PBR Brake Pads - Not So Good
 

Okay, you guys were right.
I tried the PBR no-dust pads, and initially raved about 99% less dust with very little difference in pedal feel.

Well, after 15k miles, the pads still looked as thick as new - BUT MY ROTORS WERE TRASHED.

First thing I noticed was the car kinda moved up and down when stopping at low speeds. Then it vibrated the wheel out of your hands if you tapped the brakes at high speed - 60-70 MPH. I thought I had a tire coming apart.
I pulled the pads, and they had worn so unevenly on the rotors that there was a huge hump in the center of one rotor surface. Thickness of the rotor varied 2mm across the brake contact area!!!

So, installed new rotors and Pagid pads. All is now good again, except for the dust of course.

No more PBR for me, you were right.

DG

PBR makes several different types of pads. It's hard to draw any information from your post without knowing what you were using. I think the latest Deluxe pads are great - no dust, good stopping power and easy on rotors. And some people say the ceramics are even better.

I don't get the whole low dust/no dust obsession. I would rather stop than worry about brake dust.

+1 Pagid pads really give a nice feel in the pedal, much better than Textar IMO. Pagid seems to have a nice firm responsive feel, textar is a softer less responsive feel which requires more pedal pressure.

When you originally changed to the PBR pads, did you also change the rotors? In other words, was all the wear on the rotors from the pbr pads?

Some of us have wheels we'd like to keep clean. :) When I had stock 14" Bundts on my w123 I did not care much about what brake pads to use since they needed restoration. But I have upgraded to the 15" versions so I also went with ceramic pads.

I've had very good service from Akebono ceramic pads on the w123 and w124. Great stopping power, very minimal (if at all) brake dust and lasts a good while. I'm almost on my second year with these pads and so far it's been great. Brake feel is very good (I've tried Bendix before, they had a different feel).

My w123 used to have warped front rotors, they would eat up the brake pads. Replaced the rotors and pads at the same time (with the Akebonos) and all has been great since.

Perhaps the rotors in this case were warped previously and has caused the pads to wear out prematurely.

And they were likely metalmasters which is an entirely different animal. There is no longer a tradeoff between performance and dust. Some people just cling to the old days, perhaps out of nostalgia.

Of course, you can always remove the wheels clean them thoroughly and then give them a very good polish with some good brand of polish. Helps to wash the brake dust off very well.

The PBR pads were just the std pads offered by one of the online vendors, who also sells most of the other popular brands.
The rotors were new with the PBR pads, so I have to blame the irregular wear on one or the other. Never seen this type of rotor wear before, so I assume it was due to an irregularity in the pad material. And both the rotors did have a lot more wear than normal.

DG

What brand of rotors?

Sounds like Metalmasters, supposed to get Deluxe Plus. Metalmasters are hard on rotors, as it sounds.

i've had pbr metal masters on my 190e before and after upgrading to 400e brakes. different pad sizes of course, but the same model. never had any rotor problems.

I think the rotors were ATE. I've used several brands (5 or 6 sets) from my Atlanta supplier over the last 20 years. I've used Pagid, Jured, OES, dealer pads, and they all performed close to the same - 20k miles on the pads, 40k on the rotors; great feel and stopping power - AND TONS OF DUST.

These PBR's were the first that felt a little harder , especially when cool; but not enough to cause any concern.

Now, after a week with the Pagids, the wheels are too dirty to see, but they feel and stop smooooth, "like whipped butter".
So, I guess in a couple years, I'll go on the search for the brake pad Holy Grail again. Thanks for the inputs on possible choices; I'll file it away and give one of them a try.

DG

I've had ATE discs (non-perforated/slotted) with PBR Deluxe, and I'm still using them several years later. The pads and discs have worn down very little. Plus, the dust color is not dark, so they're very easy to clean.

This is in contrast to Textar Yellow Box. Those wore out very fast, as well as wear down my ATE discs. And, the dust on that was dark and difficult to clean.

In terms of stopping power, I haven't measured any distances (and it wouldn't be accurate anyway, since the tire tread condition would not be the same after tens of thousands of miles), but I don't have any complaints.