Brake Snatch
 

I have a E320 Wagon year 2000 Model
.
When I drive it from cold, the last instant before stopping when braking, causes a kind of snatch that makes a very dull "Thud" sound.
Difficult to explain but it is rather like I have stabbed at the pedal when doing 1 mph.
As soon as car has done some distance and brakes warmed up everything is normal.
Car has only done 36k miles.
I have checked Pads. Genuine MB (Only 30% worn). Rotors are almost unmarked.

I have also gone to unused car park and tried different techniques for braking to a stop at slow speed. Same result.

Dealer, after checking car, says this is fairly normal with cold pads - rotors.

Anyone any advice

My 300E does that too! I have a slight incline out of the driveway in the morning, and when I coast down and press the brake, I get an additional "clunk" with a noticeable added pedal travel.

Did it since I purchsed it three years ago (@ 72K). Service tech said all is normal, and the problem hasn't worsened. Brake pads have been serviced twice over the course of my ownership, but the "clunk" is still there.

I'm not about to worry about it, unless the "clunk" is followed by other noises...like little metallic sounds of brake parts rolling down the driveway...

I have encountered the same effect and found I could make it happen at will creeping down the driveway with the brakes cold. It is as if the pad to disc coefficient of friction is not stable, and it gets into a "stick-slip" effect, like a prop shaft on a ship running at near zero rpm.

In my 350SD I can get the brake force just right and have the automatic transmission push the car at a few inches per second and hold the brake so that the noise is virtually constant.

All that is amusing, but likely not a problem. I have put 100,000 miles on the car and not had any troubles with the brakes. Jim