Rear discs and pads - W213 E63S, 'reasonable' cost for replacement?

[sgregory124]

Evening all,

My car was in at my favourite indie for a new traction battery today, whilst there they gave it a quick once over and mentioned that my rear discs are 80% worn.

Couple of questions....

What would be considered a 'reasonable cost' for replacement? The indie quoted me roughly £1100, but didn't mention if that was parts only or parts and labour. Based on what I've seen online, it looks like a parts only price to me.

Secondly, prior to me picking the car up from the place I bought it from, it had been into Mercedes Beaconsfield for new front pads, whereupon I'm assuming they would have done a complete check of the brakes (amongst other things) whilst it was there. Surely if the rear discs were that worn, they would have highlighted that on any report? Or is this just folly and am I just delaying the inevitable wallet emptying session?

Don't get me wrong, I'm a seasoned owner these days and I know what these cars cost to maintain, but like anyone, I don't want to have to fork out unnecessarily if the brakes are actually fine for a little longer.

Opinions and any advice welcome, although please don't suggest I change the brakes myself - I'm not a mechanic, I don't have the time, patience, tools nor inclination to do it.

Thanks in advance!

 

[KennyN]

Whats the mileage ?

Were they mentioned at the last MOT ?

Can you get a second , trusted , opinion ?

Any pics ?

K

 

[AMGeed]

A set of rear Brembo discs and pads on E- bay for £419 99 that are stated to fit your E63s (2017>)
You need to check with the seller beforehand to ensure fitment.
No idea how much your indy would charge to fit but 2hrs labour seems reasonable to me.

FOR MERCEDES AMG GT C63 C63S E63 E63S S63 S65 BREMBO REAR BRAKE DISCS PADS WIRE | eBay

2 x BREMBO REAR BRAKE DISCS (360mm) BREMBO REAR BRAKE PADS SET 1 x BRAKE PADS WEAR WIRE SENSOR Brake Disc Setup: Brake Disc Type: Vented | Drilled Brake disc diameter: 3600mm Brake Disc Thickness: 26mm Brake Disc Minimum Thickness: 24mm Centering Diameter: 67mm Overall Height: 50.5mm To Fit...

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[sgregory124]

Whats the mileage ?

Were they mentioned at the last MOT ?

Can you get a second , trusted , opinion ?

Any pics ?

K

Mileage is 32367, no mention on the previous MOT (November 2023).

Was going to get a second opinion from somewhere else, yes.

Will get pictures in the morning and add them to this thread. To my untrained eye they look just fine - the car stops very well too.

 

[Will]

+1 get a second opinion.

Post a close up picture of the rear discs on this thread too

Sure you can’t see the rear face and/or thickness measurement but they’d probably be heavily grooved and lipped if they were 80% worn.

 

[KennyN]

Mileage is 32367, no mention on the previous MOT (November 2023).

Was going to get a second opinion from somewhere else, yes.

Will get pictures in the morning and add them to this thread. To my untrained eye they look just fine - the car stops very well too.

Unusual for a set of rears to be replaced with such a low mileage , normally 60 - 70k for the rears after two sets of pads.

K

 

[sgregory124]

Photos as promised - worth mentioning the car has only done 1800 miles since its front pad replacement and brake check at Mercedes Beaconsfield too, where they gave it all 'clean and green'....

 

[KennyN]

Certainly dont "look" anywhere near 80% worn , nearer to 40% from the pics.

Unless the unseen rear face has more wear then i would think they are good to go for a good while yet , although i would get a second opinion for piece of mind.

Normally 1mm of wear per side takes them to the lower permissible size.

Disc measuring tools are not that expensive (£16) , if you fancy at measuring them yourself.

K

 

[sgregory124]

Certainly dont "look" anywhere near 80% worn , nearer to 40% from the pics.

Unless the unseen rear face has more wear then i would think they are good to go for a good while yet , although i would get a second opinion for piece of mind.

Normally 1mm of wear per side takes them to the lower permissible size.

Disc measuring tools are not that expensive (£16) , if you fancy at measuring them yourself.

K

Thank you. My front discs look very similar and I was told they’re ‘50% worn’. I’m going to get a second opinion for sure.

I actually have a set of digital callipers, but without taking the wheel off it’s a bit awkward to do - was going to use the two coin method). Might have another go later though.

 

[Will]

To be fair I’d say they’re getting there - you can see the lip on the inner and outer edges.

As said wear limit is usually around 1mm per side.

You know there well worn when the grooves start to disappear!

If you’re going to be keeping it a while I’d probably swap them out if you need pads anyway

 

[sgregory124]

Definitely keeping it for some time - it actually doesn’t need pads, but I’ve got it booked in for brake check at an alternative garage tomorrow so will see what they say.

It looks like it’ll actually be marginally cheaper to use Inchcape Merc for fitting than it would the indie…. which given the parts cost what they cost (£872 for 2 discs and relevant pads) is interesting I thought..

 

[MCFastybloke]

They look fine, small lippage and the pad i can see is beefy. Be a real shame if they are dishonestly touting

 

[Teego]

Take it to your local Formula One Autocentre. They'll do a free brake check. I've always trusted my local. Never tried to generate unnecessary work.

 

[sgregory124]

They look fine, small lippage and the pad i can see is beefy. Be a real shame if they are dishonestly touting

That’s my feeling too, the lip is very minor.

Im not normally this sceptical as I have tended to trust this particular garage in the past, but I’m fairly certain they never took the wheels off to measure whilst it was in yesterday (why would you for a battery replacement anyway?!).

So if they’re going on ‘just looking’ and not measuring I’d be very disappointed.

 

[sgregory124]

Take it to your local Formula One Autocentre. They'll do a free brake check. I've always trusted my local. Never tried to generate unnecessary work.

It’s going to ProTyre in Derby tomorrow for a brake check, so will hopefully have a conclusive answer then.

 

[Teego]

It’s going to ProTyre in Derby tomorrow for a brake check, so will hopefully have a conclusive answer then.

I'm in Derby. Use formula 1 or Derby tyres.

 

[chic0821]

I too would get a second opinion considering Mercedes Health Check did not flag it up. Brakes are always a good earner for them & they are not shy in telling you they need replaced

 

[sgregory124]

I too would get a second opinion considering Mercedes Health Check did not flag it up. Brakes are always a good earner for them & they are not shy in telling you they need replaced

Yep, ironically the indie in question proved Inchcape were taking the Michael when they claimed I needed new brakes all round on my old C63S - a car which was on the same set of discs it came with, on the day I sold it

 

[Muckypaps]

When I replaced my front discs with Brembo discs, I measure the groove depths and they were 1,5mm deep when new. So on that basis the groove would have to be almost gone when nearing the 33mm thickness limit. (assuming they wear evenly)

 

[Eoseer]

Evening all,

My car was in at my favourite indie for a new traction battery today, whilst there they gave it a quick once over and mentioned that my rear discs are 80% worn.

Couple of questions....

What would be considered a 'reasonable cost' for replacement? The indie quoted me roughly £1100, but didn't mention if that was parts only or parts and labour. Based on what I've seen online, it looks like a parts only price to me.

Secondly, prior to me picking the car up from the place I bought it from, it had been into Mercedes Beaconsfield for new front pads, whereupon I'm assuming they would have done a complete check of the brakes (amongst other things) whilst it was there. Surely if the rear discs were that worn, they would have highlighted that on any report? Or is this just folly and am I just delaying the inevitable wallet emptying session?

Don't get me wrong, I'm a seasoned owner these days and I know what these cars cost to maintain, but like anyone, I don't want to have to fork out unnecessarily if the brakes are actually fine for a little longer.

Opinions and any advice welcome, although please don't suggest I change the brakes myself - I'm not a mechanic, I don't have the time, patience, tools nor inclination to do it.

Thanks in advance!

My Indie quoted me. £330 for front discs and pads, but said they didn’t need changing and “would not need it for a while.” Besides they have wear indicators on these cars.