Took my car in for the belt tensioner recall and asked them to check the vibration when braking. They turned all 4 rotors, all new pads and the vibration is still there. They are stumped.
Put on different set of wheels/tires, checked balance. All specs for alignment etc are ok. Anybody have any ideas.

No vibration during normal driving, only when braking, has to be the brakes? It felt like the rotors were warping but wasn't too bad but I wanted it checked. The dealer was gonna re-turn the rotors and let me know this afternoon.

 

What vibrates when braking, the car or your steering wheel? If it's the steering wheel, then it's almost definitely a warped rotor problem. But if it's the car that vibrates, I've got no clue what that might be.

 

has to be your rotors.

 

OK, if it's still vibrating after you turned the rotors, etc., then there's something loose in your steering system. I'm not just talking about the steering mechanism. It could be anything from that to suspension components.

How old is the car? Hit any rough pavement/potholes lately?

You're gonna need a thorough check-up on this to fix the problem, since it doesn't sound like it's the rotors. It could be anything. Good luck.

 

replace the rotors and you're golden

 

The car has 10k miles. They turned all the rotors twice and all new pads. I think they have tried new rotors too but I'll doublecheck. They put measurements on the rotors and they are true. They put on another set of CLS 03 wheels/tires and same problem. Balanced my wheels, checked specs on everything from axles to some of the suspension, found everything is in spec.
The symptoms are just like the rotors are a little warped, but surfacing the rotors twice now has not fixed it.
They have checked a lot of stuff and have 2 mechanics on it for 2 days. With other techs assisting them on the phone.
I'm going to drive it tomorrow to tell them whether it has changed from when I took it in on Wed.
I agree it's probably the rotors or how they are mounted somehow. It drives perfectly smooth most of the time, it's a braking issue only.
They said there was vibration in the steering wheel, so they did the front brakes. Then they said they still felt the braking vibration mostly in the seat, which they say means the rear brakes.
I know the warped rotors have been common on this board so I hoped someone would have had the same problem.

 

The rotors are shot .Trust me on this I have seen this before .Even though the rotors were just turned fresh pads etc the rotors have what are sometimes called "hard spots" .We had a similar situation here at PAA only resolution wa to replace the rotors .Hard spots are difficult to describe and damn difficult to diagnose .It has to do with a rotor that has been cast almost as though it were made of two different metals with varying degrees of friction .When you hit the brakes the brake pads "catch" on the hard spot and cause a strange vibration.

Jens