I have an '08 550 with approx 7900 miles. After driving (even a short distance), when I get out of the car I can smell that brake smell - not sure how to describe a smell lol.

I walked around the car and the rear-right wheel seems to be the culprit - per my nose.

Anyone have a stuck caliper? I wonder if its related to the e-brake? I have no idea. I scheduled an appt for next Thurs, but I am leaving for the long w/e and I hope it doesnt cause more damage on my drive this w/e....

any thoughts?

Thanks!

 

Sounds like it's more related to the E-Brake, if it were the actual braking system you would not be writing this, it would pull uncontrollably to one side and possibly cause a bad accident. Definitely get it checked out ASAP. This is a very serious safety issue.

 

Even on the rear brakes, there would be pulling?

 

If a caliper gets stuck - either on or off, regardless of corner of the car it will be very very bad. It would be difficult if not impossible to control a car with one caliper stuck.

 

I had a stuck front caliper (passenger side) on a previous car, a Nissan Maxima. I could not tell it was stuck while driving. The only reason I found it was the pads on the wore down much faster than the other side. I did the work myself. Normally, the driver's side pads have more wear. The passenger side wear was very bad and the caliper sliding pins were frozen. Bottom line, it could be frozen and you may not notice any driving difference.

 

On my previous car (Mazda Mx6), I've had stuck rear-calipers twice. The only way I noticed it while driving is that the car was slower to accelerate.
When stopping afterwards, it was clear because of the smoke of the overheated brakes

 

You can also put your hand to the center of the rims when you feel the smell to find out if the suspected wheel is hotter than the others.

 

Thanks for the replies...I made an appt for this Thursday to have them check it out.