Can anyone tell me if a 2002 C240 Elegance Model has front and back brake sensore? If so, how many? I bought this car used and want to change the pads but noticed that there were no sensors installed. I've check around on the forums and on the internet and there is no clear information on how many sensors are on this vehicle, but I am sure there should be some....

I am surprised there was no error message about not having any sensors installed, however, I suspect that since the sensor circuit wasn't closed, the computer would assume that it was there and still didn't need to be replaced.

Also, surprised the the dealer I bought it from would have installed the pads without the sensors!

Thanks.
Brad.

__________________
Dr. Brad

2003 C320 4Matic Station Wagon
2002 C240 Elegance
1982 380 SEL Star Certified

Bringing this to the front hoping someone can help me with an answer.

thanks

__________________
Dr. Brad

2003 C320 4Matic Station Wagon
2002 C240 Elegance
1982 380 SEL Star Certified

There are two possibilities, either one each on a front and rear or one each on both fronts. The base W210 was the latter.

The pads are always drilled for sensors because many different models use them; what matters is whether the socket is there so you could plug in the sensor.

And you're right, if no sensor is in place, the car won't know it. It's a single wire system that uses the rotor to close the circuit when the pad wears far enough.

A good dealer would not miss it during a brake job; if the socket was there they'd install a sensor. More likely they didn't do the work and just had the car on the lot. A normal PPI wouldn't normally look for a missing sensor, either.

Hope that helps.

According to a site I looked at there are 2 on the front. According to Fastlane here, there is at least 1 on the rear. The clue will be the little connector hanging around with nothing plugged into it. How do you know they are not installed? It seems to me if you would have looked you should have seen the connector(s), so then you wouldn't be asking the question.

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

Thanks for all of the answers.

I was changing the tires to winters, and had a look at the pads to check the wear. I noticed on the last tire, that the pad was quite worn and then realized that there was no sensor.

I haven't had the time to take off a tire and have a detailed look, but will do it this weekend and look for somewhere to plug a sensor into....

I know my big 380 SEL has sensors on all of the wheels.

__________________
Dr. Brad

2003 C320 4Matic Station Wagon
2002 C240 Elegance
1982 380 SEL Star Certified

Nothing beats a visual inspection, whether it's to check for a sensor connection or brake wear.

That said, I wouldn't rely on parts sites to tell you what's on there. Many of them say my car has four, but they're only on the front. (The better sites suggest checking the car to be sure.) But they're cheap and easy to store, so no big deal.

I never understood the point of putting them on all four corners. Absent some kind of malfunction, the pads on the same axle will wear the same. (And a malfunction that would alter that likely would be noticed by the driver.)

That said, I really don't understand the point of putting only two sensors on the car, with both of them on the front. Maybe it's all the rage in Stuttgart?

Good luck with it.

My 2005 C55 (W203) has a brake wear sensor on all four corners.

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2006 BMW M5 "Heidi" @ 109,000 miles
2005 MBZ C55 AMG "Lorelai" @ 165,000 miles
1991 MBZ 300E "Benzachino II" @ 165,000 miles
1990 MBZ 500SL "Shoshanna" @ 118,000 miles

(On the hunt for a good used M103 engine as of 6/10/23, PM me if you have one to sell!)

Okay...so I decided to go ahead and change the front brake pads. The left front side didn't have a brake wear sensor currently attached to it, and I looked for somewhere to attach one incase the dealership "forgot" to put it on. Well, no luck, I really didn't see anywhere to attach the sensor to.

On the right front inside pad did have a wear sensor. I accidentally broke it off when I was taking the pad off. Since I didn't have another one, I decided to just change out the pads and see what happens.

So I have new pads on the both fronts, but guess what....the car has a malfunction now saying the "Brake Lining Wear..." I'm pretty sure its because I took off the broken sensor. I'm just going to purchase another one from the dealer tomorrow and install it later this week.

That should take care of the problem.

So it looks like just one sensor on the front passenger side, and its a more complicated system than just a closed loop circuit as the car can detect that its missing....

I'll let everyone know how it goes in a couple of days!

Gotta love these cars...my Toyota would tell me that the brake pad were worn when I heard the GRINDING!!!

__________________
Dr. Brad

2003 C320 4Matic Station Wagon
2002 C240 Elegance
1982 380 SEL Star Certified