Man Finds Mercedes-Benz GLE Has Trouble Slowing, Discovers Its ‘Brembo’ Brakes Are Made of Wood

At one point in history, you could buy a Mercedes-Benz with wood brakes. That point, of course, was the Benz Patent-Motorwagen of the 19th Century, and that all changed in 1888 when Bertha Benz replaced the wooden brakes with leather on her historic road trip. According to the Polizei Ludwigsburg in Germany, however, a creative—and maybe nostalgic?—individual decided to fit a modern Mercedes-Benz with wood brakes, but as you might suspect, it didn’t go very well.

The vehicle in question is a Mercedes-Benz GLE 400, according to a post on the police department’s Facebook page, which was recently purchased at an auction. After the auction, a driver from the company that purchased the Mercedes was sent to pick it up. During the drive, however, he quickly realized that the brakes didn’t seem to work as usual. He contacted a towing company and the police.

The SUV was towed to a dealership, and the shop noticed burned wood dust on the front wheels; a closer inspection then revealed that the front brake pads were made from wooden blocks.

Whoever did it, however, does at least have a sense of humor: “Brembo” was written using a black marker on one of the wood brake pads. That Italian company does offer several different brake pad compounds… but, obviously, none of them are wood. The offender also put some time and care into the job, as the wood pads had neen cut to fit perfectly inside the calipers. We can’t imagine it would have been that much more work to throw a set of real brake pads on there instead.

Police are looking for the previous owner of this Mercedes, but in the meantime, this story should serve as a reminder for anyone considering buying a car at auction to inspect it carefully — and, ideally, make sure the seller has posted comprehensive pictures. (See, this is why Bring a Trailer has a photography guide.)

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