Ralj posted in another thread about his rotors going at 20-25k intervals (2002 S430) and has found a TBS that he graciously sent to me. However, it does not involve the 202. Nevertheless, my rotors are warped after 21k and the dealer says this is common, and not a warranty item? What the hell? I've never heard of pads outlasting rotors. If I have to pay for rotors, I am not inclined to buy expensive MB replacements. What do you like? Brembo cross-drilled? ATE? Greenstuff slotted?

That sounds kind of unusual for rotors to warp that fast from excessive heat alone. Have you been doing any spirited driving followed by an immediate car wash? The water on the rotors after they are hot can lead them to warp. Also improper torqueing of the lug bolts (i.e. using an impact wrench) will lead to rotor warpage.

As far as replacements, I would go with Balo, Brembo, or Zimmerman as camparable to OE quality. I think that these rotors are probably better than the ATE rotors. You can get the Balo or Zimmerman at fastlane at the top of the page for $60-$70 each. I would first try to investigate why they warped so fast, though.

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Ali Al-Chalabi

2001 CLK55
1999 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Diesel
2002 Harley-Davidson Fatboy
Merlin Extralight w/ Campy Record

Service advisor and service manager confirmed this is common. I am very careful to avoid the obvious rotor-warpers. I always hand-tighten my lugs and let wheels cool before washing. In fact, when braking, I am pretty anal about purposeful stops, making them smooth and gradual, not abrupt. I DO drive in a lot of stop and go, but 20k when taking my driving style into effect? Come on!

Are you using Kleen wheels? Those have been reported to trap heat and cause the discs to warp. 20k is way to short, 50k-90k is what I would expect front rotors to last. The rears should last well over 100k.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

No Kleen Wheels on my car.

Expensive MB rotors? I just paid $59 Canadian each at the dealer for my C280.

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'96 C280 (gone)
'97 C36
'05 C230k

Mine are pretty high mileage. I will have to check my records to say how high but I think 80K. And mine are perfectly non warped. There are a LOT of theories on this subject. It seems some are just bad and some are good. You can get them fairly cheap here or at germanstar.net etc. So I would just replace them and hope for the best.

Mike

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

Well, SA recommended holding off till they wear more, though she recommended doing rotors and pads at the same time. I will try to make do till 90k, and I am looking at vented and cross-drilled rotors. Maybe some Zimmermanns with EBC pads. Nonetheless, they are dead-set on the fact that it is COMMON for this kind of wear. Very surprising.

Most MB's chew through their front brakes more frequently than other makes. However, the parts are quite inexpensive and the brakes are amazing.

You probably won't see any performance difference with different discs. I would bet that you won't see any difference with different pads and discs, either. Most people return to OE parts for their superior performance and value.

My own C230 had new front pads and discs at 60,000kms and 128,000kms. The rear pads were swapped at 60,000kms but since the rear discs were in such good shape, I left them in. I'm still on those pads and the original rear discs.

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John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

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