to send the old, worn discs back when they returned the car.
I checked the discs myself and found MB's measurements to be incorrect. In fact on current wear rate and usage they were probably being replaced 18 months too early.
I went down to the dealership with the discs and measured them with one of the technicians; turns out there were some 'calibration issues' with their measuring tool and they agreed that they hadn't needed to be replaced at that point.
I was told by MB the front brakes were 70% worn at the 2yr service, however the same dealer said they were 60% worn at the following year's 3yr service. They're now back to 70% worn at the latest 4yr service, so I'm leaving them in the hope that they're back down to 60% by 5 years old 
I think they look at them from across the workshop and pick a number out of a hat.
I think they look at them from across the workshop and pick a number out of a hat.
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