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Old 22 April 2018, 08:25 AM   #1
SDRider
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My son and I did a brake job on my Mercedes today.

As usual, it took us 2 hours to do the left front and 30 minutes to do the right front. I went with Centric rotors and pads as I’ve heard they wear better then the oem Mercedes-Benz pads and rotors. So far, they feel really good.

I’m not sure what it is about Mercedes but my car wears out brake rotors like there’s no tomorrow. The pads just eat up the rotors. Last time I paid Mercedes to do the front brakes on my car they charged me about a grand for pads and rotors. I paid about $250 for the parts.

My son was a huge help and we were both filthy by the time we finished. Anyway, job done. I’m sore, I’m tired and I’m sipping a martini in front of the boob tube. Tomorrow we crawl around under my son’s 4Runner to replace the front bumper. At least he’s not afraid to try doing stuff like this himself.
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Old 22 April 2018, 08:27 AM   #2
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Old 22 April 2018, 08:34 AM   #3
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That’s a great skill set to have/ teach.
Well done
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Old 22 April 2018, 08:36 AM   #4
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Old 22 April 2018, 08:47 AM   #5
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Would be great if you have any photos, instructions and part numbers so I could replicate the same steps one day!
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Old 22 April 2018, 09:01 AM   #6
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I admire people who can work on modern vehicles...usually from the customer lounge while eating a doughnut.
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Old 22 April 2018, 10:29 AM   #7
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I admire people who can work on modern vehicles...usually from the customer lounge while eating a doughnut.
Brakes are pretty much the same on all cars. A Mercedes is no different.
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Old 22 April 2018, 10:38 AM   #8
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Hands on.

Impressive!!
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Old 22 April 2018, 10:49 AM   #9
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Way to go! Its very fulfilling
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Old 22 April 2018, 11:34 AM   #10
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Brakes are pretty much the same on all cars. A Mercedes is no different.
Light up one of those PSD4 Partagas and chill!
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Old 22 April 2018, 01:20 PM   #11
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Another great father son project! Working on the Toyota will be life changing for him as he'll learn so much. I remember working on my first car and have so many fond memories.
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Old 22 April 2018, 01:22 PM   #12
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After you were done, did you swing by the drive-thru for some ice cream on your test drive?
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Old 22 April 2018, 03:16 PM   #13
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What sort of mileage are you getting from your Pads and Rotors, Julian?
The more 'aggressive' pads will certainly wear the rotors out more rapidly, and of course it depends on your driving style and whether you drive in heavy traffic.
I do notice that a lot of continental cars, Mercs particularly, have very dirty mag wheels from brake dust.
I am very gentle with brakes and tend to get very low wear on pads/rotors. I have been accused of driving cars like I was riding a motorcycle. On my last car I changed the pads/rotors at about 100,000 klms.
The big challenge is getting true 'dustless' pads. They all say 'dustless' but most lie.
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Old 22 April 2018, 03:19 PM   #14
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Fun, very satisfying!!
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Old 22 April 2018, 03:32 PM   #15
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I have the same car in black, and had the same issues with the front rotors. I also went with centric rotors and pads after hearing how much MB wanted to replace them with OEM and reading that they would just end up warping again. I replaced them 7 months ago and they still feel solid. I think you will be happy with the new setup.
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Old 22 April 2018, 03:57 PM   #16
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I have the same car in black, and had the same issues with the front rotors. I also went with centric rotors and pads after hearing how much MB wanted to replace them with OEM and reading that they would just end up warping again. I replaced them 7 months ago and they still feel solid. I think you will be happy with the new setup.
It’s an E550 coupe with the sport package. The front rotors are huge and drilled but I have gone through 3 sets of front rotors and pads in the past 30k miles. The last set lasted about 20k miles. Warped rotors is the problem. I took a picture of the left front rotor next to the new rotor, I’ll post a pic tomorrow but the pads just seem to eat into the rotor, cutting it down. I paid for one brake job, the second and third Mercedes did under warranty.

The pads I took off had plenty of material left, they could have gone another 50k miles in my opinion but there is no way I would replace rotors and not put fresh pads on.

And I do drive a lot of stop and go traffic. I also drive a bit fast but I don’t think I’m terribly hard on brakes. This is a heavy car though and with 400+ hp it definitely acquires speed very rapidly.

The brake rotors alone weigh approximately 35lbs each. I was laughing today at people who spend a couple hundred dollars on titanium lug nuts for cars like this when brake rotors alone weigh as much as these do.
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Old 22 April 2018, 04:20 PM   #17
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Good times! I put centric on my Q7 and like them much better than oem.
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Old 22 April 2018, 11:24 PM   #18
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Awesome father-son experience!
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Old 22 April 2018, 11:57 PM   #19
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Nice of your son to lend a helping hand
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Old 23 April 2018, 02:57 AM   #20
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Quote:
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The brake rotors alone weigh approximately 35lbs each. I was laughing today at people who spend a couple hundred dollars on titanium lug nuts for cars like this when brake rotors alone weigh as much as these do.
Wow, I would love to see a picture of that also when you have the chance. Seems like a lot of unsprung weight but I've got no doubts about the performance though. I guess a vehicle on the heavier side with that type of transmission could be making this easier. The good news is you'll be doing it yourself so more frequent changes are more justified
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Old 23 April 2018, 03:13 AM   #21
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I hope the dash cam was off.

Great you was able to fix it by yourself.

I change both sides on 30 minutes and charges for 1 hour and 20 minutes.
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Old 23 April 2018, 03:32 AM   #22
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It’s an E550 coupe with the sport package. The front rotors are huge and drilled but I have gone through 3 sets of front rotors and pads in the past 30k miles. The last set lasted about 20k miles. Warped rotors is the problem. I took a picture of the left front rotor next to the new rotor, I’ll post a pic tomorrow but the pads just seem to eat into the rotor, cutting it down. I paid for one brake job, the second and third Mercedes did under warranty.

The pads I took off had plenty of material left, they could have gone another 50k miles in my opinion but there is no way I would replace rotors and not put fresh pads on.

And I do drive a lot of stop and go traffic. I also drive a bit fast but I don’t think I’m terribly hard on brakes. This is a heavy car though and with 400+ hp it definitely acquires speed very rapidly.

The brake rotors alone weigh approximately 35lbs each. I was laughing today at people who spend a couple hundred dollars on titanium lug nuts for cars like this when brake rotors alone weigh as much as these do.


What you describe is interesting.

Having to ride the brakes often on stop/go low-speed traffic tends to overheat the brakes. And despite drilled rotors the lack of cooling air flowing through the ducts leads to hotter rotors. So the rotors are more easily scored.


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Old 23 April 2018, 03:35 AM   #23
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I justify my luxury purchases with the money I save working on my own houses and cars. And fortunately, my wife agrees. A few weeks ago her sister mentioned her distaste for my wearing expensive watches. My wife told her how much money I had saved by reroofing our house and that the cost of the Rolex I was wearing was only half of that savings.

Bottom line is that learning to repair cars and houses has saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars in my lifetime. I’m glad to see you are teaching your son these skills.
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Old 23 April 2018, 03:36 AM   #24
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Good job using Centrics. A lot of OEM parts are made by Centric anyways but rebranded. They're local too, made up in Santa Ana.
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Old 24 April 2018, 02:27 AM   #25
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I'm doing the brakes on my 2008 C230 this weekend.

I am not using OEM since OEM pads generate so much brake dust it is crazy.

Zimmerman coated rotors (no more rusty rotors) and Akebono ceramic pads ( no more brake dust) is what I am putting on there.

Buying the parts, a new floor jack and axle stands is still cheaper than if I took it to MB to do the work. I get better parts this way, save some cash and know the job was done right.

I am actually quite surprised how easy this Mercedes is to work on myself. An accessory belt change takes about 15 minutes. Doing the tensioners add about 1/2 hour.

Oil changes in less than 45 minutes.

I need to do the rear transmission mount and will try and do the flex discs on the drive shaft also but figure that may give me some trouble. Trans mount will be easy but the flex discs will be a real bugger I think. I'll have to drop my exhaust and drive shaft for that one.
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Old 24 April 2018, 02:47 AM   #26
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Bottom line is that learning to repair cars and houses has saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars in my lifetime.
Right there with you.
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Old 24 April 2018, 06:11 AM   #27
SDRider
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Colin G View Post
I'm doing the brakes on my 2008 C230 this weekend.

I am not using OEM since OEM pads generate so much brake dust it is crazy.

Zimmerman coated rotors (no more rusty rotors) and Akebono ceramic pads ( no more brake dust) is what I am putting on there.

Buying the parts, a new floor jack and axle stands is still cheaper than if I took it to MB to do the work. I get better parts this way, save some cash and know the job was done right.

I am actually quite surprised how easy this Mercedes is to work on myself. An accessory belt change takes about 15 minutes. Doing the tensioners add about 1/2 hour.

Oil changes in less than 45 minutes.

I need to do the rear transmission mount and will try and do the flex discs on the drive shaft also but figure that may give me some trouble. Trans mount will be easy but the flex discs will be a real bugger I think. I'll have to drop my exhaust and drive shaft for that one.
You'll need torx bits and a 9mm Allen socket to get the calipers and rotor off. At least mine did. Front calipers are huge on my car and the rotors are too at 360mm.
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