When should brake rotors be replaced - C230?
 

I bought a 1998 C230 with 58k miles on it two years ago. What determines when the rotor should be replaced? I know there is plenty of pad material at the moment.

certainly depends on the type of driving the car has seen, but my 97 c230 had all 4 replaced as part of Starmark certification before I bought it - at 61k.

The MB shop manual for your yr/model should specifiy the minimum acceptable thickness for disk wear.

The minimum thickness is stamped on the "hub" portion of the rotor.

It depends on the exact version you have. Since I also have a 1998 C230 and I just worked on the brakes, I logged on to my AllData account to get the specifics for you. Once there I was reminded that there are the different versions. On mine (5/98 202.023) the front rotor thickness new is 12mm and service limit is 10 mm. On the rear it is 9 new and 7.3 service limit. My disks all have about 80,000 miles on them and the rear are still 8.9mm but the front are near 10mm so I will have to replace the front ones soon which I will do when the pads are due next year. My front rotors are currently on their second set of pads. Of course, brake component life span is highly variable, depending on your driving style, habits and conditions.

Mike

I am changing the brakes and rotors myself and I make a habit every time I change the brake pads to change the rotors too. I use Balo (Germany) rotors and Jurid (Germany) pads. It last me about 50K miles and I have excelent brake feeling all the time. About the price, is not much by ordering online from taylorautomotive.com, last time I have paid $110 for front rotors+pads with free shipping by ordering over $75. Back is a different story...change them every 80K not because they are completely worn but because I consider that is a fair interval.

all great information above.

you should check the price of OEM rotors, very reasonable and you probably know MB rotors don't get turned.

My general observation is that the rotors will need to be replaced at every other pad replacement.
The "minimum service spec" is telling you that if the rotor is worn to this spec, the rotor should be replaced with the pads. The "Minimum" spec means you need to replace this rotor-NOW.

Gilly