E420 Front Brake Pads
 

I need new pads and I am considering options other than the factory front pads from the dealer. Two years ago I paid $76 for them (005 420 01 20) and I suspect they are closer to $90 today. I will check this week. I had a bad experience back in 1998 with aftermarket pads and have always gone with factory pads since then.

Can anyone recommend what to look for and what to stay away from as far as brand names? Thanks.

Textar makes high quality brake pads. I use them on our MB automobiles.

It seems that prices on all car parts have increased dramatically in the past few years. Shop around at different MB dealers and online because prices vary for the identical part. For example, the battery for a 1998 E320 was $40 less at one local MB dealer than the other dealer I called.

Thanks. I used to use Duval Motors in Florida for factory parts. They seemed to be very reasonable, but for whatever reason they stopped taking orders over the Internet. The Textar pads must be high quality--they are within $10 of the factory pads.

My indy has recommended these (pic below) and I'm gonna try them. They state on the box "OEM". They were $51 for the set and he says that he uses them on all Euro cars with "no problems". If interested their website is euroclassics.com and are located in Moraine, OH.

Recommend staying away from any parts made in China because the quality and durability is suspect, from what I have read on various websites.

i would second the textar pads,i have used them in preference to factory for years.

FWIW - the pads I placed in my post above are made in, yep, you guessed it - USA! :eek: :eek: :eek: (There IS a white "S" if you don't see it!)

Beats the h#*l out of "Made in China" any day of the week in my book :D :D!!

we always use textar.

a lot the genuine pads from the dealer are made by textar. for instance the 123 and 124 series cars, if you buy mercedes pads from the dealer they are textar with a mercedes logo printed on them. if you buy the same part from textar from a jobber the pads are the same but lack the logo.

my brother-in-law swears by the akebono euro ceramic pads (they are in the photo above), says they work very well and make almost no dust. i've always like the genuine pads because even though they do make dust they are excellent quality parts and the rotors tend to last a long time with them.

Yeah, I put them (Textar) on the front a few weeks ago and decided to do the rear as well. This friend recommended I give the 'less dust' creating pads that they use a try. Don't think he would intentionally steer me wrong - but we'll see. Said they have never had a problem with them...

I have Akebono ceramic pads on the W123 and W124 and both are GREAT pads. Only used them on the front (I have Textar in the rear, on both) since the rears do not generate as much brake dust.

Until you drive two to three weeks straight without cleaning the car, the rears eventually accumulate more brake dust than the fronts.

When my 190E is due for front pads (maybe a year or two) I will replace with Akebono, but the rear will continue using Textar.

I know, I know! Wish I had known about these BEFORE I did the front ones. A few weeks after doing the front brakes I took the car in to have the wheels balanced and he discovered that the rear rotors were warped somewhat (it was doing the pulse thing) and we got to talking about brake parts, etc. and told me that they have had excellent results with the Akebono brand and that they put them on most all their jobs. Soooo, I had tehm order me a set of Balo rotors and Akebono pads. Have they been installed yet? NO! It's a time thing ya know...:eek:

Ceramic brake pads are not going to provide the same braking capability if you lose power assist for some reason. MB specifies the soft brake pad material so in the event of a loss of power assist MB automobiles can be stopped safely. A harder brake pad will increase the stopping distance from any given speed ... so less safe than the spec brake pads.

Porterfield R4-S. Great stopping power and clean. However, they aren't cheap.

I tried Porterfield brake pads some years back. They did produce somewhat less brake dust than Textar or MB genuine brake pads, but required significantly more brake pedal force so I switched back to Textar brake pads and Kleen Wheels after a few months.

Akebono Ceramic Pads
 

Brembo Rotors

Quiet,Fade-Free,'near Dustless stops!

I hear ya. Can't wait to get Akebonos on the 190E. Keep braking :D

For rotors, I went with ATE on the W123. Did the job with new bearings + new front ATE rotors + Akebono front ceramic pads.

Today, with a rebuilt master cylinder and fresh ATE DOT 4, I'm surprised at how the car stops considering it's almost a 30 year old machine. It's not as twitchy as the new cars, but can hold its own out on the road when needed.

I just went though this last year and this year with my 420e.

Factory pad in appearance is a Pagid. I don't like the feel or the black dust. Textar (yellow box) were always suppose to be the OE in europe? They have better feel than Pagid in my oppinion. I ended up with MB-Pagid's as both Pagid and Textars were on backorder... needed brakes. Not happy I did some research and Akebono's are really the leader in ceramic pads.

FACT: The Akebono are ceramic and were NOT made when our cars were new.

They are a more recent and if you read the literature(and believe it) appear to have a more constant coefficent of friction over a broad temperature range, lower dust, etc. Very good thing except under racing conditions, you'd need something which is more aggressive - but hey you wouldn't want to race with factory pads either. Portfields or maybe a high metallic pad would be best.

The premium pad aftermarket is where the bucks are and a growning segment. Seems like every maker now has a ceramic pad...

I don't know where you'd find those for a 420e for $51... got some last week for $71 w/free shipping. I'll put them on soon. They come with 2 wear sensors and some molylubricant to go under the squeel shim.

That has not been my experience. I have found that the Porterfield's provide the best stopping power I've found while providing much less dust on my wheels. In addition, I got all of this without greater pedal pressure. R4-S pads in conjunction with ATE Premium one slotted rotors work perfectly for me.

With slotted rotors you've essentially redesigned the brake system. I'll defer to the MB automotive engineers.

I'd probably just go with some bigger later brakes if I was redesigning..

Just update from the factory parts bin of course you cannot run the factory whimpy 15 inch tires with bigger brakes. I got a used set of R129 wheels(500E) which are 16's and work well.


Michael

Slotted rotors release gases built up during the braking process helping to shorten the distance it takes to stop. Even MB engineering can be improved upon by others over a 16, or so, year period. In any event, I prefer to shorten my braking distances and the Porterfield/ATE combination fits the bill for me.

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Thanks for all the input on this string. I went to the dealer today and they wanted $77 for factory front pads (only $1 more than they were 18 months ago); so, in the end, I went with the factory pads.

Thank you for informing us of your result.

FYI:

The stamp on the factory pads indicate Jurid.

As I recall the newer AMG models come equipped with drilled rotors. Apparently the MB braking system design engineers consider them more effective than slotted rotors.

Unless you drive your MB automobile very aggressively, or race it, I suspect the stock brake system components perform more than adequately for 99% of owners. I do know that folks who race their MB automobiles are required to change their brake fluid before each event.

on my '92 400E, I've used all combinations of OE, Textar, Pagid, etc.... pads with brembo, OE, Zimmerman, ATI, etc... rotors.... Personally, have found that the OE pads and rotors always perform. the ONLY non OE (benz branded) rotors that perform are Zimmerman's. All other brands warp and vibrate over time. My tech has told me that Zimmerman is the manufacterer of the OE rotors. Perhaps that's the reason they act similar to the real thing.

oem vs porterfield
 

While this is an older post from another website, the findings might be interesting. http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r170-slk-class/94308-oem-versus-porterfield-brake-pads-some.html