My brakes have been grinding and pushing back and the light went on. Its obvious Im in for new brakes. As a rookie with no resources I have to take this into a shop but would like to have some better knowledge of what Im doing before I get ripped off.

Forgive the rookie ignorance...

How do I find out whether I need to new brakes or new rotors? How much are each?

Can I buy them cheap myself and have someone install? Website where I can buy?

Does my benz have rear/front/both Brakes...?

And the finally the question that might get me 'flamed'
- Can I take it to MIDAS? Please remember that the less cash I blow on this car the better I love it...its almost 20 years old...

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***SAMI*****
1986 300E 240K
1999 Mitsubishi Spyder GS 60K

If you hear grinding, metal is touching metal or in other words, you're going to have to replace the rotors along with the pads and front wear sensors if your car uses them.

I wouldn't dream of taking any car to Midas, let alone an MB. We could go round and round over that all day. I won't bother.

Find an independent in your area who knows MBs. Forget about trying to do it cheap because you 'll then have to do it right, so you may as well do the later first.

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'91 300-SEL

You can get the front pads and rotors for about $150.00 on this site, click on the fastLane tab at the top of the page. You may have trouble getting a garage to install your parts (they like to sell them to you as well) but if you already have them they might be easier to convince.
MB brakes are easy to do, if you need a step by step just keep pleeding and I'm sure someone will eventualy get around to helping you. I wouldn't be TOO worried about letting someone with experience doing brakes on a regular basis replace them for you... though others might disagree... I just don't think there is all that much to screw up.
That said... get them fixed before you start destroying your calipers! Then you will really have a BILL to deal with.

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-Marty

1986 300E 220,000 miles+ transmission impossible
(Now waiting under a bridge in order to become one)

Reading your M103 duty cycle:
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/831799-post13.html
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/831807-post14.html

here is a diy article from this site.

http://www.peachparts.com/Wikka/W124BrakePads

Changing the front discs is easy once you have the pads out and pistons pushed back, remove the 2 bolts ont eh back of the caliper that hold it to the car, lift the caliper our of the way (don't let it dangle from the brakeline)

Undoe the little allen screw on the rotor and remove it. put the new rotor and put the screw back in, then put the caliper back and finish up by following the rest of the DIY article.

Rears are similar process, only you have to also be careful with the parking brake mechanism on the rear.

I can send you the pdf from the w124 service manual if you like on the front and rear brakes too. PM me if you want me to.

Alon

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'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon

If you have more time than money, DIY is the best route. Once you've done them the first time, it's a snap on subsequent installs!

My 10-yr. old daughter even does the pads when I let her...

btw, the rotors on your car are softer than on other makes on purpose. They are also designed to be replaced about every two to three brake pad replacement intervals (MB rotors are cheap for that reason).

Also, Invest in a decent set of metric allen and torx sockets. Absolutely necessary when working on these cars...

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car