£950 to renew 3 brake pipes, why?

[DITTRICH]

I always manage to get a healthy discount on the rates for my cars.
Very labour intensive jobs, and bog standard jobs, I go independent.
Otherwise, I use the dealer because it is very local and very convenient being within 2 miles of work. My fuel pipes were replaced in their entirety on the w124 estate. The pipe came in a roll and had to be bent into shape. Then the pipes needed fitting - and they go through all sorts of funny places. Sometimes, it is better to attend to other things as well which are made more accessible during the process.

 

[Harrythedog]

I always manage to get a healthy discount on the rates for my cars.
Very labour intensive jobs, and bog standard jobs, I go independent.
Otherwise, I use the dealer because it is very local and very convenient being within 2 miles of work. My fuel pipes were replaced in their entirety on the w124 estate. The pipe came in a roll and had to be bent into shape. Then the pipes needed fitting - and they go through all sorts of funny places. Sometimes, it is better to attend to other things as well which are made more accessible during the process.

But will they attend to other things if they are not instructed to do so? That's one of my gripes with the Dealers. They'd rather put every thing back together then quote you for taking it apart again to fix something else.

 

[peapod]

rear brake pipes are fitted with rear suspension off. so to fit as original it is a big job. I have just replaced the self levelling pipes in copper, cost of parts about £50 including tool to form the pipe ends. Pipe route is not original but clipped ok. Dealer cost = more than car is worth. There should be a din standard to stop the fitting of cheap pipes on new cars for such a vital safety component.

 

[Harrythedog]

UPDATE

Just got the car back from the Indy's. They checked all the brake pipes and found them to be fine, no concerns at all. They cleaned them and greased them and presented me with a bill for £55 ( this included a check on the accelleration).

Now a question for those with far greater knowledge than I (that's most of you!). Having had the inlet manifold replaced I've noticed that the kick-down is not the same as before and the MPG is poorer, about 24mpg around town. The indy checked this and said everything was fine.
What I'd like to know is that if the car had had a remap previously would a resetting of the ECU after fitting the Inlet Manifold change the acceleration and MPG.

All comments gratefully received

 

[Harrythedog]

PS I forgot to add that the Indy said he's got three Mercs booked in this week for the same problem after MB advisories. Looks like the Stealers are on a fund raising drive!

 

[A210AMG]

^ thats all mine needed, a rub down and grease


How nice not having to be spend all that money

 

[Harrythedog]

Very true A210AMG, it just begs the question "can the main dealers be trusted". I'm afraid the answer is no and a lot of posts on this forum are confirming that.

 

[A210AMG]

I wouldn't trust them.

They are like robots now not proper mechanics. Plug your car in and read some codes then start repacing large bits of equipment until the codes go away....

Not actually thinking or looking at the problem.

I would think a lot of dealer jobs are overkill and probably NOT needed......

 

[Harrythedog]

I quite agree, I think if it wasn't for the growing number of Indies about a lot of people would be trading their 3 pointed star in for some thing cheaper to maintain. There are a lfew Indys on here like Olly at PCS who get rave reviews from owners and I think these lads are doing more good for the brand than the main dealers themselves!

 

[John]

My 60's designed Volvo 244 has dual circuit copper brake pipes - still original.

Call me cynical but I think the aim then was for quality and it lasting.

Once they realised they were losing money, they cut back, started bending the truth when you take your car to them and introduce lots of technology to go wrong out of warranty - not to mention consolidating replacement parts into an entire unit and charging 20 x the original price of the sum of the parts when separate (wing mirrors, headlamps etc.).

Kerching.

 

[350_Coupe]

corrosion is a funny beast, some mild looking corrosion can cause major pitting and thinning of the metal, which could fail when under pressure, other looks bad and is nothing more than surface rust which will turn into a power at the slightest touch leaving a still smooth surface not pitted and eaten into by the corrosion.

As olly said, each set of pipes will behave differently, for a whole heap of reasons from how they were handled originally, to how exposed they may have been to sea air, or how much copper is in the metal mix.

Ford a few years back used plastic coated pipes, everyone thought they were great until they got damp and moisture between the plastic sleeve and the pipe, and they started corroding and you could not see it until it was too late, i saw a lot of those that had issues, thankfully mainly when you had to undo the pipe form the calliper/drum for whatever reason and the corrosion at the edge of the plastic became apparent.


Sometimes a light rub down and then a coat of oil/grease to protect is sufficient, other times it's not

 

[Ponton-Jetronic]

In reply to Harry thedog for brake pipe renewal. : - I had all the pipes [ 4 ] as well as connectors replaced in copper for a bill of well under £400 on the W124 estate. That bill also included other work - fuel tank, exhaust , window regulator etc. Its hard to understand how Mercedes does not fit copper brake pipes from new anyway ! , as its well known that all other types of pipe corrode within 9 to 12 yrs.

 

[Dieselman]

In reply to Harry thedog for brake pipe renewal. : - I had all the pipes [ 4 ] as well as connectors replaced in copper for a bill of well under £400 on the W124 estate. That bill also included other work - fuel tank, exhaust , window regulator etc. Its hard to understand how Mercedes does not fit copper brake pipes from new anyway ! , as its well known that all other types of pipe corrode within 9 to 12 yrs.

Copper is prone to stress fracturing and needs to be well supported to stop this, cupra-nickle is best, but expensive, apart from corrosion, steel is a good product.

 

[grober]

http://www.copperinfo.co.uk/alloys/copper-nickel/downloads/is49-cu-ni-brake-tubing.pdf

 

[w124nut]

http://www.copperinfo.co.uk/alloys/copper-nickel/downloads/is49-cu-ni-brake-tubing.pdf

An interesting paper. The hygroscopic nature of brake fluid just made me think of vapour lock under extreme braking conditions if the fluid was too old, but I now appreciate that the same water content may corrode the brake pipes from inside the pipe as well.

 

[removed]

I have had a free MB "health check" done at the end of November - they also listed Rear Brake Pipes Corroded and wanted just under £470 incl to fix it, bless them. I guess the car is really okay, as the only other thing they listed (apart from SRS light on) was indicator bulbs faded :bannana:

Will ask Olly to look at those pipes when I'm there, but the idea of a brush'n'greese solution sounds very interesting