Getting ready to change out the brake pads and rotors on my 2000 C230. Also have a groaning sound from the front right on decelerating L turns and with some play and clunking from the same wheel. So I figure I'll take apart the bearings and replace them if they are bad.

Any recommendations on a decent dial gauge to measure bearing play? Seems like there are a lot of no-name options in the 10-30 dollar range, with some of the cheapest reputable ones starting at $50 and climbing rapidly from there. Plus $20 for the cheapest of the mag bases, seems like a lot for a tool I will probably only ever use once or twice. Should I just get a cheap one or are those to be avoided for this kind of work?

See if you can rent one.Then just get your money back when you're done.

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1990 190E 3.0L

I have a Harbor Freight cheapie. I don't think I'd trust it in aerospace flight-critical maintenance, but it's worked well enough for setting bearing preload on my 123.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 401,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 26,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.
99 Mazda Miata 183,xxx miles.