C Class 2014 onwards (Brakes & Tyres)

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Hairy Hippy

New Member
Joined
Apr 26, 2016
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13
Car
Mercedes C220 Sport Estate, 2014, S205
Please could I ask some opinions on brakes and tyres of this model? Could I ask in your replies whether you own this particular model and what variation?

We own a C220d Sport Estate (S205) from new (bought December 2014) and have had to replace tyres and rear discs and pads at what I consider to be low mileage. The excuse given is that these are down to different driving styles; yet I can assure you neither my wife nor I are what one would describe as boy racers and throwing the car around corners.

I am trying to canvas what other people have actually experienced or "expert" opinion on acceptable lifespan is:
Tyres - Original set of Continentals replaced at less than 10k miles
Brakes (both discs and pads rear) - replaced at 19.5k as both showing down to minimum acceptable levels.

Thanks in advance for any replies.
 
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I had Nexen N8000's on a C220 Coupe (2011) and the rears I replaced at 27K but I could have waited a bit longer but winter was just around the corner.
The fronts were still going strong and had maybe another 5-10k left in them.
Mate has them on his Lexus IS250 F-Sport and considering the way he drives they are doing ok on his with 15k on and looks like hardly any wear.
 
I can only offer personal opinion and that is I would find 10K for tyre life and 19.5K for discs completely unacceptable. I'm surprised to read about disc replacements so often in these pages and how expensive they are. I assumed it was because the cars were being driven hard but whatever the reason discs seem to be a lucrative source of revenue for the dealers.

On my W204 tyres look to be lasting 25K. Discs I couldn't say for certain but from the service history they could be originals at 52K. Original discs on my W201 lasted 64K and replacements 59K. I use the brakes lightly.
 
My rear tyres are just about shot at 16k and the fronts won't be far behind due to wear on the shoulders. The life of these is considerably less than I achieved on any of the 204s, diesel or petrol. Looking at various websites, it seems that, for a 205, mine have actually done OK.

As regards the brakes, there are many reports of an unexpectedly short life on 205s, although this is maybe not as clear cut as with tyres due to dealership up selling. For example, I was recommended to change my rear pads at the second service , 12k, with 6 mm still on them. The only other Merc that I've changed pads on was at 50k miles. Having said all that some of the early 205s suffered from out of true discs at absurdly low mileages.


Ernie
 
Thank you for all your replies so far.

Regarding "driving style" (considerable amount of town driving) and having spoken to a neighbour last night, who is a director at a Skoda dealership, his thoughts were:
tyres should have lasted longer.
brakes not that surprised given the town driving meaning that one is quiet often on the brakes (even softly).

I'd like to keep this going if I may, especially for those who are owners of W205s and S205s to gather the data to see who is achieving what mileage. That way there is a potential case to go back to Mercedes with conclusive evidence of inferior parts being used. Yes MBs are expensive to run but one might assume that one would get decent mileage out of the more fundamental parts.

As an aside, I am still experiencing noisy brakes (have done since the car was 2 months old) and still continues even after rear disc and pad changes (noise was coming from rear). The issue has been "looked at" many times (6 to be precise) without resolution. The dealer told me there is a known noise issue from the front set that Mercedes trying to resolve. However, whilst unlikely, the noise makes me feel as though that is a contributing factor to excessive wear.
 
@s70rmp what version is you C350? Is it a W204 or W205?
 
This thing about W205's wearing out tyres at low mileage is curious.

What is it that's special about a W205 that doesn't apply to a W204. The W205 is actually weighs less and owners are saying they have not driven them hard. Assuming MB are not fitting special soft compound tyres to new W205's that really only leaves incorrect pressures, perhaps influenced by the quest for economy and suspension geometry as the suspects.

MB's driven solo will usually wear rears in the centre on recommended pressures because they are set for 3 people plus luggage. On top of that manufacturers are so afraid of over steer characteristics that they have the rear pressures higher than the front even though the fronts are nearly always carrying more load. You only have to look at the tyre deformation with the car parked up to see that's the case.


Besides tyre rotation my solution is to drop the pressures. They should be 2.2 front and 2.3 rear. I drop them to 2.1 all round and get a better ride into the bargain. I push them back up when loaded up or for a motorway run.
 
10k for Contis seems about right to me at least. Had a set on a VW Jetta a couple of years back and that's what I got out them as well. Its a softer tyre with more grip than others.
 
This thing about W205's wearing out tyres at low mileage is curious.

What is it that's special about a W205 that doesn't apply to a W204. The W205 is actually weighs less and owners are saying they have not driven them hard. Assuming MB are not fitting special soft compound tyres to new W205's that really only leaves incorrect pressures, perhaps influenced by the quest for economy and suspension geometry as the suspects.

MB's driven solo will usually wear rears in the centre on recommended pressures because they are set for 3 people plus luggage. On top of that manufacturers are so afraid of over steer characteristics that they have the rear pressures higher than the front even though the fronts are nearly always carrying more load. You only have to look at the tyre deformation with the car parked up to see that's the case.


Besides tyre rotation my solution is to drop the pressures. They should be 2.2 front and 2.3 rear. I drop them to 2.1 all round and get a better ride into the bargain. I push them back up when loaded up or for a motorway run.

All four of my tyres wore pretty evenly and were all replaced at the same time (hasten to add I didn't use MB to do so). The tyre pressures where the same all round per the recommended pressure settings (iirc 2.5 for unloaded). This is for a S205 (estate) not the W205.
 
My W205 (C220) has done 22k so far on its first set of tyres, run at 2.5 kPa. Usually just me or me and my wife in the car. Mixed driving, motorway, fast A roads and local roads. Just checked the tread depth this afternoon while checking the pressures and all still have 4mm across the tyre. My driving style is more relaxed these days, since I retired.
 
My W205 (C220) has done 22k so far on its first set of tyres, run at 2.5 kPa. Usually just me or me and my wife in the car. Mixed driving, motorway, fast A roads and local roads. Just checked the tread depth this afternoon while checking the pressures and all still have 4mm across the tyre. My driving style is more relaxed these days, since I retired.

Interesting that you get that mileage out of a 205. What is the year of yours, please? I have a feeling that it is the early cars like mine that have tyre wear problems, particularly outer edge wear on the front. Rear tyre wear is different as these 220 BluTec engines output a lot of torque through the tyres.

Ernie
 
@s70rmp what version is you C350? Is it a W204 or W205?

W204 which I've had for nearly a year with a non brand rear tyres fitted by the MB dealer before collection which have now done 14k and seem to be hardly worn.
 
Currently just under 21K on my original tyres and just about to change the rears. The fronts will be good for a few more months. Still on original pads/disks but in for service next week, so may get the hard sell from MB.
 
Interesting that you get that mileage out of a 205. What is the year of yours, please? I have a feeling that it is the early cars like mine that have tyre wear problems, particularly outer edge wear on the front. Rear tyre wear is different as these 220 BluTec engines output a lot of torque through the tyres.

Ernie


Hi Ernie,

I'm sorry for the long delay in replying - I've just spotted your post. Mine is a September 2014 W205. I did begin to see outer edge wear on the front nearside a little while after my post. I eventually replaced them with Michelin CrossClimate tyres and dropped the pressure a smidgen to 35psi, which improves the ride comfort (although, that might just be psychological :eek:).
 
Thank you for all your replies so far.

Regarding "driving style" (considerable amount of town driving) and having spoken to a neighbour last night, who is a director at a Skoda dealership, his thoughts were:
tyres should have lasted longer.
brakes not that surprised given the town driving meaning that one is quiet often on the brakes (even softly).

I'd like to keep this going if I may, especially for those who are owners of W205s and S205s to gather the data to see who is achieving what mileage. That way there is a potential case to go back to Mercedes with conclusive evidence of inferior parts being used. Yes MBs are expensive to run but one might assume that one would get decent mileage out of the more fundamental parts.

As an aside, I am still experiencing noisy brakes (have done since the car was 2 months old) and still continues even after rear disc and pad changes (noise was coming from rear). The issue has been "looked at" many times (6 to be precise) without resolution. The dealer told me there is a known noise issue from the front set that Mercedes trying to resolve. However, whilst unlikely, the noise makes me feel as though that is a contributing factor to excessive wear.

I am in a w205 c220 (2015) with the upgraded 19s. I had my fronts done at 18k and my rear 19k. I think my brakes will need doing soon, I am on 21k. Tbh this is my first merc so first 10k I was driving hard! Lol! I am 70/30 motorway millage tho.

I still think Mines bad but hearing yours I feel better! Sorry!
 
I've just brought a 2013 C180 Coupe it's done 18k in 3 years. I've just replaced 3 of the 4 tyres as they where all wearing on the outside edge. As far as I can tell these where the original Continentals. The fourth tyre was replaced just before I brought the car, looks brand new.

The one that I didn't replace was a Pirelli PZero which is why I went for Pirelli PZero Nero GT's for the other 3 and I had the tracking done at the same time. My brakes are fine though.
 
Hi,
I replaced my rears about 2000 miles ago, the fronts are still the original factory fit and I'm on 26500 miles. All the discs and pads are factory fit.
 
The brakes wear with braking, not driving - you can do mega-miles cruising on the motorway with hardly any brake wear at all, or you could drive around town and slow down or brake for each speed bump, zebra crossing, traffic light, cyclist, or just hitting congestion - and wear the brakes with very little mileage on them.

The tyre wear is also dependent on many factors. i.e. do you keep them at the lower end of the pressure range, or the upper? Do you drive mostly with the car loaded (people and/or luggage)? Do you accelerate hard or start off gently? Motorway miles or town driving? etc.
 
During 21 years with the same car my experience was motorway mileage is easy on both brakes and tyres. When I used to do a lot of motorway commuting miles at legal speeds, the tyres lasted 35K. When I changed to around town commuting the tyres only lasted 20K.

My W204 doesn't do any commuting at all and the tyres look to be lasting a minimum of 25K and probably a good bit more.
 
My S205 (details in signature below, currently 12,947 miles) was in for a B service (its second) yesterday. Tyre pressures have always been 2.5 Bar all-round since new, I've never checked them with a tyre gauge, only on the dash. Mostly I drive two-up, occasional long trips with baggage.

The disc pads all round were reported as 30% worn and the standard tyres were:

----------------------Outer---Centre---Inner
Passenger front-------5--------5--------5
Driver front-----------5--------5--------5
Passenger rear--------4--------4--------4
Driver rear------------4--------4--------4

[Legal limit 1.6]
[Brand new 8.0]

I hope that helps.
 

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