Yesterday finally had a chance to pull one of the disc/drums, on the right side. I put some WD40 on the center and let it soak for about 30 minutes while doing some other work. Afterwards I hit it with the hammer a couple of times around the hub and it came out quite easily.

But after going through the PITA chore of installing the new shoes with those almost impossible to install springs (don't have the MB "special tools" the service manual call for), I found out that the drum will no longer fit over the new shoes. I loosened the control cable all the way and turned the star adjuster so it is completely closed, but still the drum will not fit over the shoes. In any case it looks as the shoes are pretty much closed as far as they could possibly go.

Then I compared the old shoe with the new one by stacking them one on top of the other, and when one aligns the ends of the shoes, the center portion (metal part) sticks out much further on the new then the old one, and this seems to be the cause of the misfit. Please see pictures bellow. You can notice in the first picture that the old shoe (top) has the MB star imprinted, so this is clearly an OEM part.

I double checked the part number of the new shoes, and 124-420-0720 (Meyle Art. No. 014-042-0202) seems to be the correct part for either of the W124 cars, including the 300E. Furthermore thinking I might have a wrong size drum, I also checked the part number, and it is also correct for a 300E car: 201-423-1212, OEM MB Star part. Drum was cleaned with metal brush and all residues of worn shoes and oxide are pretty much gone now.

I'm waiting for a response from the seller from which the new brake shoes where ordered, but in the mean time I would appreciate any ideas and suggestions.

Attached Thumbnails

       

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W163 ML230 EURO SPEC 1999
W124 300E 1986