I put new pads on the 1982 300sd about 9 months ago. They were not Mercedes textar pads. I bought them before I knew textars were best. They came from a euro parts dealer. They were his best pad. They have given no problems or noise when stopping. I also replaced the wear indicators.

Yesterday, my brake light started flickering. I know that means the wear indicators are letting me know its time for pads again.

How long should I typically get out of a set of pads? Do you get more than 10 months out of textar pads? Would like to know. I do a combination of city and highway driving 50/50.

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1982 300SD Light Blue
2002 Honda Accord SE
1974 Toro Wheel Horse Tractor
2000 Toyota Tundra Pickup

This question is very hard to answer, however I will give an example to try to explane it.
My Father had a 83 Buick Riveria. (I know, I know Bad words)
I had a 82 Buick Riveria
My Father would get 60K to 80K from a set of dealer pads.
I would get 20k to 25 k from the same pads.
Later I got my fathers car when it had 170K miles, replaced the pads for the second time and then got 18K out of that set.
Moral to the story, It depends on the driver, not the car.
By the way, it looks like I will get about 20K out of my 126.

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84 500 SEL (307,xxx miles)

I wouldn't rely on the sensors 100%.... Many times I've seen sensors go bad or the sensor wire break causing the light to flicker. Might be worth pulling your wheels this weekend to be sure

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I have the same year Benz and model that you have. I purchased Mercedes pads (not sure what textar pads are) for the front of my car. I got 20K miles out of them in about a year and a half time period.

I do 80/20 highway/city driving with my car. I believe the composition of the pads are designed such that they dissipate faster, and don't compromise the rotor.

I am probalby abnormally rough on my brakes though. I thought I should have gotten more life out of them as well.

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'82 300SD 206K miles Anthracite Grey received 250,000 Km badge
'93 GMC Turbo Diesel 1-Ton Dually 113K miles Stolen 17 Jul 05
2005 GMC 2500HD Crew Cab D-max 22K miles Love it!
'68 Corvair Monza 110 Coupe 26K Sold
'66 Corvair Monza 110 Convertible 123K
'52 Ford 8N Sold
'66 Ford 3000 Diesel (204 hours) For Sale
'86 White 2-65 MFWD Iseki Diesel

It really is hard to tell. It also depends on the condition of your rotors. I believe my front rotors were originals, badly worn and uneven. Sticking calipers can cause 1 side to wear much more than the other.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.

Willrev

I'm afraid the number of months they have been on there is meaningless, did you cover 10 miles or 100,000 miles in those months?

Pad life is, as has been stated, a function of the type of driving you do, the distance covered, and the condition of the calipers and rotors. Sticking calipers could cause premature wear on a set of pads.

Kevin

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'85 300SD

That's a good point. Is one pad wearing more than the others? Have you noticed a change in fuel mileage?

I see people on the highway all the time. Go, brake, go, brake....
I say to myself "They must go through brake pads like crazy!" It depends a lot on how you drive.

Danny

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1984 300SD Turbo Diesel 150,000 miles

OBK member #23

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(='.'=) This is Bunny. Copy and paste bunny into your
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It depends on how many "Delta-Vee" events have occurred.

For Rocket Scientists, Delta-Vee (I'll use DV from here on) is a shorthand way to express a change in velocity.

For instance slowing from 60 mph to 50 mph is a DV of 10 mph, while 60 mph to 0 mph is a DV of 60 mph.

To slow the car requires dissipation of energy, via friction that transforms the kinetic energy of the moving car into heat, while to speed up requires adding to the kinetic energy, by burning more fuel to add to the kinetic energy.

The friction of the brake pads on the rotors mechanically abrades some of the material, causing pad and rotor thickness decrease.

Therefore, the pads and rotors are capable of providing a finite number of DV events.

Every time you use the brakes you are subtracting some 'life.' How much depends on how much DV. How long in time, and how far in miles you go between these events is quite a variable.

I can cover 120+ miles across the state and not have a DV event, then go 1.2 miles in rush-hour traffic had have 10 DV events.

That's how a Rocket Scientist would say "Your mileage will vary!"

Best Regards,
Jim

I have about 10k on my Textars now and they have at least another 10k-15k of life in them.

I do a lot of stop and go city driving and in traffic. Just go easy on your brakes. Light stops and don't speed up to a red light.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

depends on how you drive,
I average 15-18K on my 300SD

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Ron
2015 Porsche Cayman - Elizabeth
2011 Porsche Cayman - Bond,James Bond
Sadly MERCEDESLESS - ALways LOOKING !
99 E320 THE Queen Mary - SOLD
62 220b - Dolly - Finally my Finny! Sadly SOLD
72 450SL, Pearl-SOLD
16 F350 6.7 Diesel -THOR
19 BMW X5 - Heaven on Wheels
14 38HP John Deere 3038E Tractor -Mean Green
84 300SD, Benjamin -SOLD
71 220 - W115-Libby ( my first love) -SOLD
73 280 - W114 "Organspende" Rest in Peace
81 380 SL - Rest in Peace

I wore the front pads out in my '84SD every 10-12k miles, consistently. Always used dealer pads.

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as ever
Paul

1989 560SL
1987 300SDL
1987 300TD
1983 BMW 633CSi
1972 280SE 4.5

Not to make any of you feel bad, but, IIRC, PEH can get something like 80K on a set of pads. I believe that he has never replaced one of the sets on one of the W126's.

I'm quite sure that I can get 50K on front pads. Just let the engine slow the vehicle down. You aren't going anywhere when you pull up to the line at the red light.

My SDL had new pads 30,000 miles ago, and they have yet to reach 50% worn. Most of my driving has been 150 miles trips one-way, no stops, no brake use to slow down.

As I said above, your mileage will vary.

Best Regards,
Jim

Dealer (OE) pads are very soft and don't last as long, under the same driving habits, as other pads such as PBR Deluxe, Pagid or some of the ceramic pads now being made (and not easy to find for the 126 chassis).
One thing that really helps extend life of brake pads is using lower gear while driving in slow moving or stop and go traffic, engine braking is an excellent thing in diesels and you would be surprised at how much that helps slow a car and reduces increase brake life.
I once selected "S" for this purpose while driving someone's car and they said "why do you do that, you'll wear out the transmission, won't you?" to which I answered no, just good driving habits!

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

I only get about 12,000 miles on my 300sd's pads but I live to dry fast and brake hard. Plus I have dust shields, which are said to expedite the process. I don't care though, because I change my own pads and they only cost me like $34 (oe pagid of course!)