E55 Front Brake Judder??

[Kieron]

Hello all,

I have been a lurker of the forum for quite a while but not posted for a while. I have an early E55 (99, S) and the brakes have recently developed a judder. You can hear it, feel it through the car and also feel the pedal hitting back.

The symptons are very much like warped discs so this weekend I replaced the front discs and pads. £500 lighter and the problem is still there.

When changing them I did notice the nearside one to catch the dust guard (I must have leant on it) very slightly. BUT it didn't rub on the disc all the way round, just at one point like a buckled bicycle wheel. This was with the new disc fitted and I cleaned the hub well with an abrasive pad prior to fitting so that it was flat. The buckle is very very slight but seems to be the route of my issues.

Anyone know what could be causing this? I am going to remove the disc once again to make doubly sure that the hub face doesn't have some corrosion or similar that is making the disc not sit flush. However before I do are there any known problems with the hubs? The bearings are not making any noise and the car has not had any accidents to cause this.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

 

[BlackC55]

Look at the rear discs and pads first. I suspect this is the cause.

 

[Ian B Walker]

as per above. The inside face of the rear disk gets badly corroded and judders quite a lot.

 

[Kieron]

It feels like its coming from the front but it could be transferring through the car? You think rears even though the front appears to have a buckle??

The rears were new about 10k ago. Do they deteriorate that quickly? To be honest the wife drives the car mainly so its never driven hard.

 

[BlackC55]

It feels like its coming from the front but it could be transferring through the car? You think rears even though the front appears to have a buckle??

The rears were new about 10k ago. Do they deteriorate that quickly? To be honest the wife drives the car mainly so its never driven hard.

There is the problem then. If she does not occasionaly brake hard the light corrosion has a chance to build up. I would look at the rears.

 

[Kieron]

OK thanks, I will give the rears a look. I just can't get it out of my head that the nsf is the problem.

Do the rears come off as easily as the fronts?

 

[ashmerc1]

brake judder

hi m8 i've bought a e230 recntly and it had an brake judder, i thought it was down 2 warpped front disks, last nite i was driving home and i herad a loud bang and grinding meatal noise, i stopped and ad a look, me front off side front spring had popped out ov it's mounting. i drove it home coz none ov the dash lights said i had a prob with the car. ad a good look this moring and where the coil spring sits the top ov the mounting ad come away. just as a precaution check the spring mounts.

 

[Ian B Walker]

To remove the rear discs you will have to jack up the car. Remove the brake calliper. Slacken off the handbrake shoes, Take out the disk retaining screw, then slide the disk off the hub.

 

[Kieron]

hi m8 i've bought a e230 recntly and it had an brake judder, i thought it was down 2 warpped front disks, last nite i was driving home and i herad a loud bang and grinding meatal noise, i stopped and ad a look, me front off side front spring had popped out ov it's mounting. i drove it home coz none ov the dash lights said i had a prob with the car. ad a good look this moring and where the coil spring sits the top ov the mounting ad come away. just as a precaution check the spring mounts.

Springs were fine in their mounting cups when I changed the discs Sat thanks.

To remove the rear discs you will have to jack up the car. Remove the brake calliper. Slacken off the handbrake shoes, Take out the disk retaining screw, then slide the disk off the hub.

Without soundling like a dummy couple you please tell me how to slacken the handbrake shoes? I've never been under there to check so a "heads up" could maybe save me 15 mins of head scratching.

 

[Kieron]

Can anyone advise on slackening the handbrake shoes please?

Do these clamp onto the disc or are they integral to the hub?

Do the pistons in the rear callipers push in or are they a screw type?

 

[Will]

Check the front wheel bearings.

My CLK55 with just 70k and full MBSH needed adjustment of both front wheel bearings, it had been overlooked despite being serviced at Mercedes-Benz less than 2000 miles before.

This was causing noticable judder under braking and a pulsing through the pedal, also longer pedal travel on initial braking as the the free play in the front hub was causing the disc to push the pads away from the disc surface.

Will

 

[Kieron]

Bearing needed adjustment? You mean the hub nut was loose? Excuse my ignorance.

 

[Will]

The front wheel bearings. If the W210 is a similar setup to others I've had (W201/124/202/208 etc) there's a metal dust cap that sits over the centre. You remove this and adjust the bearing free play.

To start with, just jack the front up, grab hold of the wheel at 12 and 6 o'clock and rock it by pushing/pulling the wheel - see if there's any free play.

Will

 

[Kieron]

Thanks Will.

 

[Will]

No probs - let us know what you find