Being new to Mercedes ownership and its abs system, im unsure of how the abs system affects the 'feel' of the brakes. when i brake, there seems a light pulsing of the brakes and depending on the braking force, it can become quite noticable. the front rotors and pads were replaced as part of the certificaton of the car when purchased - have the brakes been installed misallingned, or is there a "brake-in" period or is this the normal feel of an ABS system?

fd/

'88 300e
'86 Monte Carlo
'68 GTO

It should be a rare situation when you feel the distinctive pulsating of the ABS brakes. You will be in either a panic stop situation, or on a slippery surface.

Otherwise your brakes should fell smooth.

Good luck,

You may have a problem with rear rotors too.

As Larry said, there should be no pulsing under normal conditions. Same as all cars, there is indeed a break in period for brakes; before which you should avoid any hard braking. Your brakes should not "pulse" during that period though.

Remove a wheel and check out your rear brakes.

I take everyone I can to my ABS demo pad. (we own a two acre grass field South of our paved parking lot). I drive the car into the grass and at about 5mph I try to lock up the brakes. You will feel the "feel". I suggest everyone who hasn't experienced the feel to find a safe place and do so.

You will never feel this activity in any form of normal braking EXCEPT the few weird, slow turning, over a bump, events. It is possible to fool to system if brakes are applied in some situations where one wheel is accelerating abnormally as it takes a different path. Such as slowly one wheel over a speed pump.

As the wheel sensor signal deteriorates the "feel" can happen quite frequently in very low speed turns and is a common complaint. Knowing what it feels like is good experience for determining what is happening in random events.