Pagid front pads 10,000 miles
 

I drive an 83 300SD. My brake pad indicator light started to flash off and on at 9,500. I finally got around to changing them at 10,400. All four pads were worn evenly; outer left and right pads were triggering the indicator, inner pads were both worn right to the outer plastic of the brake pad sensor. I put in Textar "yellow box" this time to see if I can get more life from the European stock pads. I put in the Pagid (American stock) pads in July; every eight months is a pretty short life span for brake pads, don't you agree? Not a difficult job, but a bit of a pain in the a--. The Textars seem to be smoother in transition from stop to slow go (full brake depression to slow brake release). The Pagids always groaned a little bit at slow release (parking lot driving). So, what has everyone been getting from there brake pads?

I drive mostly hiway and my front pads have over 30k. I checked them last week and they have nearly half left. I don't know what they are as the PO installed them.

The rotors are due at the next pad replacement though.

I would be tempted to rebuild the calipers. The pistons could be sticky if they are original. The kits are pretty cheap and it's fairly straight forward job. Have you measured the brake rotors for wear? I find about every other pad change I need to replace the rotors. I get at least twice the mileage out of my pads.

How are your brake hoses?
 

If you have your original brake hoses you should change them. I did on my 84 300SD a couple of months ago and the brakes improved noticeably. If that does not work, Phil has rebuilt calipers at a good price.
As far as pads go, Autozone will sell you an axle set for about 25 bucks with a lifetime warranty. I did that 10 years ago so I go back every 30 or 40k miles and pick up a free set! They seemed to stop the car as well as the pagids that I replaced them with (and they get the wheels just as dirty).

You might try a brake fluid change to see if that helps. Do a search under "pressure bleeder". It sounds as if the calipers may be sticking a little.

If everything on both sides is worn evenly and the rotors are cold after not using the brakes, then you don't have to do any brake work other than replace the pads. If anything was sticking, you would probably notice uneven brake wear.

Yeah good point, maybe he is like my wife and uses the brake pedal as footrest....

Or he drives in mostly stop and go traffic.......which really kills brakes....ask me how I know.....

on my 84 300SD I get about 10-12 out of pagids

I'm quite convinced that how you drive the vehicle is the predominant factor on how long your pads will survive.

I once believed that I was doing quite well when I can get 50K (estimated) from a set of pads.

Then PEH came along.................................... :(

PEH beats everyone, he uses lifetime filters to. :D

My pads are about 12k miles old if they make 20k I'll be happy.

I have 50,000 miles on my front pads right now. The friction material thickness not including the backing plate when new was 13.5 mm. Now after 50,000 miles they are 9.5mm thick. At that rate, I should be able to almost squeeze 150,000 miles out of a set of front pads. This is for about 50/50 city and highway driving. The way you drive plays a huge part in brake life.

A modern Mercedes has a much larger brake rotors and larger area pads which reduces the forces required to bring the car to a stop.

I have always thought that the W123 is substandard in the braking department with the small area pads and cheap thin non-vented rotors. I guess taxis don't require high speed braking capability...

Well it depends on how you drive. On a lot of the roads I travel I will be going 40-45 then a light will change and I have to stop fast. I-95 traffic is also very hard on brakes.

Same here, practically every road I drive around here is between 40 and 55mph limit, except residential areas of 25-35mph....its those endless traffic lights on the higher speed stretches that eat away the brakes......I know this all too well :o My Powerdiscs have small lips on the edge already and I had just put them on last August! :eek: Pads have a good deal left however, currently I'm at around 7,500 miles on OEM pads and ATE PowerDiscs.....soon I will be changing my brake hoses and doing a full fluid bleed, my dad's 83 has very new hoses, and his braking is incredible compared to mine if you slam the pedal.